Mazawa Siargao

The place has a nice setup, and when you first enter it looks like a beachside property, even though it’s actually along Tourism road and not on the beachfront. The room is modest in size, and we could hear guests in the next room. The bathroom is small, and the shower pressure was weak, so we used the pail and dipper instead. There’s a kitchen guests can use if they want to cook. The booking was the biggest problem. We paid a deposit to secure our room, but the day before arrival they offered us a cheaper room at another resort. They said the owner had shown up unannounced. The photos of the villa they sent, and the photos on the resort’s Facebook page, looked okay, so we initially agreed, also because of the lower price. But when we arrived, the place was still in its soft opening and construction was ongoing. We hadn’t been told about that. We messaged the Mazawa page, and eventually they sorted things out, but we practically had to beg to get our original booking back. It also didn’t feel right that the Mazawa page kept saying we’d agreed to the new arrangement, as if that explained why we’d been bumped and moved. There’s no front desk, so no one was there to help when we arrived or when we needed anything. We had to rely on the Facebook page, and the contact number listed there wasn’t accessible. There was no spare key either. We accidentally locked ourselves out after leaving our key in the room. Mazawa said the previous guest had lost the original key, so ours was already the duplicate. They had to destroy the room lock. Luckily, Siargao is a safe place, so we weren’t too worried about theft, even though we were leaving early for a tour the next day. To be fair, the Mazawa page offered to keep my laptop overnight while we were on the tour. The bathroom wasn’t very clean. I found plastic and tissue floating in it when I showered soon after we got settled. I think they may have rushed the cleaning because of the booking mix-up. They could’ve asked for more time to get the room ready, since we were fine leaving our bags while we went out for a late lunch. They also need a place for guests to hang clothes. Seeing bras and towels drying on the bench in the shared lounge was an eyesore. It’s good enough for sleeping if you’ll be out most of the time. I hope management improves these things.

UPD: The administration was attentive to the issues I mentioned and did what they could to improve things, so I’m adding stars. Before that, resting here felt impossible. The housing was neglected, the shower barely dripped, the water had a strange taste and smell, and the rooms had almost no noise insulation. Each evening, staff or owners gathered under the guest room or in neighboring rooms and made noise until late. A bright light also shone right into your eyes in the middle of the night, and the curtains were too thin to block it. On top of all that, for no reason, they asked me to move to another room on the other side of the city for one night.

I stayed at Mazawa for almost a month, and everything was good, from the place to the people. It’s very affordable and close to tourist spots in General Luna. If I come back to Siargao, I’ll choose this accommodation again. Thanks so much to all the staff. God bless and more power! 😍

This isn’t really a review of the place, it’s about the girl at the front desk. I stayed one night, then had to leave because it was a little over my budget. I’d lost my tablet in the van that took me from the airport to Mazawa. She did everything she could to help me get it back, and I did. She was helpful, friendly, and just a really nice person.