Reef Beach Houses

The resort's location is excellent and the price was good, but Reef Beach Resort needs repairs and an upgrade. On a stormy arrival day we had no hot water. A kind security guard lent us a pail and tabo so we could heat water in the coffee pot. It took two more days and several follow-ups before the hot water finally came back. Most staff were lovely, but breakfast was disappointing. The P350 portions were small for the price, and on our last morning, a Sunday, the woman on duty was unpleasant. She didn't greet us, smile, or ask for our order. We had been seated for a while when someone who'd just arrived placed their order first, so I had to go to the bar to order. I wanted French Toast and a Three Cheese Omelette, P150 each, while my wife had the regular P350 breakfast with Garlic Rice, Scrambled Eggs, and Bacon. I was told curtly I could only choose one of my dishes, or pay extra for the other. I had to argue that both together cost less than the breakfast I was entitled to. More mix and match choices would have been nice, or maybe a buffet, since several of us were there for a midyear convention. The nearby Apsaras Tribe Hotel had one. The cook was very heavy-handed with salt. When we said the pancit was too salty, the server said they'd heard that complaint often, but it was still served salty. My wife asked for scrambled eggs without salt, and they were salty too. There may also be a communication problem between the servers and cook. On separate days my Eggs Benedict and Shakshuka both arrived with runny eggs, despite my asking for hard-poached, well-done eggs.

The staff were helpful and accommodating while I was there. The towels and sheets had an odd smell, like urine, though. The toilet sometimes wouldn't flush. I understand the tank needs time to refill, but sometimes it took xx minutes.

The hotel is excellent for the price, but what really stood out was the woman at reception. She was one of the nicest people I met on my trip, always smiling and ready to help. I've never met anyone like her. She deserves to run the hotel. She made our whole stay amazing.

The restaurant was the highlight of our pleasant stay at Reef. The food was fresh, flavorful, and well prepared, and it felt like the kitchen cared about what it served. The beachside setting was relaxing and has a lot of potential. A couple of things need work: the shower in our room wasn't very good and could use an upgrade. Also, the restaurant toilet was out of order during our visit, so we had to use the common restroom, which wasn't ideal. Better facilities would make the stay much better.