Sotogrande Hotel Palawan

My wife gave me a New Year’s Eve stay as a Christmas present. We were made to pay 1,399P each for the buffet. At first we were told it would run until 1 AM, but later the hotel changed that to 10 PM. My wife had church, so she wasn’t able to eat. I went down at 9 PM and found only a few pieces of chicken, something they called baked potatoes, and rice. It was cold and tasted awful. I complained as I was leaving and got a refund. With no other restaurant less than 15 minutes away, I wouldn’t recommend this hotel.

The airport is quite a long way away. Breakfast comes free and tasted good to me as a Filipino, though I’m not sure every foreign visitor would enjoy it. There’s also a pool. Everything seemed fine during my stay.

Raymond at the restaurant was a bright spot. He was always smiling and went out of his way to look after customers. The rest of the stay was the worst hotel experience I’ve had in all my travels around Australia and overseas. These little problems pile up, and with our family of nine, they really did. Getting around was a hassle. The hotel charges 350php per person for one van and wants you to book ahead. Tri cabs cost 20php per person, but the hotel doesn’t arrange them. You have to go out to the highway and try to flag down one or three just to get to the nearest shop for basics like water or medicine, about a 20-minute ride. The airport shuttle times kept changing from what we were originally given, even though they still expected advance bookings. The laundry service was a mess. This large, brand-new place doesn’t have a dryer, just a line for hanging clothes. Ours came back wet, after we’d been told several times it would be ready. Some pieces went to the wrong rooms, and clothes came back with what looked like rust stains from the line. The restaurant was often out of basic food. On our last night, they had no spring rolls, burgers, pizza, chicken skewers, nachos or bolognese. That’s tough with kids who want familiar, simple food. The items shown in the promotions were all out of date from September, so they couldn’t be ordered. Food was pricey, below average cafeteria quality, and always arrived cold. There were room problems too. One family member’s room had no shower head, and my door lock had to be replaced four times before it worked. If you want hot water, check under the sink and turn the system from cold to hot. Also, if you’re visiting from another country and use an adapter, the power point switch in the middle stops it from working. I wouldn’t recommend this hotel.

The place was new and clean, and I felt the price was fair. During my stay, though, there was no free drinking water on the floors, and the bathroom had neither body wash nor shampoo. A few staff members also seemed reluctant when I made requests. Those are simply my honest observations from my own visit.