The Reef Island Resort Mactan Cebu Resort

The old compound location is the one drawback. It’s hard to walk out, and if you want to go anywhere you need Grab, which can take veeeeeeery long to arrive. Everything else was great for us: the staff deserve recognition for their service, patience, and smiles. The kitchen does a fantastic job, breakfast is amazing, and the bakery has excellent pastries and macarons. The pool is beautiful, with a shaded one and another for kids. The beach is great for snorkeling and there’s no live road to cross. The kids loved the playroom and arcade, and the staff there were fabulous and so nice with the little ones.

I appreciated being able to get into my room much earlier than expected, and the hotel also let me check out at 2 PM because of my evening flight. That made departure day easier. The gym was well equipped and worked perfectly well for a workout. I had breakfast and dinner at the restaurant, and both were enjoyable and well prepared, though not exceptional. Breakfast could have had a bit more choice for my taste. I may be judging it from a Western perspective, since there were quite a few local Asian options, but I still found enough variety to get something good each morning.

What made it hard to leave was the family atmosphere. The staff were excellent in every interaction, and I genuinely loved my stay. Cedric made check-in smooth and friendly, and Louise, the manager, surprised me with an upgrade to a beautiful sea-view room. Sheldon from housekeeping kept it spotless and helped me get everything ready before my partner arrived, so we could both walk into the experience together. The gym setup is also excellent, easily one of the best I’ve seen at a resort. I was honestly sad to check out and will definitely return. A true diamond-level experience.

The food was absolutely excellent at all three restaurants, though the service and atmosphere often fell short. HALINA was the exception, it was great. The hotel staff were helpful, and the beach and loungers were really good, with some decent snorkeling. My room was spacious and the bed very comfortable. The small balcony had a great beach view, but nowhere to sit, and the AC unit was noisy. The gym was excellent too. Outside, there weren’t enough seats in the public areas, and the main ground-floor dining spaces felt soulless.