The Royal Club Hotel and Resorts

Service was the best part. The staff were consistently welcoming, accommodating, and happy to help, and that’s the main reason I’d consider returning. The view was lovely, overlooking the lake at Lakeshore Village, and the hotel was about a minute from the highway stop. We also found the air conditioning worked well. The hotel presents itself as five-star, but it felt more like a family-run two-star place dressed up to look luxurious. The four-story building has lots of white marble and gold. It looks impressive at first, though the details started to feel tacky the longer we stayed. Wear and tear showed in the room too, with peeling decorative pieces and paint cracking in a few corners. We paid around PHP 20,000 for one night, plus a PHP4,000 deposit. The advertised room had two bedrooms, each with a twin bed, and was said to accommodate up to six people. There was one bathroom, and basic items like towels, small shower gels, and toothbrushes and toothpaste were included. The room also had a dining table set up for about six, which was useful. The shower water was only lukewarm, not hot enough for a comfortable shower. The main facilities we saw were a rooftop infinity pool, a café, and a small spa. The room’s included pool area was called a jacuzzi, but it was really just a smaller section with a waterfall feature. The water was cold. I don’t recall whether heated water was advertised, but it didn’t feel heated. Minibar snacks and drinks were expensive, so bring your own. Breakfast was included, but portions were tiny: the daing was about a quarter of a normal serving, and the pork adobo came with one small piece of pork. The café was tiny and expensive too. A full meal there would likely cost at least around PHP 2,000 for two people. They offered a New Year’s Eve buffet for PHP 2,000 per person, which we didn’t try. From what we saw, there were fewer than 10 trays of food, so it didn’t seem like good value compared with larger buffets with much more variety. The day before check-in, we were asked to pay the remaining balance in cash and bring cash for other services. They didn’t have a card terminal, and their GCash was already at its limit. That was very inconvenient. For the price and the way it’s marketed, the room, facilities, and food felt poor value.

The pasta was the highlight of the meal, absolutely outstanding, an easy 10/10. Service was quick, and the staff were attentive, probably because it wasn’t a busy day. The place was clean and comfortably cool, though we noticed a few flies in the hall. We came on a Monday expecting the advertised weekday steak price of ₱999, but were charged ₱1,200 per person. We chose that day specifically for the deal, so the price felt misleading and disappointing. The steak was tender and decent, but didn’t have much flavor. For a better steak, I’d suggest trying Prime Steak House. The coffee didn’t meet expectations either and could be better.

The food was mediocre for such an overpriced menu, and the service was terrible. The food staff weren’t coordinating, so we had to keep following up on our orders while hungry. Please do more than apologize, improve the service. They almost ruined our Valentine’s celebration.

We booked an advertised unlimited buffet for 50 people and left deeply disappointed. We arrived on time at 11:30 AM, but food didn’t come until 12:30. Then it was only one small saucer plate of vegetables per five people. Nothing was self-service. Everything came to the table in tiny portions, and we had to keep asking for more. The main dishes, including salmon, beef, chicken, and other meats shown in the promotional pictures, didn’t start arriving until around 1:30. By then, people were frustrated. The food looked nothing like the online pictures, and the small servings and long waits felt misleading. Many people in our group had skipped meals beforehand, expecting a real eat-all-you-can buffet. If it had been advertised as a plated event with limited servings, expectations might have been different, but calling it unlimited was simply false. The floor staff were the one positive. The servers were kind, patient, and genuinely apologetic, and did what they could. The real problems seemed to be poor planning and management. Not one of the 50 guests was satisfied. We hope they improve, because this service was unacceptable, especially for what we paid.