Detailed review by ace2005086
If you want a wonderful holiday, then this place is not for you. I have reserved a 3-night stay in this resort for my honeymoon. At first the contact person is responsive during my inquiries, and they demanded a 50% deposit outright. I thought this is normal so I did send the money. But after that, I had a hard time communicating with them. I am based in Japan and so I have to spend for long distance calls just to get in touch with the contact person for the resort. Emailing them does not work somehow. But since I was able to make the necessary reservations(after several painful calls) I just hoped things will turn out fine.
My route is via Puerto Prinsesa, so I also coordinated with the resort to pick me up. We have agreed on a van for hire which will cost 12,000 pesos two way. The normal rate for renting a van yourself is 10,000 pesos plus 1,500 pesos per night of stay for the driver, so I thought I'm getting a reasonable price. But when I arrived at Puerto Prinsesa on my designated day, there was no van. I called up the resort to ask why, and the receptionist had no idea that I have reserved one. She hurriedly called up somebody to send a van over, and the guy named Michael Oh, who introduced himself as the resort manager, called me up and told me a van is coming.
My companions and I waited for more than an hour for the van to come. We were contemplating on getting a separate van ourselves so we could get on our way since the travel time to El Nido from Puerto Prinsesa is around five hours by private vehicle. The van finally arrived, but when I asked about the price, Michael Oh told me that it's 12,000 one way which gave me a shock. That was the last straw and we decided to hire another van. Michael pleaded that we use the van and that he will try to correct the mistakes created by him and his employees from the start. So I made it clear that I will be paying 12,000 pesos both ways. He agreed, and I thought we're good.
An hour later inside the van, he changed his mind and decided to bill us 500 pesos more per person. Everyone of my companions were pissed at him for changing his mind all of a sudden and for treating his guests very unfairly. He kept quiet after that and we arrived at El Nido. When we were checking in, the receptionist then told us that the rental for the van is really 12,000 pesos one way. This did not go well with us and we asked her if the manager is present. She told us the manager is not there, and we found out that Michael Oh is lying all along. When we asked him for his ID, he suddenly raised his voice and told us to get out of his resort. We demanded our deposit back, but obviously he does not want to give it back to us. He even told us we will be paying for the van.
To make the long story short, we walked out of the resort and decided to leave the deposit to him, and let him take care of the van. We also reported him to the tourism department of El Nido as well as to the police. We enjoyed the rest of our holiday at another resort, which costs a third of the price, but with very good service.
El Nido Garden Beach Resort1
