We made our reservation at this resort for our last summer trip, just in time before the stormy months came. We were very excited and jittery as we didn’t know what to expect. After all, there weren’t that many reviews about this hotel so we had very little pre-conceived notion of what this trip is going to be like.
The weather and the plane ride were perfect especially for my husband who’s a little afraid of plane rides. We arrived at the super busy Puerto Princesa airport and we’re greeted by a guest relations officer from Dos Palmas. He took us to the bus that took us to the wharf where the boat that took us to Dos Palmas was…whew! After 55 minutes on the boat we arrived at the beautiful Dos Palmas Resort and Spa where we were warmly greeted by the staff singing and playing native Philippine instruments.
Okay, now for the resort review.
There are 2 types of accommodations- the newly built Garden and the infamous Beach Cottages. All cottages are air-conditioned with a veranda which provides a great view of the outdoors, perfect for those in a pensive mood. We stayed in a garden cottage which for me is a better choice. The garden cottages are newly built while the beach cottages although have a nicer view of the bay looks a bit rundown. What’s also good to know is that the beach cottages are very close to the arrival/departure area where there are always a lot of people. The welcoming band is also in the arrival/departure area; their music is good but might also be distracting if you’re a beach cottage resident especially if you’re the type who wants a peaceful and quiet vacation time.
The garden cottages (duplex type) are labeled from A-J. Tip, get a cottage that’s closest to the pool/restaurant area, that means cottages A-E, much better if you get a cottage A. The others are quite distant and require a lot of walking or biking time. We got a cottage J (ugh!) initially but we asked to be transferred as we had some room issues which we understood because most of the garden cottages were still being constructed. We were transferred to cottage C the day after due to room availability.
The garden cottage has 1 king-size bed and 1 double bed. The sofa can also double as a bed as it is flat and huge. The room is clean and smells fresh. The bathroom is spacious and we loved the rain-shower head with both hot and cold water. They also provide a complete set of toiletries made from organic materials. They even use organic materials for their laundry soap.
The one thing that separates this resort from all the resorts I’ve been to is the staff’s hospitality. I talked to the Operations Manager specifically to give the staff especially the restaurant staff a commendation. The staff will make you feel welcome and at home.
The resort is huge so be very patient if it takes the staff some time to respond to room delivery/requests.
The buffet breakfast, lunch and dinner are also very good. Not a single viand got served twice the whole time we were there. We also had a picnic lunch in another island (Isla Putting Buhangin) where grilled food was served. Just be careful when eating seaweeds, my stomach ached after eating a few strands. Well, I was hungry and that was the first dish I chewed on so there. We had our dinner in the garden area near the pool on our last night. That was awesome especially with the pianist playing romantic song while people are dining. Kind of reminds me of a garden wedding setup. Really beautiful!
Since there was no TV set in the room we thought that we’d get bored and run out of things to do in the resort but we were wrong. There are so many things that can be done like have a massage, play billiards, table tennis, darts and videoke. You of course can go swimming in the pool or the beach. You can play water sports like ride the Banana boat, go kayaking or snorkel with the fishies and the corals. You can also chill out by the beach on the beach cabanas, beach chairs or the hammock. The best thing about all these? You can do everything for free! They’ll even provide you the equipments that you need. Never ever leave the resort without going snorkeling once or even twice!
The resort is truly picturesque so make sure that you bring your camera charger and an extra memory card because I’ll bet you’ll need it.
The only bad thing about this trip was that the resort staff lost out plane itinerary/receipt. They offered to help us book our flight back home and we agreed (who wouldn’t?) and so we had to give them our itinerary/receipt. They told us that everything was taken cared of the day before we left and we were comfortable. We only found out that our itinerary/receipt was missing when we were already in the airport. I was furious! Good thing is that I brought an extra copy because if not, we would have missed our flight. Tip, take care of your own return flight, you’ll stand in line and do the usual but that’ll only take a few minutes. Better that than miss a flight.
Overall, our Dos Palmas experience was great! Better than I ever thought it would be.
