The hotels on mactan in general seem to be a bit overpriced, Cordova reef has nice rooms, but lack some things you might expect for such a high priced hotel - like somewhere to put your bags when your living out of your suitcase, dividing walls between the bathroom and the sleeping area (just a curtain which can be embaressing at times). An example of over pricing is - local internet 150 pesos/hour versus locally - 20pesos / hour, over priced food and drink. The beach if you can call it that is ugly, the hotel is very remote and my Filipina wife even had doubts about safety in the local area. Whilst the hotel and the room is nice, if you want to go on the beach, go diving, shopping etc, you're actually better off somewhere else, perhaps even a completely different island. Lack of taxis can be a problem because of the remoteness of this hotel. Really we just felt like we were out on a limb for a few days, and barely made our flight on the way back. A nice hotel, but just in the wrong spot - scruffy beach and even scruffier village along side.

All I cn say is that Cordova Reosrt was fantastic!The rooms were really clean and elegant looking. The tubs are perfect for honeymooners like us!i highly recommend this place to those whi really want some romantic private moment.

This was without a doubt the worst holiday for us. Cordova Reef Village Resort was just awful. Beside everything that went wrong (and we have only listed the major things here), the resort is surrounded by a VERY poor residential area and we noticed one night that a few of them were carrying guns. Security at the resort was practically non existent so this made us feel very vulnerable. We stayed for 11 days. We actually tried to leave the day after we arrived but everywhere else was fully booked while we were there. When we arrived, the phones did not work and it took a week to get them fixed and then they only worked for one day. This just compounded the problem as whenever anything went wrong I did not have the convenience of just picking up the phone to get it sorted out. Here goes: Accommodation - 1. The rooms were filthy, there was a thick layer of dirt near the shower which housekeeping never cleaned up even though we pointed it out. 2. Room was not well lit so very dark in the middle of the day. 3. Phones did not work so could not order room service (not that you would want to!). 4. Housekeeping would forget to make up our rooms so on one day we were left without towels, toilet paper and soap. 5. We constantly had to ask housekeeping to replenish amenities such as soap and toilet paper. 6. Mini bar was not restocked everyday with water (water is not drinkable in the Philippines so bottled water is essential) so we would run out. 7. Spa bath did not work at all. Food - 1. The food was DISGUSTING. The mashed potatoes were literally like rubber. We had to eat elsewhere everynight and this resort is in the middle of nowhere so the nearest place was about a 30 min taxi ride - this was obviously an added expense. 2. We ate at the restaurant the first night and there were only 8 guests in the restaurant and we had to wait 45 minutes for our meal. When we inquired about the wait we were told that they were "a little bit busy" (I nearly choked on my pineapple juice!). 3. Advertised the rate as being inclusive of a buffet breakfast - we never saw it! Facilities - 1. The pool lounge chairs and tables were absolutely filthy. They looked like they had never been cleaned. 2. The pool was not cleaned once in our first week there. General - 1. We hired a jetski that needed servicing. There was just no power to it. 2 - one night we were woken up in the middle of the night by a loud bang in our room. We could not find what had caused it so no problem. Just about to fall back asleep when the mini bar fridge starts making really loud noises. We eventually get that fixed ourselves and just about to get back to sleep and at 5am the staff start blaring music from the restaurant area. Because the phones are not working it means I have to get up and dressed and walk to reception to get them to fix it. We had been there almost a week at this stage and had had enough. We asked to speak to the manager. 2 days later we had heard nothing so we asked again. They ended up sending the sales manager to see us and he past on our complaints to the manager. 2 days later we still had not heard from the manager and they sent the assistant operations manager to see us and we were told that there is no resort manager. By this time there was another family who had arrived and left out of disgust also. They told us that the resort tried to get them to pay a higher room rate on leaving! Another thing that also compounded our frustration was that when we first arrived it was just my husband and I there and 3 Korean couples so service was quite skimpy - which did not bother us too much, but when a few Europeans started to arrive suddenly the pool was being cleaned every morning, nice music was being played at breakfast etc. They eventually gave us a very small discount and we refused to pay for any food we had while there and then on checking out they tried to get us to pay for more. I lost it and we left. We wised up and spent most of our days at the Shangrila Mactan Island Resort during the day. I would recommend that place or Alegre or Pulchre!