Best Boutique Hotels Dauin

"Good for experienced divers but not for new divers, solo travellers, relaxing beach time or a deluxe experience even though it was £200+ a night so I did not think it was good value. For me it was just the wrong choice and I didn't do enough research. The main disappointment comes down to me basing my expectations on the price instead of the 3 star rating. I haven't paid that much for a hotel before and usually go for 4 or 5 star places so I just don't understand the pricing, maybe that's just how it is in the Philippines. The staff and service are good, breakfast and the room are ok, spa and diving are the good amenities so it might be the diving location which warrants the price. Lunch and dinner are good. I recommend the honey yoghurt muesli with mango and the chicken salad (with a dressing) for breakfast. Everything I had on the lunch/dinner menu was great - the tom kha gai soup, Dorado, burger, curry etc all good. Small range of beers and cocktails available but cocktails were good too. The room and bathroom are fine for 3 star standards. There is termite stuff falling from the wood beams and dead moths or similar insects on shelves which did not get cleaned away. The Swedish massage was good, I recommend Gail. The shiatsu was painful and pinched my skin so she switched to Swedish. The pool is murky and not enticing to swim in, lots of mozzies around it too. I much preferred the beach and water conditions further down at Dauin. I like to relax on a nice beach and swim etc. that's where the great snorkeling is too. But the water at Atlantis is too rough and windy and the beach too narrow. Although the dive masters are great for leading dives and probably for the other diving skills, I wouldn't recommend getting your open water certificate here especially if you're at all nervous about it. There were some differences with the SSI videos like being able to practise boat entry in the pool first and using a snorkel that I would have preferred what with the condition of the water there. The beach, water and entry conditions are so much better 20-30min down the beach at Dauin, Bongo Bongo beach. I managed to earn my open water and it was the reason for this trip but it wasn't a pleasant experience and I watched the divers enter at Dauin quite jealously. Considering you can do 4-5 dives a day here plus a day for Apo island, I think 3-4 days here would be perfect. The hotel tour prices were a bit more expensive than others I found and they do not arrange joiner tours so as a solo traveller, their tours were prohibitively expensive. For some reason there were no joiner tours available outside the hotel either, I don't know if that's because of the season (jan-feb) or that's usual for the Philippines but it's the first time I've experienced that in my travels. The tour to Apo Island is good and well arranged. The only thing is as a snorkeler you have to wait until after lunch to get to the shallow turtle area but it was great and a benefit of going with the hotel is you leave on their boat right from the hotel, no need to drive to the ferry."

"There are hotel Toyota commercial vehicles to and from the airport, but you have to call the hotel reception to make a reservation, and Feiwei’s English is really difficult to understand. The service staff are very nice and will take the initiative to greet them with a smile. The restaurant's menu selection is not rich. If you live for a long time, you can easily get tired of eating. You can choose Asian stir-fries and emphasize not to mix rice in it. This is closer to the feeling of Chinese food. The biggest feature of the whole hotel is diving. You can snorkel or dive on the beach at the door. The sandy area below is about 3-15 meters. Coral resources are still rich. It is very convenient to go to APO. There is a boat past the hotel. Not much experience is good. I would like to praise Laila from the diving center, Hunan girl. If you go to the PADI course, you can find her. She is very enthusiastic and attentive, and her level is excellent. The girl has just turned ten years old. She is very patient to guide her and dispel the inner fear. And especially it was very hard to take her to shore diving alone. The hotel can go directly to see whale sharks. There is a special car and a preferential channel. The queue time is short and there are fruit drinks to eat. If you want to leave early or go out early, you can also inform the restaurant to pack breakfast. The breakfast is very rich and very good. Be sure to get ad PADI next time you come."

"Advantages: The facilities in the house are excellent, the room is very large, and it is very close to the sea, suitable for soaking in the hotel for vacation. The hotel’s meal is delicious, and it’s horrible if there is no online report. We have eaten in the hotel these days and nights. The price is really expensive compared to the Philippines, but it is still very cheap compared to China. Disadvantages: I went snorkeling three times, nothing, really nothing... I read the comments before saying that there are a lot of fish, but I didn't see it. I was very disappointed; the waiters are all kind to you on the surface, we Enjoyed the service of delivering food to the house, and tipped almost every time, but no one told us that the delivery fee was charged separately. When I finally checked out, I saw the delivery bill and it was not very comfortable to be honest. The fee is based on a percentage; again, I broke a tray of soap in the house, and asked me how much it was when I checked out. I asked me more than 2,000 pesos! Later, I looked at the compensation price list and said that the item corresponding to this price was not broken by us. It was not quite right. Then she said, oh, what you said is not this. Whether it is deliberate or not, I don't feel very comfortable. If I hadn't found out, wouldn't it be useless to get so much money? Finally, after returning to China, I remembered that a pair of earrings fell on the head of the bed, but I didn’t have much money to contact the hotel, but as a good hotel, the service staff should not take the initiative to contact the residents after cleaning the room and seeing the tenants have something left. A moment? Anyway, I will never come to this hotel again."

"The service was warm and thoughtful, the hotel had a very good view, clean and hygienic, the room was relatively large, and the family had no problems with the three. The last time I went, the bath in the bathroom was not very good. I have no problem with this time, and it is a little farther away from the city."

"The whole hotel is very nice, just a little small, only 9 rooms, for 26 guests. But the room is large, the hotel is quiet, the holiday is very comfortable, the pool is small, breakfast is average. Diving (three times the market price) and calling a car are relatively expensive, and the restaurant is slightly more expensive than the outside. All service staff are very good. But I don't understand it. It's a good hotel. The road into the hotel turned out to be a few hundred meters long country bumpy road. It was so boring that every time you take a TUTU car, you must be dizzy. The kitchen is good, but I think it's a display, because if you use the kitchen for 100US/day, it won't cost you a lot of food at any restaurant outside."