Booking our Bantayan Island accommodation has got to be one of the toughest decisions in this trip’s planning phase. I had at least 4 options and every single day I change my mind either because beach X is cheaper than beach Y or beach Z looked prettier in pictures than beach X and so on. But when you drop the X, Y and Z, what do you get? Beach, right. It’s after all what we came to Bantayan for so I settled for the one with the best beachfront – Kota Beach Resort.
However, it is important to note that while past visitors of Kota were raving about the beach, it also has a lot of negative reviews all over the net – poor customer service, unkempt rooms, everything in the resort needs to be replaced, and the list goes on. I discussed it with J and what he kept telling me is that the only thing that matters is him and me together. Alright, I got that recorded, just in case he rants when we get there. Hahahaha.
Fast forward to noon of our second day in Cebu. We docked in Sta. Fe and as we made our way out of the ferry, I already saw this:
Transfers from port to the resort and back is free when you have a booking at Kota Beach.
We reached the resort in about 5 minutes. The shuttle driver, Kuya Dodong, is very accommodating, he even carried our things to the reception area. We waited awhile for the person in charge and when she arrived, she handed our key to Kuya Dodong who more than willingly led us to our room. I booked an Aircon Room Double but I requested him to show us the beachfront cottage as well since I’m considering an upgrade if I’m not satisfied with what I booked. He obliged :-)
Above is how a beachfront cottage looks like. It has 1 double bed and 1 single bed, a CR and its own veranda overlooking the beach. It’s very spacious, can probably fit 4 or 5 with extra mattresses. Kuya Dodong offered it to us for Php1500 instead of Php 1700. That’s when I realized a couple of things:
* I booked with i-link.ph and I kinda felt that it was a wrong move because eventhough they say that they don’t have booking fees, they stick with the standard rates. My only consolation is that they have a Manila line and I didn’t have to make long distance calls for inquiries. And they were prompt and patience in answering my e-mails.
* If I booked directly with the resort, I could have gotten our room at (maybe) Php1000 instead of Php1260 especially since it was lean season. Oh well, better luck next time.
J said that the cottage might be too big for us so we settled for the one that we booked. Let me show you pictures of Aircon Room Double.
From the outside. Nothing fancy, really.
Here’s the bed. We dived into it right away ‘cause we got too excited as it was a lot bigger and more comfortable than the previous night’s. The sheets were not exactly new but it’s not so bad either. We had a good night sleep that we failed to catch the sunrise as planned. Fail! Haha.
This side is right across the bed. The aircon is another thing that made J like this room better. According to him, it’s newer than that in the beachfront cottage (yep, he noticed that!) It met our expectations – we were both freezing in the middle of the night. Hahaha. And then behind the native blinds is a window looking out to the restaurant. I think it’s high enough for people not to peek into the room but we still get paranoid sometimes. Since it’s near a common area, there’s that feeling that anytime someone would accidentally break in. Good thing though there’s none :-)
The bathroom is clean enough for me. The flush works and the water supply is sufficient. However there’s no heater and there’s something about the water coming out of the shower. Ugh. Sorry I don’t know how to describe it but J said he didn’t feel a hundred percent clean after rinsing/bathing. Maybe it’s from a deep well or something. There’s also no bidet but when I asked for a pail and dipper, they were able to provide. So folks I’m happy to report that service isn’t as bad as depicted in the reviews. The Kota Beach staff was able to attend to us whenever we need assistance.
This time the reviews were right. The table and chair are kinda old.
I’m sure they’d appreciate a replacement ;-)
No cabinets as well, only this wooden shelf.
Not a big deal though ‘cause we prefer not to take our things out of our bags.
Now let’s go to the beach! :D
The vast serene sea and the clear blue skies were truly an amazing sight!
And of course, the sandbar that Kota boasts of!
You don’t always get to stand in the middle of bodies of water, do you? :)
One side of the beach. I just wish they do a little up-keeping.
Lotsa dried seaweeds on the shore.
Beach lounge chairs + shade of the coconut trees = the perfect spot to while away time
But it looks like J has other plans…
Hey, hey, where do you think you’re going, honey?
Come back here and take a picture of me first! Haha!
Please excuse that big tummy and just focus on everything else. Like the cover-up top that I’m wearing. It’s nice, no? It’s the perfect beach wear for those who wanna reveal a little but not feel too nekkid :)
Now it’s his turn to be photographed.
A semi-emo shot right there. Hahaha.
That’s me experimenting with the camera. Bear with it ;-P
As usual, the boyfriend trying out every jumpshot pose possible.
Let me just say how much I love this shot. He’s too happy for words. Agree?
It took a lot of tries before we were able to come up with those two shots.
Methinks they’re worth it :-)
Beach-bumming won’t be complete without scribbling on the sand. I forgot to take a photo of what I wrote but it’s supposed to be J & M @ 6 (Jhay and Maude at 6 years, that is!)
No pictures swimming? Yeah, I noticed that too but that’s because we didn’t swim on our first day there. I’ll just include our few water shots in my snorkeling and island hopping post.
All in all, I’m giving this resort 3.5 out of 5. If you, too, don’t mind basic amenities and would just want to marvel at the natural beauty of Philippine beaches, Kota Beach at Bantayan Island is for you.
Other posts from my Cebu Getaway Series:
Cebu Getaway: The Beginning
Cebu Getaway: East Capitol Pensionne
Cebu Getaway: SM Cebu and CNT Lechon
Cebu Getaway: Cebu City Tour
Cebu Getaway: Bantayan Island
Cebu Getaway: Bantayan Town Tour
Cebu Getaway: Snorkeling and Island Hopping
Cebu Getaway: Gran Tierra Suites
Cebu Getaway: Casa Verde
Cebu Getaway: Skywalk Extreme
Cebu Getaway: See you again, Cebu!
