Isla Amara Resort

The Check-in was smooth / we were late getting to resort so didn’t experience any fancy welcome or drinks but that’s okay. The room was large clean and well designed. The staff were attentive and friendly. The location is away from the busy town centre and the resort is very quiet and private. I highly recommend. 300 peso flat rate to town centre / 450 peso to zip line. We did tour A & C island hoping / it was breath taking beautiful there were just too many people on these beaches for my liking during these tours. Did them once / won’t do them again. I would stay and enjoy this fixity more if I could have a do over

Staff were poorly trained, little idea of what good customer service is, they tried to charge us twice for a transfer to Puerto Princessa. No hand towels in room, only bath towels. Very disappointed for an upscale boutique hotel. On the positive the rooms are great and bed is comfortable.

Pros: - Excellent beach proximity with clean shores, ample seating, umbrellas, stunning sunset views, and easy access to Lio beach. - Abundance of restaurants in the vicinity. - Reservations staff (Ms. Ehzyl) and Front Office staff (Ms. Shaira) showcased efficient work, prompt decision-making, and exceptional customer service. Cons: - Requested connecting rooms, received non-adjoining rooms on different floors despite advanced booking. - Initial room had unpleasant odor, leaking air conditioning, and insect presence. - Engineering attempted fixes while we were out, but water leakage and odor persisted. - Overnight Front Office staff (Shaira) was swift in addressing concerns, successfully resolving issues within 45 minutes. Breakfast: - Limited breakfast choices presented as a buffet, lacking proper ventilation, leading to lingering food odors. - Poorly managed breakfast venue, including incomplete table setup and delayed opening times. Guest Room: - Room floor was sticky and dirty. - Thin and flimsy hotel slippers. - Absence of face towels, only bath and floor towels provided. - Clipped fingernails under the lamp desk - TV has no channels Overall: - Attractive location. - Staff displayed kindness, but additional hospitality and professional development are required for a more satisfying experience in the hospitality industry.

My siblings and I celebrated our birthdays in El Nido and we chose to stay in Isla Amara. So happy with our decision! Quiet and relaxing vibe in the resort, nature-vibe with a lot of plants and trees in sight, perfect for those who just want to stayput the whole day or those like us who spent fun but tiring days on local tours and needed to rest afterwards. Afternoon and evening swim are our favorite. The pool is not that big but we never felt too crowded even with other guests around. We spent a lot of time in the pool and in the poolside area. the The pool lounge beds are so comfortable. Bonus: free ice cream in the afternoon! Isla Amara is only a very short walk to Lio beach. You can actually view the beach from their bar area. We love Lio beach, not too quiet but not too loud, no big crowd, it’s perfect! There are a few restaurant choices in the area and our favorite is The Red Crab, which is beside Isla Amara. The resort is 10-15 mins ride via Car and 15-20 mins ride via Tricycle going to the town center. For tours, we were picked up and dropped off at the resort. Isla Amara booked us with Go Paradise tours and we highly recommend them! On days we wanted to try other restaurants in town, we needed to ride the tricycle. It’s easy to get one, just ask the front desk. It’s ₱300 pesos one way. It’s definitely a fair price for the distance alone. Personally, we preferred to just eat in the restaurants nearby, so we can just walk back to our room or stay in the beach area chairs to relax before calling it a night. Hopefully more restaurants open in the area for more choices. Our booked room is not that big but spacious enough for 3 adults. The beds and pillows are comfortable. The room is clean and smells really good. That’s actually the first thing we noticed when we entered the room. The wifi in our room is bad so we used our 5G most of the time. Not much of a big deal but could be improved. Wifi in the reception area is strong. Overall, we had a pleasant stay. Would definitely recommend to family and friends! We would like to give special thanks to all the staff of Isla Amara. More than everything else, they made our stay worthwhile. Thank you for the El Nido hospitality. 💚 P.S. Thank you for the birthday surprises. We didn’t expect it but they’re highly appreciated! We felt like VIPs. Thank you for the effort. Definitely made us happier!

Eigentlich sehe ich lieber das positive, leider hat hier zuvieles nicht geklappt. Wir buchten zwei Zimmer, eines für die drei Kinder und eines für uns. Wir hatten dem Hotel im voraus geschrieben, dass wir diese nebeneinander möchten. Bei der Ankunft war dies nicht mehr möglich. Es gab nur eine Zimmerkarte (Schlüssel), eine zusätzliche hätte noch 500 Php (9€) gekostet. Das dreier Zimmer der Kinder war großzügig und schön. In der Buchungsbestätigung stand jedoch mit Balkon, den es nicht gab. Wir fragten nach einer Reduktion, die vom Hotel bis zum Schluss nicht beantwortet wurde, jedoch von Booking ein Teil zurück erstattet wurde. Wir buchten mehrmals ein Taxi, Tuctuc oder Van über das Hotel, da es vom Hotel aus keine andere Möglichkeit gibt. Es wurde jedesmal vergessen, kam bis mehr als eine Stunde zu spät und war horrend überteuert (Wenn man diese für die Rückfahrt direkt buchte, klappte es immer, da die Fahrer mit uns Touristen auch so noch gut verdienen). Das Personal ist zwar sehr freundlich, lächelt, hat aber keine Ahnung. Zum Glück wussten wir das am Ende unseres Aufenthalt, sonst hätten wir auch den Flug verpasst, mit der Zeitangabe des Rezeptionisten. An der Hotelbar mussten wir einmal mehr als 15min warten bis die Bedienung kam, weitere 10min bis unsere Drinks kamen und nach dem bezahlen nochmals 15min auf das Rückgeld. Am Schluss nervte alles nur noch, doch vielleicht macht hier jemand eine bessere Erfahrung, ich wünsche angenehme Ferien.

2 star for staff courteousness and for breakfast. The Room is supposedly a Celebrity Suite. Shower head is taped with electrical tape, you need to force the outlet to plug 🔌 in your charger. There’s no phone or intercom in the room, you need to walk back to the reception area to call for help. There is no Wi fi in our room 221. There is no TV channel even after the maintenance staff tried to fix it. He said they need to call the main office in manila to see why the channels aren’t running properly LOL… but other rooms has local channels. You have to wake up early to avail a good breakfast… Bring your own hair conditioner, body soap they have shampoo and bath gel but ours is empty. If you like wash cloth, bring your own because they don’t replenish it.

Good • Modern, well maintained and very clean. • Wonderful local beach area, far enough away from El Nido itself for peace and quiet, but not so far that it is inconvenient. • Several restaurants, bars, entertainment venues within walking range. • Beautiful boat trip Palawan adventurous.Big Lagoon, Simisu Island, Secret Lagoon and 7 Commando Island. Bad • The van trip up from Puerto Princea to El Nido was horrendous. Five hours of pure discomfort, rocky and bumbpy roads on steel curved terrain, and totally unsafe. The driver was continually speeding swerving, etc, I realize that this is normal for driving in the PI, but it is definitely a learning experience fro those from the USA. And added to the issue was the fact that on the trip back, we were driving at night, in the rain, and, added to the concern was the fact that the seatbelts in back were broken and not working.