Frendz Resort Boracay

My friend and I were the first time to Boracay, we didn't know too much about the place so before we left, we prepared everything to ensure we have a place to stay. We made reservation for a room of six (private ensuite) for 2 nights. The reviews from the internet seems pretty good and the picture of the place look great. We sent an email to tell the owner about our flight and he confirmed us that free transportation to hotel would be provided from Caticlan airport.

We arrived, waited outside the airport for half an hour, all the travellers were picked up. We called the hotel, the staff said they didn't get any instruction from their master to pick up anyone in the airport but they will come as soon as possible. We waited again for half an hour, no one came and travellers from the next plane were all left. Called again and waited again. Finally, the staff came 1.5 hours after our plane landed.

And you know what is "free transportation" means? A staff bring you to take the local tricycle (which is just 1m besides the airport) and boat to Boracay , with fare paid by yourself. Then why should they asked us to wait for 1.5 hours? Why don't we just take the tricycle right after we got off!

The road to hotel from the main road is a mess! It is an unpaved muddy path at the back of a group of construction sites (you have to know that it almost rains every night in Boracay, imagine what the path like). We didn't see any traveller there in the hotel and it may just becuase August is the low season in Boracay. Our ensuite is a 2 story bungalows, it looked pretty good(from the outside but the linen were full of dust) and we all felt excited even after all the waitings.

It is just 5-10 mins walk from the hotel to the beach but you better bring a flashlight if you decide go out at night becuase the path from the beach to hotel has no lighting at all and is unpaved!

I understand there is no way to ignore lizard and sudden short circuit of electricity in Boracay but please don't come across to me at once. I just hated to stand in the DARK when I am having a shower with hundreds of Lizard (a bit overreacting) on the wall, and it happens on me twice! Their backup electricity was really slow that it took them 10 mins to give us back the light.

Above all are NOT the reasons I don't like this hotel and made us moved to somewhere else even we didn't got refund for the 2nd night.

While we were waiting everybody to shower, we heard some noise. It liked sound from some kind of animal. We didn't pay attention at first but later on the noise keep coming "around". We tried to figure it out and we were sure that it was noise from mouse or more correctly - mice! We can trace how the sound goes but we didn't find any mouse inside the compartment. We guess the mice were "in" the wall (2 layered wall). The noise were there all night. We can't sleep at all.

I have to say that this hotel/hostel is more "natural" compare to most of the hotel in Boracay. I think somebody has good comments about it but my experience was really bad. I don't think I will consider this hotel again. In fact, we only paid a few US more per person for another night to get a hotel with very clean room, TV, private verandahs that able to see the sunset, A/C, free good breakfast, nice staff etc. right off the beach.

I read the review from Makati Boy at backpacker.net even before we booked our accomodation in Frendz, and I don't know why I never really paid attention to it. For our 3 nights stay in Boracay, we hardly slept because the partitions between the walls were so thin that we could hear every word in the other room. Plus, the stairs were so narrow that you have to hold on real tight otherwise you would fall. So it's dangerous for kids to stay here. Also when we got there, the tv got busted and had to be brought to the shop. Although it was repaired the same day, this just tells you how old their stuff are - the tv was obviously bought from a surplus shop. If you would read other reviews, it's true that their faucet is leaking and also very rusty. The walk from the beach to the cottage is also very exhausting. I would also have to agree that the alleyway going there is scary,dark,and smelly and you would have to walk thru rocks and dirt. Plus they have a lot of fees that you could never imagine. If you request for an additional roll of tissue, it's p25?! If you would read the owner's comment at hostelworld.com, it's not true that the extra tissues are free because it's indicated in the bathroom that it's not.For an extra towel, it's P40. We stayed in a fan cooled bungalow house. And in the loft, it was real hot.They only supplied us with only 2 fans, and there are 3 beds. An additional fan is p200, and that's per day. I don't think that a small fan would cost that much electricity in just one day. Not to mention that they would also charge you lots of fees if you would stain their beddings or towels with tattoo-from p300 to p800, does not matter if the bedding is old and faded when it could be removed by p20 worth of detergent. I think this is their profitable way of getting rid of old beddings. And since we can hear the people in the other room, they were talking about how the owner were charging them p50 to have their corned beef cooked in the kitchen. If I was the owner, I would give them courtesy since these people have stayed for quite a while already. There are also mosquitoes everywhere since the surroundings are not well kept. I would also have to agree with Makati Boy that the owner is very unfriendly and an opportunist. She was saying sorry when the tv got busted but was smiling at the same time. That's not very sincere if you would ask me.She also charged us additional for 2 hours when we paid the full amount once we got there.She is really hungry for money. My family was really disappointed, and would never ever return there or recommend this resort to anybody. I was in the call center industry for 5 years and I know what great customer service should be. So believe me, they are far from it! There are lots of other resorts in Boracay where you can stay for the same price and much, much better accomodation so please don't be fooled by this one. We were really sorry we stayed here.