My wife and I joined friends of ours to enjoy a wonderful stay at Artista in March 2008.

As mentioned in the reviews below, Artista is located on Diniwid which is a cove round from the much busier White Beach. It is a 10 minute walk on a path that takes you round the front of the rocks. If you don't fancy the walk or it's too dark you simply jump in a tricycle cab which takes 5 mins and costs 100 pesos (about £1.20). For us the location was perfect - you get to enjoy the benefits of a quiet secluded beach or explore the numerous bars and restaurants just a few minutes away.

Upon arriving at Caticlan Airport we were met by 'Mr Sam' in the Artista speedboat who whisks you straight to the beach front outside Artista. We had one of the two rooms on the top floor which i would recommend requesting as you get the lovely views of the beach. The rooms are pretty basic but you get a Aircon, TV, Minibar / Fridge (reasonable prices) as well as a surprisingly comfortable bed and a very nice power shower. It's certainly not high end luxury, but it does the important things well and you can't really put a price on hearing the ocean as you fall asleep or wake up in the morning.

Artista is ably run by Jimmy and Nenita with their lovely staff. It has a very friendly atmosphere and you get to know but the staff and other guests over tasty breakfast each morning. Nenita will also help you arrange everything from boat trips, Spas, rounds of golf and romantic meals on secluded beaches.

Whilst we were staying, unusual weather conditions that meant much of the beach was removed by high tides. The locals sandbagged areas under threat and as we left the beach looked to be returning to normal. Despite this, we still sunbathed and spent most days on Diniwid, occasionally heading around to White Beach for a bit of variation. If you want to do this, i would recommend heading to the newly opened Kasbah (next to Fridays) which has Loungers you can use for free as well as delicious N African fare, and good cocktails.#

Staying at Artista and being looked after by the staff really made our holiday special. As such, I would definitely recommend Artista and very much hope to return one day

Artista is great place to stay. My husband and I stayed for 11 nights in Feb-March this year and had a truly relaxing time.The staff are friendly and helpful and we never had the sense that we were being handled or scammed. In fact they really couldn't do enough to make our stay a memorable one: buying us crabs at the market for a special feast, organising a boat trip round the island with seafood lunch, even sourcing a comfy chair for my husband's dodgy back !

Other beach front properties in Borocay typically charge US$200+ per night. At perhaps half this cost, a room at Artista is excellent value. But you have to understand that this is a small place, more like a pensione. The rooms are not large. Those who seek the glamour and facilities of 5 star properties won't find them here. But what you will find is a funky, clean, quiet place with genuinely friendly people, and of course those excellent power showers!

A word about Diniwid. No it is not White Beach and thank heavens for that! However, comments that suggest that holiday makers at Diniwid are somehow isolated and inconvenienced are just not accurate. For the record, it's an easy 15 minute walk along the beach and around the cliff path to the beginning of White Beach and Friday's resort (if you are after upscale food or diving with Calypso). You probably wouldn't want to attempt this in the dark - more because you might stub your toes than because of any threat from dodgy characters. From Friday's it will take you a further 25-30 minutes to walk all the way to D-Mall. But it's not a problem because for 100pesos each way you can jump in a motorcycle side-car taxi at Diniwid and be driven to just about anywhere you want. We headed out most evenings for dinner at D-Mall etc. and there was never a problem about getting straight back home again afterwards.

To my mind investing 200-400pesos a day in taxi-trikes was a mere drop in the ocean compared to the $$$ we were saving in terms of room cost. Plus I really preferred being in a pretty spot away from the main drag with all its noise and bother.

If you are feeling lazy there are good food options at Diniwid itself. Wahine's serves cheap, simple and well-priced food on the beachfront and right next to Artista is Nami Resort with delicious upscale food. The view from their balcony restaurant at lunchtime is amazing.

Artista deserves it's excellent ratings - a very special place.

For us Artista is the idyllic Boracay hotel, located right by the sea front on Diniwid beach. We spent seven restful nights in this oasis of tranquillity, perfect after spending our first week in bustling Manila having travelled to the Philippines from London. Artista is a small hotel with the emphasis on providing a high quality friendly service. The hotel is very clean and the nine rooms are all decorated in an intimate boutique style (the power showers in each room deserve a special mention!!).

The staff are all extremely friendly and are keen to make your stay as enjoyable as possible. The owners Nenita & Jimmy are very welcoming and made our stay highly relaxing and pleasurable. The hotel is perfect if you are seeking a small intimate hotel away from the package tours, noise and day-to-day hassles of White beach (eg vendors trying to sell you sun glasses or sailing trips every 10m along the beach). My wife and I were very happy to have chosen Artista because of its special location, which is peaceful, but with the option of heading to White Beach for the night life and crowds when we wanted (White beach is 15 mins walk along the sea shore or less then 10 mins in a trike for transport at night).

In short we cannot find fault with our stay at Artista, if you want a small boutique hotel located away from the package tours (but within a short distance of White Beach), with very friendly attentive staff then Artista is the place to stay. We certainly didn't want to leave!!

We looked at the trip advisor info on this hotel, the hotel description and even spoke to the phone person and was left with impression hotel is on white beach. No where in the hotel write up says Diniwid. The girl on phone said a few minutes to the bars. Many of the reviews of this place also dont mention Diniwid now that I look at them making me wonder who wrote those reviews. We were very disappointed when we showed up on Diniwid to learn we were not on white beach. Yes, we are part to blame, but the ad of this hotel is misleading and the staff who said it takes a few minutes to the bars forgot to tell us you can not walk there in the dark or home at night as it dont seem safe with many drunks on the cliff. The hotel staff was nice enough but it appears the hotel wants you to think you will be on white beach when in fact you are not. The Diniwid beach is nice during date, dont get me wrong, but for sure we were mislead and when we told them that they just said we misunderstood the ad and staff. Well now that we have time and look at this hotel again on this web page, why dont you clearly state Diniwid, not white beach and the bars are not walking distance safely at night.