Our initial impression of this hotel was tainted by the problems booking and paying for the stay. It was a challenge … it took one fax and 2 emails to finally get confirmation of our payment and that we would have a room when we arrived [given that the confirmation came a couple days before our flight, this created some angst].

This hotel probably has the best accommodations on Boracay [we heard that a Shangri-La is being built that could be better but it will not be on the main/best beach so we probably won’t stay there if we go back in the future].

We had just stayed at the Westin on Langkawi in Malaysia [which had about the best service my wife and I had ever experienced – the beach does not compare to Boracay’s which is about the best next to Anguilla or Cancun – when calm, the water is a crystal clear blue that must be seen to be appreciated] so we found ourselves comparing the service at Discovery Shores to the Westin during our trip … the staff at Discovery Shores is clearly well trained, friendly and helpful but not as polished [really a relative thing … the service was top-notch].

Our first room was very nice but the balcony had poor view [about a quarter of the pool at the kid’s end]. We asked for another room with a sea view and got it on day 3 [the desk staff were very helpful with this change but did not know which rooms had a great view … I had to check out the rooms we wanted … a lot of stairs climbed in a short period of time : )] … the new room was a bit larger [#319 as I recall] and the balcony had a majestic view of the beach and horizon [if you can get this room, I highly recommend it – neither room had a bath but the shower in each was nice].

Food at the hotel:
We only ate room service and breakfast at the hotel. Breakfast was fine … didn’t change much from day to day except for the local food which was OK. Room service food was above average but the pricing on the menu was out of date … the actual costs were higher … we had to pay the higher prices even though my wife made an issue of it … not smart on the hotel’s part [not that I cared but my wife was pissed about it].

Kids:
We traveled with our daughters [aged 3 and 4] and they had a great time. The hotel provided sand tools [small shovels and molds for building sand castles]. The hotel beach security personnel were very friendly with the kids and were fine with entertaining them between the times that we spent with them and we lounged on the beach. The pool is segmented into kiddy and adult areas … the construction is well thought out and very safe for young children.

There is a kid’s center with games, activities, a TV and DVDs … there is also baby-sitting services but they are poorly priced [way too expensive] so we did not use them.

Golf:
Don’t bother bringing your clubs unless money is no object to you … we checked out the only golf course on the island and it was OK … the greens and fairways had a municipal look and the cost was about 3-4 times how much they should be charging [about US$150 per round with your own clubs including caddies and cart– both required].

Diving:
Same as Golf, diving in Boracay is WAY over-priced [apparently they have a price fixing arrangement amongst their dive operations … the price is set and agreed to so there is little or no competition] … for comparison, Boracay costs are about 3x what we paid in Maldives and Boracay is ranked about 9th or 10th in the Philippines … Maldives is ranked in the top 10 Worldwide.

Food on the island:
There are many very good restaurants within walking distance of Discovery Shores. The restaurant in the hotel on the right as one faces the beach is quite nice … we had a great dinner there. There is a Sushi and Greek restaurant in the D-Mall about a 30 mins walk from the hotel that are both much better than average [I cannot remember the names of either but they are the only ones of each].

Other observations:
Travel to Boracay is strenuous … we flew out of Kuala Lumpur; the transfer from the International to the Domestic terminals in Manila was awkward and crowded … make sure you have your itinerary if you have an e-ticket or you are FUBAR’d. The domestic terminal has a couple of gates and a waiting area about 25% as large as it needs to be to process the flights on the date of our flight [“crowded” does not begin to describe it]. You fly into Caticlan [which is an experience in it self … the air strip is on the other side of a tall hill so you feel like you’re about 20 feet from hitting the hill while landing … probably a scarier experience than flying into the old HK airport : )]. Transfers from the airport to the boat are OK … if you need to go to the bathroom, go on the plane because there is no bathroom in the transfer station while you wait for the van.

Wear footwear that can get wet as the boat stairs can be on a beach in the water … the boat ride to Boracay is short [about 15-20 mins] … probably no risk of sea-sickness.

Beware the porters who will ping you about a tip … one came on the boat and weirded me with a seriously scary look stating that they had transported our bags … a tip of 40 Peso’s is about right [we had 3 bags]. I did not know better at the time and gave him 3 US$s.

We did not use the SPA at Discovery Shores. My wife found a lady named Edna on the beach who gave her daily massages and a couple of Coconut body scrubs for a fraction of the cost. Edna can also baby-sit for a fraction of the resort fee … we did not need it because we decided not to Dive or play golf … Edna has [as I recall] nine kids and was great with our daughters!

The pool is short and got murky during the week but one can do laps.

There is currently no gym on-site ... they said they are building one.

Tip about 40-50 Peso's [about 1 US$] frequently and very good service will become great.

All that said, we plan to go back next year and stay in this hotel again. Sadly, when we got back to Malaysia, we played a round of golf and my wife’s hand bag was stolen … one of the items in the bag was our digital camera … we lost all the Pics we took so we need to go back and re-take them : )

wchorosz@yahoo.com

This hotel costs a pretty buck and as such, I do expect a lot from it. As part of the S&L hotel list, I would measure it against other hotels in that class. So I am going to nitpick but also try to give a balance opinion of my recent 2 nights stay there (10-12 April).

I made my bookings via a website and got good rates (about US$350 per night). However, emails to them requesting went unanswered twice, which was a rather bad start. In the end, I called and managed to get hold of them.

Transfer to the hotel from Caticlan went without a hitch. Private bus, boat, porter service, etc. The property itself is like a nice condo, the rooms are decent size (we got a junior suite) and contain all the amenities you need for the stay. The in-room welcome foot bath was a nice touch.

Things I like:

1) Good quality rooms/general property (especially compared to other hotels on the island, the hotel standards in Boracay are not very high...). Decent restaurant (only one), a library with free internet, small pool, etc.

2) Great service. The staff try their best to cater to your every whim. The beach service is great! We sat ourselves down and immediately, we got drinks. All through the day, we got served finger food, lychee sorbet, avacado ice cream, etc! They also give you iced cucumber for your eyes and sliced oranges for your cheeks. Not kidding. :)

3) Great location at station1, which has the best beach spot. Not as crazy as station 2, wider beach front. Pristine sand/waters right in front of the hotel.

4) Hotel offers free shuttle to d'mall, talipapa etc. Very convenient to get around.

Things I don't like:

1) Mismatch of architecture (which was modern, clean-cut) and interior design/lighting. The green and multicolored lights at night gave the hotel a rather cheap feel. The multi-coloured glass "artwork" behind the front desk was also rather ghastly. The 14-feet waterfall is, to me, pretentious. It just feels tacky to me, like they are trying too hard.

2) Rigid checkout time. I wanted to check out at 1pm, but was told I need to pay extra money. Good grief. The best they can do for me is 12:30pm.

3) The clientale is decidedly family-orientated and as a result, the resort is rather noisy with kids running around. I personally prefer a quieter ambiance. The hotel guests are predominantly Filipinos and I discovered they like to chat, quite a lot and rather loudly too. :p

Overall, I think this is the best you can do in Boracay. If I return, that's where I will probably stay again, unless the Shangrila is ready. However, I don't think this hotel is as good as the other S&L hotels that I have been to, especially for the prices they charge. Elegance, grace and peace is missing. But I guess it's good enough, for now.

I stayed at Discovery Shores Boracay in mid-March 2008 and reserved the Junior Suite for two nights through travel agent.

By the time we checked in, the front desk staff did not offer us even one glass of water. After a long trip and several transfers, we felt extremely thirsty and tired while we waited for the arrangement of our room. Obviously, this staff in Discovery Shore was not well-trained. Fortunately, it only took us couple of minutes to get a room.

The room was okay, but the bed was big and comfortable. The bathroom was small and there was no bath tub (shower only) in Junior Suite. Discovery Shores complimented 4 bottle water per day and the South-east Asian dessert in each evening.

The room guest can rent the DVD movie from the front desk for free. If you do not want to walk or to take the tricycle, you can request the hotel to drive you to the restaurants or shopping area which located in station 2 or 3, it is free of charge. It takes only 10 minutes walking to Willy’s Rock and about 20-30 minutes to D’Mall from Discovery Shores.

The best part which I enjoyed the most in Discovery Shore is the beach. When we sit at the beach side, the staff granted cool drinks, juice, frozen fruit, or even slices of cucumber and orange for facial treatment. The sand was fine, the water was clean but cold. The white beach was stunning, but t was not good for snorkeling, as there is no marine life near the beach side. You will need to take a boat to the dive sites around the island to snorkeling.

The front desk staff was polite but soulless. During the first night of my stay, I found that there was no hair dryer in our room, the staff responded quickly and managed to send one to us in 10 minutes. You can also request the front staff to arrange the activity, such as island hoping (Php1,800 for 3 hours), but the quality might be similar to what you could get outside of the hotel, as the boatman was not the hotel staff.

The breakfast was good, but not too much choices. I enjoyed sitting at the Sand Bar in Discovery Shores for a drink, the staff was friendly there. I love Lychee Mojitos!!

I stayed at Nami Private Villa for another 2 nights after Discovery Shores, and found that the staff was much more friendly and helpful in Nami compared to this hotel. Next time, I will choose to stay at Station 2 which is more convenience for shopping, dining or drinking. Discovery Shores in S1 is too far from the D’mall area, it is quiet though.

We, 4 people, have just returned from our trip to Boracay Island; we've selected this hotel based on the reviews and the price. We thought for the amount of money we're paying, the service and room must not be too bad.

When we first arrived at 8pm, it took around 10 minutes to check-in. This is acceptable. Then, they showed us where we'd be staying. They've placed us in buildings very far apart. So, we've asked them to change this. The front desk person was very polite and said no problem and we've waited 30 minutes hungrily. So, after 30 minutes, the front desk person said no closer-by room was available. This time, they've showed us to rooms that are completely different from what they've showed us before. And, so, we thought "so there're rooms closer-by" as one of the rooms that they've showed us before was no longer the new set of rooms and is near the new set of rooms. So, we were very frustrated and asked how come we couldn't have the old room they've showed us before and a new room? If so, we could have rooms near-by. The front desk person then just insisted that he showed us the wrong room before (as we've never entered the door so we were not sure if he's lying).

Anyway, he has wasted ALOT of our time. In addition, in one of the new rooms, he has moved us from 2nd floor to 1st floor of the complex. So, we have to wait another 15 minutes for him to move us from 1st floor to the 2nd floor of the same complex (cuz we were on the 2nd floor before when he has showed us the room initially). So, I'm very confused and asked the front desk person, "I thought you have no rooms close-by? If you place us on the 1st floor and the 2nd floor, didn't you already resolve the problem?"

In conclusion, we've just waited 45 minutes just waiting for them to fix a simple problem. They have the rooms available and just didn't know (or want) to give these to us.

They're polite but are not providing good service. They could not fulfill simple requests and wasted our valuable holiday time without any good reasons.

We still have a few more complaints about this hotel that we could put here yet we don't want to make this review too long. On the other hand, we want to compliment the service at Fridays as we enjoyed its restaurant, massage and mini-shop service very much. Next time, we'd definitely choose Friday's if we come back to Boracay.

Thank you for reading our vant. Hope you have a wonderful holiday at Boracay as the beach is amazing.