South Palms Resort and Spa Panglao - MGallery Collection 5 stars

*High Points: Vince at the outside bar helped us get entry to our locked room when housekeeping locked us out; Room: great quality slippers, the thin robes; Justine and Charis made our stay at outside bar with Mark making our Spritz drinks very special and memorable and remembered our preferences day to day; Lorenzo in breakfast restaurant Uma got us connected to the chocolate tablea; hot at breakfast when nobody else understood what we were after; *Low Points: F&B: vegetarian items aren’t labeled in breakfast buffet; buggy took always over 20 minutes to receive; happy hour confusing what was and was not included and potato chips one night didn’t arrive because “we forgot to tell the kitchen to get them”; the breakfast Uma walk-in shows Pomelo whole but never does the hotel offer cleaned Pomelo so we asked for it every day and the hotel provided it; no hot tub or warm water pool jacuzzi available at any part of the property; hotel gives us only ONE palm bag but two pairs of slippers for TWO guests so we had to decide who would get the bag as a gift Loud obnoxious tractors from sunup to after sundown parole the beaches here trying to pave the sand but do little to help; they are very high-decibel gas tractors that create a ruckus all during the day and often impede walking and running Room: the room coffee/tea has no dairy for coffee or tea; no separately between the tub and shower; pool towels red /white in our place were not replaced; upon check in Karen said she’d notify us when we could check out (the latest possible) but nobody EVER called us with this info nobody at hotel staff honestly told us to face sea and turn LEFT to swim but instead told us we couldn’t enter the sea at low or high tide from the rocks; *Unique Points: walking from our room right to the (un-swimmable) sea; unique clay pottery cups for tea and; evening mermaid and fire show with sample chocolate/vodka; strange white robe across property to prevent guests from walking comfortably out to the beach; gorgeous windy staircase to connect property to the lobby far high up removed from everywhere; Ice cream offered at breakfast; unique hot Tablea chocolate breakfast; all 3 outlets for meals serve all 3 food options to any outlet; our room had a “whispering wall” with original wood from centuries ago with traditional stories; safety in incredible lifeguard and security staff around the beach— we ALWAYS felt safe.

Your rooms are beautifully designed. Staff members are friendly and attentive. And food at your restaurant was very good. We found the front desk area a bit chaotic. A little confusing at times as to who to approach for a taxi or changing money or checking in and out. Some lobby employees seemed to lacked the proper language and hotel assistance training. But, we know this is a new hotel and you are still working out some of the kinks.

Terrible check-in experience — We got the room at 18:30 and was given the wrong room. We needed a connecting room. What’s worse is that when I returned to reception, they insisted the room was connected. (How can you gaslight a guest like that?) Front Desk still needed housekeeping to cross-check. Finally, they confirmed it was wrong only after we all went back to the room together. They claimed it was their system. Is that an excuse? The system would/should show which rooms are connecting. Housekeeping follow-up — Housekeeping also came back to our room to ask if we needed the twin beds converted to a king. Once again, I was confused—why would they need to convert anything if both rooms already have king beds? That said, credit to the HSKP staff member: she was equally confused because she knew the room was already set up with a king bed. So she just offered if we needed anything else. We did ask the Sales to get back to us on rates for paying for room upgrade and he never get back to us. That’s not polite at all given the experience. Evening delivery mix-up (same day) — Around evening time that same day, someone delivered a bottle of wine to our room. I thought, “Oh, that’s nice!” But to my surprise, when I read the card, it was for another guest named Johann. Pool Bar — I requested a boodle fight dinner for my mom’s 70th birthday. I specifically and repeatedly asked for it to be served at 7:00 p.m. so we could surprise her after church. To our surprise, the food arrived around 7:20 p.m. That said, I still want to give credit to the staff—they were very attentive and even offered a complimentary glass of red wine as a gesture Check-out experience — I accidentally used my HK credit card, as I had provided it to hold for incidentals. The front desk was polite and helpful: he voided the transaction and assured me the hold would be released within a maximum of 7 days. However, as of today (5th March), the charge is still showing on my HK credit card. Kindly assist in expediting the release of this hold, please—it has already been pending for too long. All charges are all debited from my local card. Beautiful property, but I hope front desk and sales staff can manage small issues more effectively. We were there to celebrate my mom’s, dad’s, husband’s, and daughter’s birthdays. Kids club staff are amazing, they are very engaging and they look after and entertain the kids well!

I had a very memorable experience at South Palms Resort. First, I was welcomed warmly by the staff. Bryan and Cris assisted me and made the process seamless for me. I came in morning and they offered to prepare the room earlier than expected—which was a very thoughtful gesture. Second was the room, I love the pool access and how the room was designed with openness and adequate privacy. I appreciate all the details and creativity in infusing local lores, crafts and stories in the room’s design. The bed is 10/10. Third, I appreciate the variety of food choices. And lastly, I enjoyed the mermaid show and fire dancing! Bonus experience: the last night of my stay, the staff in sirenna sang me happy birthday, with a birthday cake. Overall I would say, choosing South Palms made my birthday celebration extra special. 😊 I would definitely love to go back and would recommend to all my friends!

We had a wonderful stay overall and truly appreciated the warm hospitality. The restaurant and café staff were very kind, professional, and attentive throughout our visit. At times, however, the service felt a little rushed. Shortly after finishing our meals, we were asked about additional orders or presented with the bill quite quickly. While we understand the intention was to be attentive, a slightly more relaxed pace would have allowed us to fully enjoy the atmosphere and dining experience. That said, we are grateful for the overall experience and the kindness of the team.