My wife and I stayed at the Mangrove Oriental Resort in Malapascua, Cebu for 4 nights in early April. Our overall impression is that the resort has tremendous potential -- it is quiet, the grounds are spacious, the gardens are well kept, and it has superb views of its mangrove bay.
However, the management, service, and maintenance could be dramatically improved. Our room wasn't cleaned once throughout our stay -- only after we had been there for 3 nights did they ask for our room key so they could clean it, but then acted shocked when we told them it hadn't been cleaned yet (how could it be if they hadn't asked to borrow the?!). The cheap foam mattress and pillows made it difficult to sleep and caused us both terrible back pain. The restaurant food was OK, but the service was sometimes shocking (e.g. a waiter who couldn't hear our order because he was wearing headphones, a demand that we move to a different table since they didn't want to move 2 placemats and 4 pieces of silverware, etc).
We stayed in the Kasbah room, a separate and private construction that is supposed to be one of the resort's best rooms. There is a patio on the roof, but there are no chairs so it is not really a useable space. The bathroom has a lovely high ceiling, stained glass, and tiles, but the shower head is dirty and sprays everywhere. The bedroom is well decorated, but has no TV or decent seating area.
I hope management reads this so the issues are addressed -- the resort deserves better.
