It is very hard to find the tiki style tropical vacation getaway in the Philippines anymore. It is all the same sachet factory food, shoddy cement block construction and litter everywhere. There are nice places, however you really have to work hard to find them and it will cost you. Either in travel effort to get there or money in room rates.
Ironically the so called 'new construction' that is the favorite style here. IE a clone of a crappy Tondo slum shanty, cost exponentially more to build than the tiki resort. Tile imported from China, cement from Cebu, substandard rebar made in a Chinese owned foundry in Mindanao, and plumbing made with imagination rather than skill. Whereas Bamboo, coco palm, and handcrafted furniture is cheaper to aquire but requires upkeep. Something resort owners do not care to do.
Upkeep or making things nice is not on the menu with a absentee owner who is just in it to make a fast buck and place to stay when they travel in from Manila or abroad.
Alona Beach looks fine in a photograph. Two blocks away a marching band played all night. The property was concrete-block buildings masquerading as old bamboo huts. The toilet tank was broken; the bowl flushed with a bucket. Breakfast was yesterday’s rice, a scoop of canned CDO corned beef, an overcooked fried egg, and instant coffee. All for a nightly price more than a decent hotel in Manila. After 12 hours I could not wait to leave.
A CHB box on a muddy road with the word resort in the name does not a resort make.
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