Prices are the average nightly price provided by our partners and may not include all taxes and fees. Taxes and fees that are shown are estimates only. Please see our partners for more details.
Did you already book this hotel?
About
3.5
#13 of 22 resorts in Puerto Galera
Location
Cleanliness
Service
Value
Located in the heart of the unspoiled waters and white sand beaches of Puerto Galera. DOLPHINBAY RESORT is a serene, isolated and quiet place to stay.
Star ratings are intended to indicate the general level of features, amenities, and services to expect. This property is classified according to Giata.
HOTEL STYLE
Budget
Quiet
Languages Spoken
English, Filipino, German
Location
Barangay Palangan, Puerto Galera, Mindoro 5203 Philippines
We stayed 18 nights in November 2014, and we can say that we very much enjoyed our stay
We had read all the negative and positive reviews already posted here, but decided that as a location it would suit us better than the busier locations. We have no regrets in summary
All members of staff were polite, friendly and helpful Our room was clean and well kept by housekeeping There was always hot water for showers, there was occassional power outages due to the utility company, but all lasted less than one hour Breakfast, lunch and evening meals were very good, we dined a lot at the hotel The hotel was in a quiet location and the beach was almost empty, - which suited us. On our trips to PG we used a local tricycle owner who looked after us very well – one call and he was generally with us within ten minutes to take us between the hotel and town
So well done to the staff and owner Manfred for giving us a really nice time
Read more
Date of stay: November 2014
Cleanliness
Service
Sleep Quality
Trip type: Travelled as a couple
Room Tip:if you have a problem, talk to the staff - they will fix it
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
This was my second time at Dolphin Bay. My first was in 2011. I recommended this place to my friends because I had a pleasant there the first time and I really liked the beach!
pool by the beach isn't big but just enough for their guests. There is another pool on the third floor, not sure if it's private part of the rooms there. Food was great. Buffet breakfast was actually better than what I expected. Beach is muddy in the afternoon but we loved it the morning after! We enjoyed the free kayak.
Check in time was 1pm but we arrived there at around 4pm. . We booked a standard family room but were told that we should stay at the deluxe family room because we won't fit in the bed. (They were aware that we're of 6 pax!) But we said sure, it was alright. We had to pay a few hundreds more. I got a bit surprised because it was the first time that I had to pay upfront for the accommodation. It was alright but I find it quite odd that it's how they roll.
I did fund transfer for the reservation, informed them about it and they acknowledged it. I still took photo of it even if they did not ask me to send any proof of reservation. When we reached the hotel, they were asking for the deposit slip. I am not sure if the staff knew what FT is because she looked clueless when I told her about it. I wish they had told me that I needed a deposit slip as a proof of reservation, but they unfortunately did not and it was embarrassing that it felt like I had to convince them that I did pay for a reservation fee.I mean, I sent it to them via email, but it could have been a better customer experience.
We were also hoping that we would be given a bit of consideration since we checked in late. We asked if we could have just an hour extension. We were initially told that it's alright but that was taken back just few hrs after. We would understand if it was Saturday and guests were coming in, but nope. They just said no.
I personally think that they should be more considerate.
Read more
Date of stay: May 2016Trip type: Travelled with friends
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
After having lost my Grandfather a week before our trip, my Mother had limited time to stay in the Country before heading back to Botswana.
I wanted to give her a quick break from the City as we both needed the quite time and fresh air. I found the service of the staff were good, the food was great, and the staff were friendly and stopped for chats when possible and gave us a nice room downstairs with a hammock in front!
The place has a unique touch and is very ideal for quite, altho quite far from Sabang Port if we were to experience the nightlife but all in all is very safe, and charming I would imagine it full blast on summer it would be wonderful to return to.
Read more
Date of stay: March 2014
Value
Rooms
Location
Cleanliness
Service
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
We booked hotel by internet Agoda but all of staffs were telling us all rooms were full or they were cleaning room, just wait for a while. We have been waiting 2 hours, we called Agoda, then asked them to call this hotel to check, then hotel found our reservation was in their system.
They offered us to prepare room now but that's too late. We canceled, but they never apologized to us.
Firstly, I was surprised that those kind of people managing hotel, I'm sure if this is other country they couldn't
I have visited many countries but this is really really worst hotel in my life, and I already shared my experience, everyone agree. I will never stop that since it was really terrible.
In addition, the one of staff, her attitude was terrible. Never apologized to us, always busy with phone, then suddenly she got angry with us. I have to say they are not well educated for managing hotel.
If you don't want to have bad experience, would recommend other hotels. There are many hotels no need to visit there.
This is real story, please imagine if this happens at first day of vacation. I got angry beacause of thier attitude, i dont angry for mistake.
It looks this attitude is for other people also, I don't know why this hotel is still existing.
Read more
Date of stay: May 2016Trip type: Travelled with friends
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
I can't say a lot, because I didn't dive with this dive shop, but I'm writing because of three important reasons. First, we lived at the Dolphins bay hotel, and we chosen this hotel because of the dive shop, sadly, we were disappointed. At their web page we read that they are organazing liveboards to the famous dive site Anilao, we even wrote to them and recieved a letter that it is possible, so we booked a place for a liveboard, actually we came to Puerto Galera because of that liveboard trip, and chosen this hotel because of it, but when we came they told us that they are not organazing those liveboards. Secondly, the dive shop when we came (around 5 p.m.) was closed, and the staff said that it will be open at 9 a.m, but when we came back to ask some questions, they said that we need to wait for a boss, and that he will come at 9:30, but we waited till 10 a.m. and still nothing.. And finally diving in this dive shop is more expensive than in the city, (we actually found a nice dive shop there). So, to sum up everything, my family was really disappointed, they don't respect their customers and do not understand that people are planing their vacation and time, so if something changed, please, respect others and do not lie or keep them waiting.
Read more
Date of stay: August 2016Trip type: Travelled with family
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
went there with my family this april 12-15, 2017. the place is good & relaxing, the staff are friendly, nice & accomodating, but the service... sucks. with a very LIMITED staff who rans themselves ragged to meet all the guests needs, no wonder things don't get coordinated & served on time. the owners should decide if they want to continue business or not, so that guests wont feel shortchaged for staying in their resort, you should be ready & prepared for all kinds of guests, you should adjust to the guests & not the other way around, remember that guests are there to relax. but i will give my salute to their hardworking staffs, you did your best...
Read more
Date of stay: April 2017
Value
Rooms
Service
Trip type: Travelled with family
Room Tip:quieter floors are from 3rd up, but that's quite a climb
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
We all stayed here as part of a Wedding Party. The Staff were great and Friendly. The Manager tried his best, but was Sacked by the Owner for trying his best with the limited resources he had. No hot water for days on end. Room service once in 5 days, and Stairs, Stairs, Stairs. If you like walking up and down Stairs and really rough rooms, this might be for you. Apparently during our stay the Owner hadnt paid the staff for months, and was busy sailing around the world on his new boat. No wonder they didnt want to do much. So, to sum up, Nice Staff, but a disaster of a Hotel. Run as far as you can from the Dolphin Bay.
Read more
Date of stay: August 2012
Value
Rooms
Location
Cleanliness
Service
Sleep Quality
Trip type: Travelled with friends
Room Tip:Try another Hotel.
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
This Resort is in desperate need of some TLC. Advertise a Spa and Dive Shop. NO SPA. Dive shop never open. Room was old and at night the bugs loved to come in for a bite. Doors and Windows didn't seal. No hot water for 2 days. Asked it to be fixed and the owner was the only one that was allowed to do it. He did nothing but sit and play on his phone until I personally approached him. Then he finally did something. After saying all this the staff were nice but everything else was below average. Would only suggest a short stay if any. Can not recommend
Read more
Date of stay: June 2017Trip type: Travelled as a couple
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
We've been to this part of Mindoro for 5th time. After a year spent in the Philippines, this was the first time a hotel staff actually really ruined our trip and caused us a financial damage. What went wrong?
1. They forgot our booking and demanded extra payment from us. 2. They promised us to book a boat trip back to Luzon, but failed to do so, causing us a financial damage of 3500 PHP (we had to go with a private boat) and life-threatening experience (the boat got damaged half-way to Luzon).
Although the place and location is nice and we did enjoy the amenities, we strongly recommend to think twice before you book your stay here, because this is what happened to us and what we believe may happen to anyone else due to the unprofessional attitude and incompetent service of the hotel management.
Failed booking - We booked and paid in full 2 standard rooms a week in advance through Agoda. When we arrived, we were told that the hotel haven't processed our booking and all standard rooms are full.
They offered us 2 deluxe rooms instead, but only if we pay 1600 PHP extra. We refused and demanded to be accommodated without any extra cost given the fact that it was the hotel's fault. All other hotels were already full, so there was even no other option for us.
The woman who "manages" the place called the owner (Austrian guy, probably her husband) only to tell us that we really have to pay the extra money. We asked her to let us talk with the owner, presuming he just doesn't have all information. So we called him and unfortunately, he is just that stupid that he told us that it's our problem and that we should deal with Agoda.
So, instead of enjoying our weekend, we had to sit in the lobby and deal with Agoda. Fortunately, Agoda customer service helped us and we got the 2 deluxe rooms for no extra fee. Unfortunately, the experience with the hotel was already quite horrifying.
Luckily the stay was then fine, although we kind of expected the owner to stop by and apologise for the mess. Apparently, he has no manner.
On the last day we were told by the manager that she can arrange us the boat trip to Luzon with a free tricycle to the port. We were happy and felt a bit better about the service finally. The free tricycle really took us to the port, but then the real struggle began.
At the port, we were told that the boat is already full and that the hotel did not book any seat for us. It was the last boat that day. So we called the hotel and the manager told us she will call the boatman. After some time we called her to ask how did it go. She hang up on us before she even accepted the call. So we called from a different number, causing her quite a surprise. She told us to get a private boat and showed absolutely no care, guilt or empathy.
So we got the private boat for 1000 PHP per head (instead of 250 PHP per head for a public boat). Not mentioning the struggle with dealing over the price, we finally hit the sea and headed to Batangas. We almost didn't get there, tho. One of the outriggers broke apart and the whole crew seemed to be frightened - making us feel really unsafe too. Now the accident is not a direct fault of the hotel, but we would never get into such dangerous situation if the manager didn't lie about booking us a regular boat trip. We were also dropped off 15km from Batangas, so we had to pay 100 PHP extra per head to get there.
----
We know that this is Asia and that things work different here. We know that mistakes happen every day. But that's not what made us extremely upset about this hotel.
What really is a problem is the attitude of the staff. No excuses, no apologise, no care, no sense of responsibility, no effort to make things right, no understanding of how services work. They just care about money.
One would think that if the hotel is owned by an Austrian, he will have everything in "ordnung". Well, the lazy piece of ignorance who runs this place together with his apathetic wife are really not worth visiting. I may sound rude, but that's just a reflection of their own attitude.
Anyway, we're gonna e-mail Austrian and German travel agencies who offer a trip to this place and warn them about the management. We will also do some decent job on our travel blog to make sure that everyone searching for this hotel will also find an article with reasons to choose other place to stay. And if you read this review, I hope you will also decide not to risk your vacation and stay elsewhere.
Way to go, Dolphinbay resort!
Read more
Date of stay: May 2016
Rooms
Location
Service
Trip type: Travelled with friends
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
you have to pay cash up front to stay here and if for whatever reason you are not happy,you dont get refund and nobody we met was happy, the german owner did not care about nobody, Really people avoid this place, there is plenty of better.
Read more
Date of stay: February 2016
Rooms
Location
Service
Trip type: Travelled as a couple
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Prices are the average nightly price provided by our partners and may not include all taxes and fees. Taxes and fees that are shown are estimates only. Please see our partners for more details.
Is This Your Tripadvisor Listing?
Own or manage this property? Claim your listing for free to respond to reviews, update your profile and much more.
