This was my second stay at the Mermaid Resort. I am happy to have visited again. The location is on the main road. It's close to the bay but just above the noisy restaurants and bars.

The penthouse rooms offer a nice view of the bay and a giant outdoor whirlpool tub. Air conditioning is a modern split mini with remote control - great! The bed has a memory foam mattress and duvet-type comforter.

The bathroom has an enormous tub/shower. There are two shelves for toiletries, etc. Everything was very clean. There is a large TV with lots of channels. Internet speeds are solid: 5 mbps down, 6mbps up.

The staff are terrific. They arranged a water taxi for me and a transfer to Manila. I'd be happy to return.

I have been to Sabang in the past and stayed in the Mermaid Resort. There are some changes in the transportation to and from Sabang. Currently, there is no regular boat connection from Batangas to Sabang. You need to choose a connection to Puerto Galera and then go by trike for 20 min to Sabang. When I was faced with the problem to leave the island the hotel staff and the owner of the hotel helped me to secure a boat ticket from Balatero back to Batangas. You can only buy the ticket (from the boat company) on the same day (which does not make sense at all) and not in advance. This means if the boat is full on that day before you arrive at the ticket counter then you have to stay on the island. The Mermaid staff sent an employee to purchase my ticket early in the morning of my departure so I could easily make it back to Batangas.
I also like the hotel because the owner built in an own water filtration system to process the regular tap water before it reaches the hotel guests. In the Philippines it is not safe to drink regular tap water and you should even brush you teeth with bottled water.
Overall the hotel is very clean and the associated dive shop of the Mermaid resort puts safety first for its guests. That means all the dive guides are local and know all othe dangers of rapidly changing weather conditions and the currents in the ocean.
I will return to the Mermaid again.

It was a bit of a disappointment after all the positive reviews, but that is also partly due to the area. Sabang is a bit sad. I guess it is good if you are looking for lots of diving schools or lady bars, but not great for a family. There is a beach close by, but it isn't for bathing, although there are some nice restaurants alongside it.

Positives: friendly staff, especially the owners and staff at the bar.
Very accommodating at arranging trips like island hoping and waterfall visits.
Clean basic rooms.
Two minute walk from the centre and the beach.
Nice pool.
Free pool table.

Negatives: both rooms really smelt of smoke, even though they were non smoking and they tried spraying them. I think that is because there is a balcony right outside of each room (which is very nice), with a sitting area and an ashtray. So naturally the rooms smell.
Noisy area.
The views aren't great.
No breakfast.