Atremaru Jungle Retreat

I recently spent a few days at the Atremaru, which was supposed to be a very special time, as my brother was visiting from the U.K with his wife and two daughters who I haven't seen in over ten years, so it was a time for two families to come together and reunite. On the day I arrived at the hotel, I informed the staff, Ida, in the restaurant that I wanted to pay the restaurant bills for both families each day, so at check out, no one would get slammed with a big bill. I assumed the staff would be professional with their book keeping, but when it came time to check out of the hotel, the restaurant wanted me to pay two additional bills from the first day, totalling over 4000 pesos. Conveniently the restaurant during our stay did not give me any copy for the restaurant bills that I paid, however, I knew that I definitely paid every day and I had a clear recollection of asking for my brothers first bill, which was the bill in question, because when I arrived, I wanted to balance up on all unpaid restaurant bills. When the additional 4000 pesos meal ticket appeared at the time of check out, it was a surprise. I asked to see all the receipts and the same lady, Ida, who had made several mistakes during our stay, with bringing food and alcohol that we never ordered, had also written the wrong date on the meal tickets. In my opinion, all bills had been paid for and any mistake was the fault of Ida or management for not keeping a better record of the bills that I had paid. The owner/manager, MARICRIS AGUHAYON FRANKEN is an unpleasant character, who did not want to give me a chance to speak and dismissed very quickly any fault of his staff and was very quick to accuse me of scamming the hotel. The receptionist said that they could review the CCTV camera, which I thought was a good idea, but the owner for some reason, avoided the subject. At the end of the day, I would not recommend this hotel for the following reasons; 1) The owner has terrible communication skills and should not be in the customer service business. I was able to prove to him that Ida had made several mistakes, so she quite possibly mislaid my 'paid' bill, but he was very quick to dismiss anything that I said and then accused me of scamming the hotel, truly a disgusting human being. 2) The staff do not have good book keeping skills and they do not give the customers after they eat, a copy of the bill. 3) The restaurant staff make multiple mistakes with serving the wrong food and drinks. 4) The menu is limited and the food is not very good. 5) The beach is way too far, a 45 minute trek, not 15 minutes as described by the staff, along a steep foot path, which is not maintained, so it's muddy and slippery, long grass in places, while we were walking, several people fell over and by the time we returned, we were exhausted and literally felt lucky to be back before dark. 6) The rooms do not have air-conditioning, only fans. 7) The rooms do not have hot water. 8) The rooms have a televisio

We stayed in the Rambutan villa, it’s the furtherest down the hill but it does have superb views of the sunsets (even better than in the restaurant). This room isn’t for everyone (but please don’t be put off) due to the steep walk up to the restaurant/pool etc. no air con, fridge, kettle or tv and the shower is only lukewarm. The food was ok but breakfast wasn’t the best. On the plus side it’s a great experience to stay here and only 25 mins from the Sabang underwater river. All the staff are very helpful, they provide a large flask of hot water for drinks, and 2 fans. The massages were the best we had in Philippines and not expensive. We have never hired a scooter on holiday before but another guest recommended them as the roads were so quiet and easy to use. We took the larger scooter which was only P850 a day (approx £13) and it was a pleasant ride into Sabang where we did the caves and zip wire and we got there early before the queues. The 2 ladies on reception were brilliant, they work really long hours but couldn’t do enough to help us. The sunsets from our balcony were superb, not just visually but the sounds of the jungle come to life at sunset. If you are happy swap a few creature comforts for a beautiful location which is off the beaten track I would recommend staying here for a few night. If you aren’t able to walk up a steep hill book a room close to the top.

Afyer 4 nights The stay here was terrible. Half of the hotel utilities did not work. Nohot water, bearly running water, no wifi, no availability to pay with card. Far away from anything to do. Do not recomend comming here