The Henry Resort Taramindu Laiya

Staffs are friendly, helpful and approachable. Food is great but too pricey. Hope they could give or have option to add kiddie meal for breakfast. Room is too small especially if you are staying with a kid.

Definitely felt robbed with the P11k/night price tag. Don’t be deceived, it’s an old hotel that is now managed by Henry Hotel. Service was not good, people lacked warmth. The front desk staff hurriedly checked us in and just let me read thru their guidelines instead of explaining it like what she did with the other guests before us (lobby was small so we could hear their conversation). There was no guest checking in after us. We were given the farthest room on the second floor. We accepted this since they said they are fully booked and even if we requested for a ground floor room since we have a toddler and it would be hard to go up and down the (narrow) stairs. We even saw unoccupied rooms on the ground floor when we checked in. The room was very small, there was no room to walk freely to go to the toilet if your luggage (even the handcarry size) is open. The AC in the room is not enough to keep the room cold at night (maybe not enough HP or the placement is wrong?). There was no ref to keep our water cold, though you can ask for water at their restaurant. The floor in our room was sticky and didn’t feel clean at all. There was no TV, which is ok with us since we spent our time outside/at the beach. Toilet and bath fixtures were old and shower area wasn’t enclosed so theres a tendency that toilet area will get wet when you shower. The resort has a small pool with limited sun loungers so you need to take turns with the other guests to use the pool. The breakfast is plated. Food was just ok. We expected higher quality because it’s apt 1b. It’s very different from their makati branch. We like the cabanas at the beach, but this too needs refurbishing already. We checked the other resorts adjacent to this hotel and they have even cheaper rates with better offerings (amenities, food, bigger rooms, etc.) Overall, the hotel is overpriced based on what they are offering. We will not recommend the hotel to my friends and family.

I had some doubts about staying here because of the previous reviews I have read; had it been up to me I would've booked at another resort but my sister's family had booked there for her 60th bday celebration. And she did not know we were coming... we planned a surprise and the The Henry staff helped us do it! (thank you Danielle!) The rest of our stay was made so pleasant because of the efficiency of the staff. Customer service of EVERYONE there was simply EXCELLENT! (Manuel and Mart and ALL Apt1B's crew) And the food was great, kudos to its inhouse resto Apt 1B! Though we stayed for just 3 days, our days were full and satisfying! Some suggestions: More lounge chairs and cabanas by the beach; need to improve bathrooms and clean up the gross rusty areas below the sinks; clean bidet heads please; completely cover the shower area so that water does not overflow or spill into the toilet area (it gets really messy); provide anti-bug lights in the resto area to prevent various insects from diving into our food. I'm still giving The Henry a full 5 stars!

Important things first, would we recommend – simple answer “NO” Main issues: 1. We booked a room for 3 nights for my wide’s 40th birthday with a Queen bed. Sorry a 4ft6 bed is not a Queen bed. I know historically that this was sometimes considered Queen in olden days in PH, it is certainly no longer the case, and thus we consider this as false advertising. 2. Noise very old window mount style AC that did not keep the room at a comfortable temperature level and caused us both to have very poor sleep. This was raised after the second night with reception however there was no improvement. a. This type of AC is always noisy, and I noted this is not an inverter type, a new split inverter AC would pay for itself in 6 months! b. The location of the AC is wrong, tucked away in a corner. One of the most frequent design misunderstandings is air flow is more important than temperature. The best location for the AC is opposite the bed in any bedroom Unfortunately, I have only just now looked at various reviews online, and the above seems to be a recurring issue since the hotel was rebranded under the “Henry” name, and these 2 issues are not acceptable and consistence with the level and price point the hotel is trying to portray. They seem to have gone for looks with a freshly painted “Henry brand” colour scheme and interior design, but not looked at basic hotelier fundamentals. The fact this was also my wife’s 40th birthday made the issues doubly disappointing. Other items, starting with the good Pros: • Well-kept gardens • Friendly and professional reception & restaurant staff • Modern electronic safe • Quiet location • Food was good standard and okay price Cons: • I sent the hotel an email 4 days before arrival asking if it was possible to arrange a bouquet of flowers – no response • No in room fridge • Housekeeping never visited the room during our whole stay, late afternoon each day we visited reception to get what we needed • Swimming pool is small and with only 3 sunbeds • Beautiful looking beach, but is not soft but sharp sand which is impossible to walk across in bare feet • They messed up the bill and undercharged us on checkout and contacted us when we were already well away from the hotel, had to settle the balance by private GCash • No TV (I understand before the rebranding to “Henry” there were flat screen TVs). Whilst this didn’t really concern us. I would expect guests with children during the likely long period of rain this time of year would find it an issue • The restaurant ran out of SMB (despite shop over the road selling by the crate) and red wine Considering everything, obviously we would not consider staying at the hotel again, and considering the root causes, we would be unlikely to consider the “Henry” brand for any future needs.

Pros: 1. Great service from front desk, housekeeping (who also helped with first aid), parking attendant, lifeguard/beach maintenance and waitstaff at Apartment 1B 2. Good and reasonably priced food from Apartment 1B 3. Well-maintained beachfront with adequate gazebos and beach wooden mats for seating 4. Clean rooms with comfortable beds, cold aircon and warn shower water Cons: 1. No Globe signal and weak wifi signal in some parts 2. Small studio room, no TV 3. Small pool which can get crowded, small pool deck too 4. Ground floor rooms are close to the common areas/pool so less privacy 5. Beachfront, though well maintained, is beside the public area and boat docking area. So beachfront is not quiet or private. 6. Beach water is not very clean. Overall, The Henry is a good boutique resort in Laiya. Our son had a great time here, so we are grateful for the experience. Book for at least 2 nights, ideally 3 nights, given travel time from Manila (3hours). We will likely be back.

Family-friendly with plenty of water activities by the beach, and a small pool if you want some shade. Can be romantic for couples looking for a quiet get-away. Restaurant serves great food at the price range of pancake house/TGIF, however the fruit juices served with the meal are made from powdered concentrate (was expecting at least Del Monte quality). You can enjoy local ambulant vendor foods by the beach like balut, taho, chicharon, sticky coconut rice, etc. Staff are courteous 👍 Will definitely come back 😁

The food was great! The beach was clean. But that’s about it. I did not mind that there was no TV. But the room was extremely small and disappointing. There was no room to comfortably move around. It was just the bed. No space at all. No closet. We had to bring out collapsible stools we fortunately had in the car to put our stuff on. The water from the shower spilled onto the toilet area because they carved a hole on the shower threshold instead of having a separate drain by the toilet. The toilet floor was wet wet wet after each shower! Genius! I did not do my research as they had me at “boutique hotel” when I saw their website. I am willing to pay premium for a great experience but seems I overpaid for this. If by boutique they meant few rooms, then they are right. But if they meant great experience as well…well, it is a different story. We would have done better if we just went to Apt1B in Makati to enjoy the food.