Sunlight Guest Hotel Review [Puerto Princesa, Palawan]

I booked the Superior room at Sunlight Guest Hotel via Agoda at a discounted rate (Php 1770/night).  It's located near the public market (advantage if you want to bring back fresh seafood and fruits to Manila), a local fastfood chain (Jollibee), and within walking distance to the Boardwalk.  You can hail a tricycle passing by to take you anywhere within the city.  Since it's across a public market, there are a lot of people around so best to be vigilant when walking around the area.   

There's also a mini supermarket and pharmacy located beside the hotel and 2 ATM machines near the entrances.  The 1st floor is only a receiving area/lobby and the 2nd and 3rd floors of the hotel's building contains local clothing shops, a courier, etc.  

Head for the elevator and straight to the 4th floor for the hotel's main reception area to check in.

There's also a LCD that shows a welcome sign with the guests' names on it.  It's a nice touch but for security and privacy, I wouldn't want my name displayed at the lobby at the ground floor (maybe for the 4th floor area it's ok).

They also provided each of us a glass of iced tea upon our arrival and offered to bring our bags to our rooms.

There's also another 2 sets of sofas and a LCD TV near the main reception area.  There's also a computer and printer in the lobby for guest use (free for 30 minutes only) while printing costs Php10/page.  Wireless access is included in the room and is fairly stable but I've noted stronger signals when at the hotel's restaurant and at the reception area.


The Rooms
Their superior room is good for 2 people (we chose twin beds) with breakfast buffet included.  The mattress was a little firmer than we would like.

The room also has a closet with hangers for your clothes, a safety deposit box for your valuables, and a personal refrigerator.  The mini bar consisted of a Snickers bar, a small can of Pringles, Coca-Cola products, and additional bottles of water.

Complimentary items include: 1 bottle of water each (only on 1st day), pairs of slippers, an eco-friendly tote bag, glasses, cups, saucers, and tea/coffee/creamer/sugar.  

The room has 5 power outlets, 2 by the nightstand, 2 by the desk, and another by the corner lampshade.  It's a nice touch to see a clock inside a hotel room.  

The room also has a LCD TV with cable although the reception leaves something to be desired because even local channels looked grainy.  The TV has a USB port so I was able to hook up our digital camera and view our photos and video clips.

If you want to book a room with windows, ask to choose those facing the bay, otherwise the superior rooms we stayed in had a sliding door that opens into a narrow corridor with a few seats & round tables in between and facing the other row of rooms on the next hall.


Bathroom

The bathroom was spacious even with a shower enclosure.  There's a silver rollup curtain/drape that you can pull down to afford privacy when using it.  There's also a hair dryer and a power outlet (for shavers) beside the sink.  The shower enclosure was leaking in our room though, that's why there's a towel on the floor.

see-through!

complimentary shampoo, conditioner, shower cap, soap (not shown)

Breakfast Buffet 
They also gave meal stubs to be used for the breakfast buffet during our stay (which was included in our room price, otherwise it's Php 250/person).  The breakfast buffet starts at 630am until 10am at the hotel's restaurant.

chocolate flavor and plain cereals with milk

different types of local bread

make your own toast; (toaster's beside the butter)

It would've been great if they also provided local fruit jams, honey, cashew butter to kick it up a notch.
They also offer brewed coffee, mango and orange juice (powdered).

porridge and an asparagus soup (rightmost)

breakfast meats like bacon, sausage, and ham

They also have an egg station where you can tell the chef how you want your eggs cooked.  I liked this one because I can have omelette everyday (with little bits of cheese, onions, and ham) which they bring to your table.  Wish they could put in more bits though.

dried fish varieties with vinegar and ketchup

They also serve plain rice, garlic rice (aka sinangag), and mixed veggies with rice.  On one occasion, the label read mixed veggies with rice but had squid bits in it.  They should be more specific with their menu items because some hotel guests might be allergic to seafood or another food item that may be included in the food but is not listed.

Aside from the breakfast meats and dried fish, they also serve traditional Filipino meats and dishes which vary daily.

Err, perhaps a little more attention to detail is a MUST!  Just couldn't resist taking the photo.

fruits in season (pineapples, bananas, watermelon, mangoes, papayas); varies daily

View from the hotel restaurant

We chose seats at the corner of the restaurant to appreciate the view.

You can also order menu items a la carte and would range from Php 200 up.  They also offer dinner buffet (until 10pm) at Php 300/ person while typical dinner items cost Php 280 and up.

Checkout was quick and the complimentary hotel shuttle took us to the airport in our specified time.

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Below are the complaints I wrote on their form so that they could improve their service.  I'm usually not nitpicky about this kind of stuff but these proved to be a test of my patience.


The Bad:

• I've discovered squid bits and spines on the shower floor on our 1st day when we checked in and since we didn't bring in any food inside the room, it was probably from the previous occupants!  I asked for the reception to tell housekeeping to scrub the floor.
• Water pressure is so bad, even came to a point that it stopped momentarily while we were using the shower!  I had to tell my aunt to report the problem to the front desk and a few minutes later someone came supposedly to check on it but I was still in the shower!  They never checked again after that.
• Someone got stuck on one of the elevators and after they got her out, they did maintenance on both elevators at the same time. We were about to go down for our tour when they told us to use the stairs instead. This would be forgivable if it'd only be 1 flight of stairs (hotel is on 4th floor!) or if you were younger, but since we had an elderly companion who uses a walking cane, this is totally insensitive so I had to ask them to free up one elevator just so we can come down. 

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Conclusion

Overall, it's still a good hotel to stay in despite their flaws, especially if you get them on a discounted rate.  The amenities included in the room, the breakfast buffet, complimentary hotel shuttle transfer, and free (fairly) fast wifi were a plus for me.

I would not rate it as 4 star though, more at par with 3 star hotels.  It's less than 2 years old and I think there's still a lot of room left for them to improve on housekeeping, food, and customer service and attention to detail.  

I commend the staff for being courteous, helpful and attentive to our needs.

I would recommend staying at the hotel but be assertive and voice out your complaints so they can remedy it as best as they can.