Lapu-Lapu City Mactan Cebu Resorts Compared
A Candid and Obviously Biased Comparison by Plantation Bay, a Real Resort with a Real Spa
Shangri-La Mactan
Pros: You can’t go too far wrong with a major luxury chain. Your friends will be impressed and jealous.
Cons: Dated 1960s look. Basically a city hotel design dropped onto a beachfront. In practical terms, the main pool and alternate pool are all there is to do. The beach is lovely, but so long a walk from most rooms you’ll only go there once. (Note the unoccupied beachside tents.) Not advised for those with mobility issues.
Movenpick Punta Engaño, Mactan
Pros: You can’t go too far wrong with a Swiss chain known for 4-star quality. Movenpick is owned by Accor, a group that manages over 40 hotel brands.
Cons: Formerly a Hilton. Consists of 3 high-rise towers. Not advised for those with mobility issues.
Crimson
Pros: Beautiful central pool. Casitas with sea views.
Cons: Life revolves around the single pool. Other than the casitas, the design of the resort is reminiscent of army barracks.
Sheraton
Pros: Well-known name in hospitality, impressive to some.
Cons: Another city hotel dropped onto a beachfront. Location in the deepest section of Punta Engaño makes it a tedious heavy-traffic drive to anywhere else in Mactan and effectively very far from Cebu City proper.
Dusit Mactan
Pros: Thai charm from a well-known chain.
Cons: Another city hotel design dropped onto a beachfront. Well, actually it’s a harbor-front. Faces west toward polluted Cebu harbor (instead of the clean waters of Hilutungan Channel). Location in the deepest section of Punta Engaño makes it a tedious heavy-traffic drive to anywhere else in Mactan and effectively very far from Cebu City proper.
Plantation Bay, a Real Resort with a Real Spa
Pros: The only 5-star property on Mactan that is indisputably a resort, with wide open spaces and the sense of being away from the stress of the “big city”. Pays a lot of attention to food quality and variety, starting with its Delicious Dozen. More leisure facilities than any other resort in the country. Yet only minutes away from major downtown and mountain golf destinations.
Does not plant fake reviews, remarkably easy to do even with so-called Verified Reviews. Just “Sell” 300 roomnights at $100 on an online site like booking.com. At 17%, the commission to booking.com is just US$ 5000, cheaper than almost any kind of serious advertising. No “customer” even needs to come, since no one from booking.com will count actual checkins. But in a few months the property gets an “average review score” of 8.5 or more instead of their real score which is 6.5. US$ 5000 has bought over US$ 100,000 worth of fake satisfied customers and inflated review scores.
Don’t believe in testimonials by unknowns and glowing “Verified Reviews” which can be bought for as little as US$ 17 apiece. Believe in yourself and your powers of reasoning. Plantation Bay is the only hotel in the world that offers a 4-hour Moneyback Guarantee: book direct and if upon arrival you don’t like it, or feel our website misrepresented or overcharged, you can cancel for FREE. Your booking will be refunded in full and we will provide you with free transportation to the metro Cebu hotel you wish to transfer to.
Cons: Strictly enforces anti-noise policies; not for parents who can’t control their children. Not for telephone addicts. Not for couples who can’t stand each other.
What does AI say? If you just ask ChatGPT what are the best resorts in Mactan, it will just parrot fake reviews and press releases, while giving more weight to chains than a stand-alone resort like Plantation Bay. But when you give it a prompt that demands active interpretation of site maps and of the restaurant details, you get a more useful picture of the “resort-ness” of the hotels, and of their respective cuisines.
Spoiler alert: Plantation Bay comes out on top in both categories. In the mood for some serious reading? I want to see what ChatGPT says.
