Taraw Vista Lodge & Restaurant, Sabang, Palawan, Philippines

Inquiries:

Taraw Cottages did not have a website at the time of writing, but you can visit Hotels.com for the best deals on other accommodations in Sabang, Palawan, Philippines.

Location:

The Taraw cottages are located several meters behind the beach in Sabang, Palawan. We had trouble finding the cottages because their sign reads "Vista Cottages". There is another sign hanging above that sign and spells "Taraw" but the font is in a different font colour that isn't as visible and is easily missed. Nevertheless, the cottages are located about half way down the beach from the main road on the beach in Sabang. As long as you know to look for the "Vista Cottages" sign, it's easy to find.

Room Comfort:

The cottages are small and run down. Our cottage had 2 single beds and one double bed. The mattress on the double bed was really old and bend out of shape. The small en-suite bathroom had a cold-shower and a toilet without the seat (but this is pretty common in this area).  The only positive aspect of the cottages is the view of the ocean from their small windows, assuming you can secure a higher-priced cottage with a view.

Cleanliness:

It was hard to tell whether the cottage was clean or not because it was really run down. Even with our experience we didn't stay here long enough to be able to distinguish between the cottages' cleanliness or its poor upkeep.

Service:

The staff was not friendly. At one point we asked for an extra towel and they questioned why we needed a third towel instead of providing one. It was the lack of proper customer service that made us leave prematurely from this establishment.

Food:

Their restaurant serves lunch to the tour groups visiting the Underground River from Puerto Princesa. This is the last place you want to be at lunch while the tour groups have invaded their property. We didn't eat at this establishment so we can't comment on the food.

Overall Value:

We checked out about an hour after we checked in. We didn't like the way we were treated at this place so we felt that they didn't deserve our business. We were here long enough to be able to write this review with enough confidence to put our name behind it. Since a lot of accommodations in Sabang are similar in cost and look, it came down to how we were treated at this place for us to decide that we'd rather spend our money elsewhere. Sorry, but we can't recommend this establishment.

Other Notes:

• Sabang has a beautiful beach that is rarely visited by tourist. In fact, we spent a couple of days on the beach here and were one of only a handful of people on it. Sabang is mainly visited as a day trip from Puerto Princesa for the Underground River tour, which is a shame because it's a nice area to explore for a few days.
• Sabang has a locally run mangrove tour that's worth going to. The local tour guides are quite informative. It's a nice and relaxing way to spend a couple of hours learning about the importance and significance of mangroves in the area and the Philippines, as well as see local wildlife, especially snakes, lizards and birds.

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