Waterfront Insular Hotel Davao

Wonderful hotel resort. Stayed 8 nights with my partner and we loved every minute of our visit. Clean, comfortable, quiet, and safe accomodations (king size bed with water view). Very affordable. Several delicious on-site restaurants to choose from including in-room dining. Relaxing location with beautiful gardens and lush tropical scenery. Large swimming pool, kiddie pool, and jacuzzi. And the best, most gracious, kind, warm, and friendly staff you will ever meet. We were so impressed with the service staff. Thank you Waterfront Insular! 💜🇵🇭

If this hotel's website offers you free breakfast, it is bait and switch. They will not give you free breakfast. It costs 699 pesos per person. You have to provide a "voucher number" for free breakfast, which the website does not mention. I was then told I have to book from the Waterfront website, which is what I had done. I bought Coke Zeroes for my wife and me. I was charged 160 pesos per can. This is the same can that costs 34 pesos at convenience stores. These rooms are antiquated to say the least. The hotel was built in 1961, and upgrades have been few and far between. My wife and I stayed here because we love the Waterfront hotel in Cebu. The Davao hotel is NOTHING like the Waterfront hotel in Cebu. The Davao Waterfront offers a 2-star hotel at 4-star pricing. We were really disappointed. I don't write many bad Google reviews because I'm not a picky American, but booking this place is like booking a Motel 6 in America and paying Radisson prices. The price-gouging at this place is ridiculous, and you stay in a 1960s era room. Disgraceful. By the way, it took us more than 30 minutes to check in, and they weren't that busy. I have never waited so long to check in at a hotel in my life. Plus, don't stay here if you are out of shape. The buildings are spread out, and you are going to do a lot of stair climbing and walking. Nothing is convenient here. Luckily, I am still in good shape, but if you are overweight or have a disability, don't even consider staying here.

Where do I start... A genuine s***show from the beginning to the end. It seems as they were trying all they could to ruin my friends' wedding.
First they gave us rooms with no working A/C TO GET READY FOR A WEDDING.
We called reception a dozen times over 5 hours to switch rooms or fix it and we're told every time it would be done in 10min... Nothing. It wasn't until we went down to reception and gave them a very audible talking to in front of guests checking in that they started the very leisurely process of finding us another room. Apparently this wasn't easy as most of their rooms' AC don't work. We realised this after reading their reviews, which isln hindsight we should have done before booking.
The bride and bridesmaids were never moved and had to get ready without AC. This is the level of service you'll receive at this supposedly 4* hotel. You may as well book a hostel and save your mkney while getting better service.
The whole place is in a poor state of maintenance, as if they had given up on it and are just waiting for it to die of old age. It might have been good when it first opened and that was it. The "suite" they "upgraded" us to had a shoebox bedroom and lacked the balcony our original room had. It was in dire need of a lick of paint and some love. Out of all the room we booked none of them had both AC and hot water working, it was either one or the other. They first tried to mitigate this by giving us FLOOR FANS. I kid you not. They brought 1 loud rattling fan that and thought that would fix us up. The girls got TWO fans.
The whole experience was abysmal and exacerbated by the worst customer service a place could offered if they were trying to make people leave.
Never again. Save your holiday and book another place.

I had an exceptional stay at the Waterfront Hotel. The stunning views of the water from my room were breathtaking, and the hotel's prime location made it easy to explore the nearby attractions. The staff was incredibly attentive and went above and beyond to ensure my comfort. The room was spacious, clean, and well-appointed, with all the amenities I needed for a relaxing stay. The on-site restaurant offered delicious meals with a beautiful waterfront backdrop. I highly recommend this hotel for anyone looking for a serene and luxurious getaway.

I spent with my family and always the best experience. Pools are clean (kid-friendly too) and life-guard is always available (including the towels). Lights during night is nice. Conference rooms are clean and with functional AC. Ground activity is safe for the kids. During peak holiday and activities/programs, police/securities are spotted anywhere. It means customers' safety is their top priority (and I like it). Buffet food is always delicious (and I always love it). Friendly staff and clean toilets and showers (rooms- with clean tubs, available hot/cold showers and amenities like toothbrush, slippers, towels, ref and more), even in the public toilets.

Truly disappointed. The place is dated, but still has some charm. Room we got didn't have a fully functional AC. The control unit was broken and when we finally got engineering to come help, they told us it was actually controlled central air and that the unit wouldn't control temperature anyways. Basically lied to us since I could at least turn it on/off. They weren't able to get us another room since it was a busy holiday weekend. One of the lights wasn't working, making the room quite a bit darker. Water pressure on the shower was a bit low and a bit of rust was present when we turned it on the first time. Least I hope it was just rust. Staff in other regards were courteous and helpful. Pretty close to the port if you want to visit Samal island