⌛ Aroma beach is no good

We chose this particular resort because their brochure made the place look absolutely fantastic. The brochure featured white sandy beaches, a picturesque restaurant that served a variety of delicious foods and cottages on stilts out into the water. In reality, we found just a little more than one out three to be true. Let me explain.

To say the rooms are flimsy is an understatement. I’m sure they have to rebuild the rooms after every major storm. We were quite concerned with the lack of security at this place. There were no security guards anywhere and just about anyone could open the cheap doors of the native rooms. To be honest, I’m sure I could hack through the room walls with a sharp bolo. We tried to improve the security of our room by moving the furniture around to place several large objects in front of the door to block anyone who might try to come in at night. The rooms were really spooky at night because there were no TVs, radios, or anything that could at least make a little noise or provide some entertainment at night. They don’t even have a towel or bar of soap. To say the accommodations were minimalistic is an understatement.

We enjoyed the white sandy beach, but it was only visible between sunrise and about 7:00 AM. After that, the rising tide covered the sand completely.

Then there was the food – if you can call it that. In all of my travels, my friends and I found the food at the Aroma Beach Resort to be the most unappealing. To compound matters, there were very few other near-by dining options.

When we inquired about the table tennis, badminton and other recreational options we saw on their website, we were told they were all being repaired or replaced. Frankly, I would start by replacing their cook.

Frankly, we felt more like we were staying at a farm than a beach resort. We continuously heard from the many goats, and chickens that lived nearby. See my complete unpleasant experienced about Aroma Manjuyod on my blog at myescaped.com:(

 

Booked at Aroma on Holy Week

Oh no! I had booked and paid P5K to reserve 2 rooms for 2 nights for my family at Aroma so we can go dolphin watching on April 11! Then I learned from my friend only last Thursday about the broken Polo bridge at Tanjay which stretched the usual 1 hour trip from Dumaguete to Bais to 3 hours! I hope our trip to Dumaguete won't go to waste. Any idea if there are any other ways from Dumaguete to Bais without having to pass through the Polo bridge? I'm now thinking of cutting short our stay at Aroma to just 1 night and transferring to another hotel at Bais if they still have rooms to spare. . .

 

Thanks Sash for the heads up, I will avoid that resort.

I really enjoyed your blog, first time I have seen a Filipina sunbathing,
some real cuties.

 

Hi there traveling Mom,

When were there last month of March 11, we saw the bridge construction that allows the traffic to stop one direction at a time. To tell you the truth, the bridge is not the issue there. More importantly, the service at Aroma Beach was so horrible and the place itself is so undesirable, I don’t recommend you go there – bridge or not. . It is dirty and ugly. I really don't think there is another way to get to Manjuyod without passing Tanjay. If there is it will be longer that what is now. If I am not mistaken, you will have to through San Carlos to Guihulngan and Bindoy then Manjuyod.

Why don't you stay in Bais City? You can still do the dolphin watching from there and I think it is much better to take this option. I heard that there are hotels there. Try to contact this number 035 402-8850; 402-8851 at Bahia Hotel and 035 403-8321; 541-5755 at La Planta, Hotel Bais.

 

Aroma Beach Resort

Thanks for the advise. I'll see what I can do about the change of plans and getting my downpayment of P5K refunded or whatever.

 

Good luck to get a refund. The only hope would be to cancel the credit card transaction,if you can. I really hope you are refunded and am curious if you will. Anyhow good luck on that one

 

Not as bad as I thought

I thought I would most likely be unable to get a refund so I just cut down our stay to one night. It was really the Tanjay bridge that I was anxious about, really and that part of the trip wasn't as bad as my friend had related to me either. The sand at Aroma Beach Resort was very fine and so nice to walk on. The kids had a great time! I'll try to post some pictures if I can just figure out how.

 

Glad to hear you had a nice sandy beach. You sound pleased. So how was ever4ything else?

 

http://www.dumagueteinfo.com/board/photo-board/how-post-photos-6.html

 

Well, truth to tell, there wasn't much to do at the resort itself. It's a good jump-off point for dolphin watching, though. My friend departed from Dumaguete at 4am and arrived at the port after 3 hours of travel because unfortunately the makeshift bridge at Tanjay was temporarily impassable that time (around April 5). They were unable to see any dolphins as they left the port at around 7:30 am. That late hour plus the choppy waters equals no dolphins in sight. Aroma uses their own boat for dolphin watching. However, make sure that you have your own vehicle to get you to the port since their boat won't be able to dock at the beach if the water is choppy. If the water is calm, they said their boat can pick you up right at the beach. We left the port at 6:30am and were lucky to find a couple of dolphins during our trip in spite of the choppy waters. We were the first to get to the sandbar at around 8:30am, when the tide was still low. Other boats arrived starting about 9am. The resort provided us with towels and soap, but we had to ask for them. We were there last Good Friday and saw a beautiful moonrise. My brother in law took fantastic pictures. I'll see if I can learn how to post the pictures here.