Plantation Bay Resort and Spa

Discover a resort in a class of its own.   Set in 11.4 hectares of secluded grounds yet only one hour (when traffic is bad)  from Cebu City, Plantation Bay offers one of the largest privately-owned waterways in the world, with the clean elegance of colonial-plantation architecture. Decompress from life’s pressures in the healing tranquility of an environment that truly feels “away from it all.” If you have ever spent time at a tropical plantation, you know what we mean. If not, come and discover a refreshingly different Flavor of Life. Whether you’re traveling for a family vacation or romantic getaway, for business or pleasure, this is far and away your best choice in the Philippines.

99.9% of our guests have a great time here. A very small minority are miserable. If any of the following are very important to you or describe your situation, please book in another hotel:

1. Beach dimensions. Our open-sea beachfront is 88 meters long, compared with 200 meters or so for typical hotels around the world of this size. There is no adjacent beach either; ours is a separate cove. However, the waters are exceptionally clear, and there are living reefs and a diving wall very close to shore. Conscious that we are beach-challenged, we built extensive internal lagoons plus four freshwater swimming pools of varying designs. Because of the lagoons, a large percentage of our rooms enjoy an expansive view of water, and most of our rooms are closer to the action compared with the typical resort. The Rooms section on this website clearly discloses what kind of view and proximity to beach, lagoon, or swimming pool you can expect from each room.
2. Artificiality. Plantation Bay is a man-made environment. The lagoons have a cement floor and occasionally need to be drained for cleaning. The waterfall is powered by pumps. Much “rockwork” is cement or plastic. Most guests quickly forget these details, but some people just can’t get over them. (On the other hand, our lagoons are a lot cleaner and safer than a real seawater lagoon would be.)
3. Nature-ality. Plantation Bay is laid out like a village. This means walking in open air, or taking a golf cart. Sometimes the sun is hot, and sometimes you may get wet. Sometimes the carts are slow. There are mosquitoes in the air, but also sometimes the scent of jasmine. We think this is much more interesting than walking down long corridors that look and smell the same as those in midtown city hotels, but not everyone agrees.
4. Typical hotel prices and policies. Our beer costs P 165 (about $4); laundry for a shirt is P 200 (about $4.60). Full buffet breakfast is P 950 (about $22); an ala carte American breakfast is half that. We do not insult your intelligence by claiming to offer “free” breakfast; rather, we give each guest the option, every morning, to have the buffet, the ala carte, whatever, and to pay only for what was consumed. Still, some guests have complained about our prices (honestly, we can’t figure out what their frame of reference is).  There have also been a few guests who, having paid $160 for one room, felt entitled to invite all their local relatives to come swim, and became angry when we disagreed.

The Plantation Bay Room and Restaurant Satisfaction Guarantee. We would like all our guests to feel they made the right choice in coming here. And most of our guests do, so we can afford to be liberal with those who don’t:

Immediate change of heart after checking in. If after arrival you do not think you would enjoy your stay, please advise us (by calling a Duty Manager or the Front Office Manager) within 4 hours of checking in, and we will do the following:

1. waive your room charge for the day (but not your charges for food, goods, or services if any);
2. in case you made any advance payment or deposit, even for peak or blackout periods,
   the entire amount will be refunded to you in cash in Philippine peso equivalent;
3. help you book at another hotel in metropolitan Cebu; and
4. provide you with free chauffeur-driven transportation to that hotel;

You must, however, actually come. Our normal policies apply to no-shows and reservation cancellations made prior to check-in.

Early departure vis-à-vis the number of nights reserved. If after staying a day or more during a non-peak and non-blackout period, you decide to cut short your reserved stay, you will only be charged for the days actually stayed (you must of course leave by 12 Noon, our standard check-out time). In case you made any advance payment or deposit, the unused balance will be refunded to you in Philippine peso equivalent. Please note however that if you were accorded a discount due to the length of stay booked, an early departure may disqualify you from the discount, and the rate for the days you actually stayed will be calculated accordingly. This section does not apply to peak dates or dates that are “blacked out”, i.e., dates for which advance payment in full is required (roughly 30 days a year are peak or blackout dates); in respect of such dates, no refunds will be given for early departures.

Unsatisfactory food. When dining or drinking at any of our restaurants (but not our dinner shows or open buffets), if after eating or drinking 25% or less of the serving, any dish or drink is not to your absolute satisfaction, please advise our staff and there will be no charge for it. (We will of course offer you alternatives.) Please do this instead of just grousing about your meal later, when we can no longer ascertain exactly what the problem was or whether any staff member warrants correction.

Truly international. Opened in late 1996, Plantation Bay has already had over a million visitors from every corner of the globe. Virtually all of them agree that this is one of the best resorts they’ve ever been to. Experienced travelers in particular will feel right at home at Plantation Bay. English is spoken throughout the resort; we also haveJapanese, Korean, Mandarin and Spanish-speaking staff members.

There is NO TIPPING at Plantation Bay. All our guests receive the highest standard of personal attention without ever having to worry when, whom or how much to tip. If you’ve never been in a No-Tipping resort, you just don’t know what you’re missing. Why not find out?

Not just a resort, but an experience. Many leading resorts offer extensive facilities, terrific food, and lovely rooms. But regardless of the purpose of your visit, the one element that sets Plantation Bay apart from all the others is the absolutely authentic “feel” it recreates – like distilled Essence of Plantation Living, suffused with a sense of serenity and timelessness that you will remember and want to come back to.