Trip Advisor reviews helped us set our expectations right about SandCastles Boracay Resort, or so we thought.

First the (outrageous) price during peak season. Due to personal contraint, we could book on Sancastles internet website only one and a half month in advance a bungalow for the peak season in late December. 2 weeks before, I made a check on internet and was surprised to find better rates on their website for the same bungalow (which represented an economy of a few hundreds USD for a 1 week period). I contacted them several times via e-mail and over the phone to ask them to offer the better rate. This was verbally accepted but eventually on the spot, it was of course refused. Conclusion: a very original marketing approach. It is better to book 10 days before you go on peak season to get a better rate. This place is really not worth its price. Opt either for backpack place (same quality but more decent price) or pay a premium and go to Discovery or Friday's. Furthermore, breakfast was even not included for 155 to 245USD per night (days closer no NYE were more expansive).

Secondly the poor amenities. For a few days, there was no hot water and a few times no water at all. Other days, there was no pressure at all. We were provided a bucket with water so that we could wash. 245USD is the price to pay per bungalow during the high peak to get this truly native experience. The bed sheet looked dirty and were smelly, yet we had to make special request for two day to get them. This would not be an issue for a bed and breakfast, but once again for this price, this was unacceptable. The terasse on the bungalow looked nice but we could not really enjoy it because of the mosquitoes.

Third, the pond. Do not look for it, it is not mentioned on their website. After one day of rain, which is not exceptional, a natural pond formed and the whole place was inaccessible. It was impossible to walk to any bungalow. It seems the owner did not have time to plan for a dry path over the past few years. Good thing, no premium was requested for the pond.

Fourth, the management. The employees were doing their best to help but the management was totally absent. The owner seemt not to care at all and was smiling when tired clients were cleaning their feet under the shower at the entrance after walking in the pond or genuinely asking about water and other things. Now that I think about it, the owner did not help in any way nor did he provide any information at all during the whole duration of our stay.

Fifth, you have to pay at check-in, which is not mentioned on any website. And even though you book via credit card on their website in USD, when you want to pay via credit card, you have to pay in PHP and at a rate defined by SandCastle on spot. Note, forget about getting a bill or any official document. The best you will get at your arrival is a rate will be displayed on a calculator.

Sixth, transfer is not included. When we left, we asked SandCastle to arrange for our transfer out to the airport. It was more expansive than the price we paid for the transfer in. It was clearly stated that it was all inclusive, yet, after a first leg of the route on tricycle to the ferry port, the SandCastle employee simply tried to chit us and asked us to pay again for the ferry ticket! Eventually as we proposed to call SandCastle to clarify the issue, he paid for it (the overal price was more than 500 PHP per capita) without questioning.

Seventh, the cherry on the cake was that when we arrived and were obliged to pay the high price at chck-in, we were kept waiting for around one hour as they were preparing our bungalow (we arrived at night). Very surprising when you know that check-out is around noon!

In other words, the only good thing may be the location, right in the middle of the long and white beach, but even that may be challenged. For those who want to experience waterfront, it is better to go further as SandCastle is just a narrow band behind the beach with no view at all.

In conclusion, I would highly recommend to avoid this place during peak season for all of the reasons above. For a few tens of dollars during very low seasons, this can probably be ok.

There are 2 parts to the SandCastles Hotel. We stayed in the nicer Apartments...so we thought. The Apartments seemed to be very nice - new furnishings and right on the beach! However, if you look more carefully...that's when things go downhill.

First, we booked a 1-br apartment for 3 people. Last minute, a 4th buddy of mine came...they would NOT let a 4th stay even w/ ample room. So they forced me to find another room at another hotel even though it was peak season. Not very accomodating as it took me a 1/2 day to look for another room. Also, I paid for a rollaway bed for all nights...and since I now only had 2 people staying at Sandcastles (and 2 others staying at the other hotel), they wouldn't refund me the money.

The staff are friendly, but the manager (elder man in glasses) is far from friendly. The owner (I believe his name is Chris Hutchinson or something similar) pretends not to be the owner for several reasons...

The apartments are without Hot Water! and I heard that several 3rd floor apartments were without running water and needed to fill buckets to have water. There are NO phones in the room. If you need to make or receive a call...goto the front desk. Although the furnishings and decor are nice... a closer look, you'll see that the toilet and sink areas are quite dirty. Even the bathroom sink faucet was loose.

Overall, I had a great time in Boracay...but not without it's pains from Sandcastles. They really need to concentrate on their cleaning of rooms as well as maintenance. Also, management is terrible. They are lucky to have friendly staff and a great location cause that's all they got going for them. I really feel for the staff cause there were many complaints towards them and the managment/owner like to hide away.

As for the regular rooms...bungalows... good luck. I checked out one of the rooms and I was freaked out. That's all i can say. Not the most pleasant rooms.

We booked the hotel last minute when me and my husband finally decided to go to Boracay. It was really last minute that we booked Sandcastles on the day of our flight. Because of that, we got really great rates from Rates-To-Go which basically made our stay well worth it. The rates online was even less than half the published price of the hotel, which is why I would say that we got our money's worth. At the time, the front of the hotel was being reconstructed so you would have to go through a narrow pathway to get into their frontdesk. I didn't mind that at all because I was just actually after a comfortable place to stay in and in a convenient location. Sandcastles is located right in between Station 1 and 2 where you would find the most activities day and night. This made it convenient for me any my husband to go around all the great places and get back easily to our place when we got tired of walking. It is also located beachfront so you wouldn't have to worry about crossing the highway; although, we stayed in a room far back and with a little more walking. Not really a hassle though.

The room was spacious enough for four people to accommodate, although there was just the two of us. The bathroom was spacious too. Contrary to other reviews, our bath had hot water installed. I just didn't like that there was no safe deposit box in the room which made us bring all our variables with us every time we left the room. I guess bugs can't really be avoided because my husband had to buy an insect repellant for his bites. I don't know why but I didn't seem to get any bites. Maybe because he's from Canada and I'm from the Philippines.

In addition, the staff was really great! I'd say that they were really friendly. We didn't have any problems with them at all. Although I did notice that they didn't religiously follow turndown service and housekeeping schedules because I noticed that the room looked the same when we left it.

Overall, we were really satisfied with our stay. We had a great honeymoon in Sandcastles because we knew what we wanted out of the hotel. We didn't exactly need extreme privacy because we wanted to be able to explore the island more. Also, we wanted to stay where it would be convenient for us to find food and still be able to swim in the greater part of the beach. If you're looking for a convenient location in Boracay, Sandcastles is one place to stay in. Great for young singles and friends. Recommended. It's really not bad at all.

Hotel staff was nice and attentive, room was clean, but that's about it. Worried about leaving your stuff in room because key to room was just regular key and no safe deposit box inside.
Location between boat station 1 and 2, so it's a short walk to D'mall and beach is right in front of hotel.