Le Charmé Suites - Subic

The hotel was almost empty (or felt that way) when we stayed. We were first given a room right next to the elevator, small and cramped. When we asked to change rooms, the staff resisted, and we had to insist on a change. The second room was larger, and we weren't tripping over each other. We had a lovely swim in the rooftop pool, and watched the sun setting over the hills. In the lobby, there is a lovely and very informative coffee-table photo book of sustainable tourism in the Philippines. Directly beside the hotel is a duty-free store, a huge outlet clothing store (many good finds here), and nearby is a local restaurant, The Gourmet Garage, with a small but good menu and wine selection. There are several spas and nail bars nearby, too.

The hotel is very dated, and the bathrooms had black mold growing along the caulking of the tub and toilet. One of our towels smelled moldy, too. There were no hand towels or face cloths in the bathroom. Breakfast was a disaster. When we arrived at the restaurant, we were the only guests there. Breakfast is a la carte, not buffet style. Once we ordered, it took 20 minutes for any food to arrive -- a plate of salad and a plate of 3 cubes of watermelon. Another 20 minutes later, one of the main plates arrived at the table, and the steak strips and eggs were cold. Not cool, like they had been sitting for 10 minutes, but ice cold, like they had been cooked hours prior, and undercooked, with watery whites. We sent it back to the kitchen and asked for hot food, properly cooked. Then the second plate arrived, and it too was ice cold! I went to the kitchen to speak with the chef, explained the problem, and asked him if he would eat the cold food. We finally got hot food to the table, poorly prepared. This is not a destination, but as a stopover between points A and B during our visit, it was sufficient.

The food options were good.

Some of the receptionist were a little bit confused during check-in.

location and cleanliness

musty smell of room

The room

Breakfast was nice but cold

The staff confiscated my toilet paper