Horrible experience in Badian - Lydia. Date of travel: May 2010
I was excited to go to Badian. I got to the ferry pier to go to the Badian Island Resort and Spa and met up with some men who said they’d take my boyfriend and I over to the island for 700 pesos. We said it was too expensive, they said it was more expensive to ride the Resort’s boat over, we "bargained" the price down to 200 pesos. They said that the price of the resort would be 7000 pesos. I didn’t trust the price they gave us...so my boyfriend and I just decided to check it out for ourselves. The men at the pier said that they’d take us there and then take us back to the pier if the price was too high. Anyhow, we got onto their boat and they took us over. We got off the boat and found reception (I turn around and the boat left us on the island). I was shocked. He was definitely not going to come back for us. So, I get to reception and ask about the price and they quoted us the published price of 9000 pesos. I was shocked again because my travel guide showed a price of 2000 - 4000 pesos for a room. We decided not to stay and asked if the resort could call the boat back. They said they were not affiliated with those people and that we’d have to pay 500 pesos to use their boat to get back to the pier. I was so frustrated and angry at having spent so much money already that I "bargained" the price down to 400 pesos and used the 100 pesos to get back to Cebu City. It felt like the entire place was scamming me. I’m not sure what the connections are with the hotel and the people at the pier, but there were no published prices anywhere at the reception. The reception desk had six to seven people discussing prices or something when we arrived and asked about the price. I was really disappointed at the entire experience. The other resorts that I’d stayed at were all great and amazing (with published prices), but the Badian Island Resort just seemed fishy to me. That’s my two cents.

Horrible, definitely not 5 star, maybe 2 and a half - NA. Date of travel: Mar 2008
This resort is the biggest con around. It claims to be a 5 star luxury resort and definitely charges like one but the facilities are definitely low rate. My jaw dropped when we arrived especially after what we paid. The resort is on a mangrove swamp and we were ravaged by mosquitos (no nets for your beds), the food was horrible and I gave me diarrhea, and the beach was on the other side of the island and decidely average. This is a big scam. All positive reviews on the net must have been written by the owner. I was very very very disappointed.