Travellers' reviews about The Philippines
4.412 reviews
Viajero21
The Philippines
Couple
It was an overall enjoyable trip. The weather was awesome, the private water tours memorable and the Filipino food delicious.
The best parts:
Best parts:
1. The excelent level of communications with Philippines EVANEOS vendor Junji.
2. Working with Junji to have the best 22 day itinerary.
3. Excelent transportation and coordination within Country.
4. Good itinerary pace, with free time to explore areas on our own. Great selection of private tours.
5. Most of the hotels were great.
It was a great trip!
The worst parts:
Not worst part, but it was annoying:
NOTE: Most of the hotels were great! Hovever, there were two hotels that did not meet expectations. To be fare, I am not sure if it was due to room availability or available hotel choices (****** (2nights -uneven floors and******(4 nights - shower overlapping with toilet area).
Faroz
The Philippines
Solo
Varied itinerary from land excursion to water excursion.
The best parts:
A very well organised trip in a very beautiful country. But I had informed the agent what islands I wanted to visit, what activities i wanted to do and some of the hotels I wanted to stay at.
The worst parts:
The stress and uncertainty. Communications were very bad from after I had paid the deposit. I had to chase the agent up in order for her to send me the link to pay the balance of the trip. The communications were so bad that I started doubted whether the company actually existed. I did not receive all the domestic flight vouchers by the time i left the Uk, one of voucher that she had sent me had my name totally wrong. She stated that she would send printed copies with the pick up driver at Manila airport but the latter did not have anything on him. His instructions were only to pick me up. I spent a couple of hours on the first day of the holiday trying to figure out the vouchers that she had sent me and noticed that she had got the dates wrong and had to mail her. The airport security would not allow me into the domestic airport without printed copy of the ticket. I had to go into my ipad to get the electronic copy and he allowed me in as an exception. I had to keep chasing her up and eventually got them printed at the hotel reception. Upon arrival at Manila airport, very fortunately I managed to log into the airport wifi and I received a WhatsApp message informing me where the driver would wait for me, which was outside the terminal building. I dont know what I would have done if I did not manage to log into the airport wifi or if my phone was not working. I had to keep texting her on almost a daily basis to find out various airport pickups times and pick up time for excursions. The itinerary of 2 of my excursions were changed without notifying me of the same. Lunch on the Lobok river cruise was replaced with lunch with a local family. I had to chase her up to reinstate that lunch on the following day excursion. It casted a huge shadow on the holiday and was very stressful when I should have been relaxing and enjoying myself.
Dom
The Philippines
Solo
See my comments above.
The best parts:
Fantastic scenery of El Nido in the two tours I have made.
Super massage paid by the local agent in Boracay - one of the best, if not the best, I have taken in my life.
The worst parts:
Horrible terminal 4 in Manila Airport - worse than third world bus terminals or stations. By the way, the whole airport is extremely messy.
Confusion made when I have arrived -- instructions were to look for Discovery Primea in Terminal 3. Local agent have assumed I would land on Terminal 3 but I arrived on Terminal 2. I had to ask where to go and security told me to take a taxi to Terminal 3 that was about 1 mile away from Terminal 2.
Bad services on El Nido hotel. By the way, everybody and everything in The Philippines, don't care about time. Planes depart very late, breakfast in El Nido hotel at least half an hour late.
Simgrila2
The Philippines
Couple
In this Internet world, anyone can book a trip to anywhere online. However should things go wrong as in the sudden eruption of the Taal volcano, I was grateful that I had an local travel expert on my side. She made all our re-routings for us and we did not lose any of our time worrying about that. Thank you Kenny for looking after our interests while we were in the Philippines.
We are now enjoying Bali and will arrive at our last destination Singapore tomorrow. We'll be heading home on the 28th via Qatar Airways as it has the best business class in the world. That is more than an airline slogan but a fact.
Finally Kenny drove 12 hours round trip to meet with us and to say good bye as we left. Can any do more than that?
The best parts:
Great destinations and fabulous accommodation.so surprised that an agent in Baguio can locate such a hidden gem for us in Dumaguetti.
The worst parts:
The traffic for which the Philippines is already notorious for
Rugby Guy 1087
The Philippines
Couple
We had a great time in the Philippines! People were friendly, the scenery and activities spectacular, and the overall experience exceeded our expectations. We would love to spend more time in this wonderful country and look forward to a return visit. That being said, we will be looking for a much more professional / accurate approach to our arrangements next time.
The best parts:
The places we visited in the Philippines were great - better than expected. We would certainly look to going back to these locations one day in the future, The local tours were also very good - excellent service and locations. We would recommend a visit to the Philippines for almost everyone.
The worst parts:
The NUMEROUS mistakes and deficiencies in our itinerary. There were mistakes, mismatches, unannounced changes, and general lack of accurate information in our itinerary even though it had been booked many months in advance. We did not receive a final copy of our itinerary until 3 days into our trip, and then the accommodation did not match the vouchers provided. In one case a promised (and noted in the itinerary) airline reservation was was not included. Although we were told the was flight cancelled due to aircraft maintenance, we visited the airline at the airport and were told the flight was going ahead with no problems and that we never had a reservation. This was VERY concerning. Then, had we followed the directions for our replacement ferry trip, we would still be sitting in El Nido. A visit to the ferry company prior to departure showed that the directions we had been given (to replace the flight) by our agent were wrong. This is simply one example of the numerous errors and inconsistencies in our final travel package. Throughout the trip we were constantly unsure if the information provided was correct, and very often it wasn't. Please note that we are very experienced travelers having visited 30+ countries over the last few years, and the attention to detail for our arrangements was well below our previous experiences. Happy to provide a detailed review of our concerns.
Evaneos
Thank you for your feed back! See you around the world!
P+C
The Philippines
Couple
Find it above in best and worst Parts.
The best parts:
Well organized.
All Transfers were perfectly timed.
All Tours were privat with our own guide.
Best guide on the Philippines was Jessie from********** during our stay in Bohol.
Good mix out of leisure and sightseeing.
Our agency was permanent reachable when we had Problems. Note That we didn‘t had big Problems, such small one.
The worst parts:
The last Hotel was not in the same standard like the others.
Was not ok for the pricing. (We discussed it with the Agency directly)
We did not like the oslob Tour with the whale shark (that‘s our own opinion)
Evaneos
Thank you for your feed back! See you around the world!
Philippines
The Philippines
Couple
We went to Cebu, Coron& Siquijor, and Bohol. Was a lot of moving around but it was nice to get a chance to see all the islands. We took 5 Tours altogether, they were all great.. we are already planning to come back next year. We truly love the Philippines..
The best parts:
My 22 days in the Philippines was amazing! We loved all the resorts and the tours was great! Most of all the people in the Philippines are just the kindest people you will ever meet!
The worst parts:
The worst part was my husband and I got the stomach flu. I got it worse then my husband. It was the 1st week we were there. Our travel agent was so kind because a couple days later he gave an upgrade to a suite room and then a massage. We recovered in couple days. Although I still had a couple days when I had some stomach issues. But the trip was still great!
N/A
The Philippines
Couple
The destination was lovely and the snorkelling was really good.
The best parts:
The location was amazing and very good that we have direct contact with the agents in the Philippines to check picks ups etc
The worst parts:
N/A
Party of 9
The Philippines
Family
We LOVED our itinerary, which was perfectly planned with enough excursions and downtime, which we appreciated. Our 18-day trip (with 9 travelers) was no small feat to plan, and Junji had everything planned out perfectly -- from all the transportation to all the accommodations we stayed at. We had told him that we wanted this to be a 'Trip of a Lifetime' for us, and it was! We visited Manila (stayed at the Discovery Primea, which was perfect for our family -- the pool was a big hit for the children), then traveled to my father's hometown in Infanta (Quezon province) and then back to Manila (with a stop for the afternoon at the Taal Lake on our way to Manila -- our driver JP Cruz was just wonderful and so kind to our family!). Then we traveled to Panglao to stay at the South Palms Resort, where Junji made arrangements with Fronie Remoreras and his daughter to spend a day on Pamilican Island (dolphin watching, snorkeling, exploring and having lunch) and another day to swim with the Whale Sharks and visit the Tumalog Waterfalls. They were very professional and attentive! Our transportation from Panglao Island to El Nido was perfectly arranged with a van to an ocean jet to a van to the airport, then a van from the El Nido airport to a boat ride to our hotel (El Nido Pangulasian Island). This was by far our favorite hotel of the whole stay! We loved it! We took advantage of the inclusive tours that the resort offered and enjoyed our stay at the Kalaw Villas. Then our trip to Boracay to stay at the Lind Hotel was also planned well. We were notified of a change in the flight departure time in advance, so we were prepared to leave earlier than originally planned. We also loved the Lind Hotel - such a 'different vibe' as Junji described. The beach and warm water were unbelievable as were the sunset views from our hotel. We also did a snorkeling and cliff jumping excursion while there and visited the main tourist area. Then our trip ended with another stay at the Discovery Primea Hotel in Makati, which was perfect! Everything was really well done, and we would highly recommend for any traveler to work with Junji in planning the perfect itinerary to suit any needs. Thank you for all you did to make our trip so memorable, Junji! We are forever grateful!
The best parts:
We loved how seamless everything was! We were able to truly relax and enjoy knowing all of our transportation and hotel needs were taken care of. We really appreciated that our agent, Junji Arias, was in constant contact with us and our hotels to check in with us and give us any updates on our flight information. Even when we had to make a change to a different hotel in Manila, Junji could not have been more accommodating and responsive. The customer service he provided was exceptional!
The worst parts:
Even when we had a change to our flight leaving Boracay to return to Manila, Junji stayed in contact with us and was able to resolve any flight issues we had. We were grateful for his attentiveness!
Linsleys
The Philippines
Family
Tour of cebu and Bohol with day trip from manila and internal flight
The best parts:
Very easy to contact and arrange tour changes
All on time and very good guides
The worst parts:
None
Will
The Philippines
Solo
The trip started without a hitch. All of the activities that were planned went off perfectly with no snags (impressive!). I cant imagine traveling to a new place without using your service again.
The best parts:
Everything! Junji was amazing throughout the whole experience!
It just happened that he was there at the same time at the same hotel. It was a huge vote of confidence that he was staying at the same place. I was able to meet him and form a personal connection with the person who created my beautiful trip.
The worst parts:
There is nothing more that I could have asked for.
Viera & Wes
The Philippines
Couple
The trip and itinerairie with detailed description for each day , made by Junji was excellent. We spend 12 unforgetible days. We visited many interesting places (Damaguete, Balanan Lake, Siquijor, Opo Island and snoorkling, Kocks Fighting, Cambugahay Falls, fishing vilages,Panglao Island, Bohol, Chocolate Hills,Countryside, Pamilacan Island and snoorkling and lunch on the beach, Fire Flights on the river, etc., etc.
We have so many very positive impressions. All hotels, resorts and transportation were excellent. Our evaluation for Junji turist agency is 5 *****.
Thank you.
The best parts:
All what was prepared by Junji has been the been - 5 Stars!!!
The worst parts:
I think all was excellent - since the first contact till our flight back.
