Saturday, March 23Multi-awarded Filipina blogger, ocial media specialist, publicist and content creator
Shadow

Review: Castle Peak Hotel Cebu City | and why I won’t stay in Castle Peak Cebu again

Castle Peak Hotel Cebu City is the second Cebu City lodging place that I think I will never patronize ever again. The first one is Paragon Suites along Juana Osmena, Cebu City where I had a rather unpleasant stay early this year. Castle Peak Hotel in Cebu City is now the second one on my “must not try again” list.

Before anything else, though, I want to make something clear. I HATE giving negative feedback especially on services or establishments that are related to Philippine tourism but if giving it would serve as a wake-up call for entrepreneurs or managers and if giving it would mean that they’d change and learn to give better service next time around, then I won’t hesitate to do so. So here goes.

Castle Peak Hotel Cebu is located along F. Cabahug corner President Quezon Streets, Mabolo, Cebu City. It’s supposed to be one of the “better known” hotels in the area especially since it’s been in business for many years now. My brother and I stayed here during my most recent Cebu City trip. He’s actually based there already but I wanted to treat him to “finer lodging” at least for the entire duration of my stay. Since he usually worked nights and his apartment doesn’t have an airconditioning unit, I thought of checking in a hotel so he can sleep soundly during the day.

Truth be told, I tried inquiring with several other hotels before we finally settled with Castle Peak. However, most of the other mid-priced hotels that I inquired with were either fully booked or only had the expensive rooms left. So I’m thinking we should have decided to shell out more cash and choose another hotel. Sigh.

Anyways, the lobby of Castle Peak Hotel is small and it’s obvious that the hotel has seen way better days. Upon checking in, two female receptionists were there. Only one was busy so I was kind of hoping expecting that the other one would accommodate me. Alas, I had to wait for a few minutes before she finally “noticed” me and checked me in. I decided to pay using a credit card so she asked for it and swiped it “for verification” purposes. It meant that the final amount will only be credited when we check out. She then assigned us to a room on the 3rd floor. We chose a standard room and chose the room with breakfast package which was about P1,550 per day. Note that it was already 2:30PM when we checked in.

Lo and behold, when we arrived at our room, IT WAS NOT CLEANED YET. Blankets strewn all over the place, towels on the floor and plates on a tray. So of course the bell boy who accompanied us apologized and asked us to wait outside of the room while he went downstairs (and most probably warn the receptionists that we were two very disappointed customers).

We were made to wait exactly 20 minutes.

By then I was already furious so I went downstairs. I asked the female receptionist what the eff was going on and she just stared at me and said that the housekeeping people failed to advise them that the room wasn’t ready yet. That really irked me. Apart from the fact that the check-in process was too damn slow and that we were made to wait for so long outside the dirty room, the receptionist’s answer just didn’t cut it. I gave her a piece of my mind and even warned her that I will write a review about their hotel. The female receptionist just stared at me. No smiles, no apologies whatsoever. In other words, no effort to even appease me.

Finally, after so much ado, we got our clean hotel room. As you can see, the carpet looks moldy. And no, the beds may look comfortable but believe me, they sag.

castle peak hotel cebu city

More of our unfortunate stay at Castle Peak Hotel Cebu after the jump!

Our room’s airconditioning unit was dilapidated and didn’t release cold air right away. It took a good 10 minutes before you can really feel it functioning. Our room had a safe/deposit box but it didn’t work. So if you have gadgets, laptops or any other valuables, I suggest you deposit them at the reception area.

The washroom didn’t look too bad except that you can really see that some of the items have, again, seen way better days. The towels are mediocre at best. The hot and cold shower didn’t work well. Even on a supposed full mode, the hot water was warm at best. The toilet bowl was “sanitized” but had many stains.

P1040451

P1040452

We were provided with these toiletries for free: (I suggest, though, that if you brought along your own tube of toothpaste, please refrain from using the freebie)

P1040453

Our room had cable television (NOT LCD or flat TV), a telephone unit (outgoing calls even local ones ARE NOT FREE so be warned!), a work desk with chair. Truth be told, I guess this is the only redeeming factor about our room…at least we had a “view” somehow: (just in case you’re wondering, yes, the chair looks old and has several stains)

P1040454

To appease ourselves, we ordered for room service. We had clubhouse sandwich, lechon kawali, cheese sticks and shrimp balls. All the first three were so-so and not worth the money. The only thing my brother and I liked were the shrimp balls. Delicious. We liked them so much that we ordered them again the next day.

P1040458

Breakfast was served buffet-style, by the way. Don’t expect too much. During our stay there, they only served fried/garlic rice, coffee, juice, fruits (during our stay they served watermelons) and about 3 viands (during our stay they served longganisa, scrambled egg and chicken)

By the way, the pub found at Castle Peak Hotel Cebu is supposed to be a Swiss cafe. Interestingly, they didn’t serve Swiss food.

Also, the hotel is currently undergoing expansion so don’t be surprised to feel “vibrations.” There’s an ongoing construction next door.

And if you’re the type of customer who expects real good service, then you’ll be disappointed here. During our stay, my brother and I weren’t served promptly when needed and we noticed, on not a few occasions, that the foreign guests received preferential treatment. Very, very odd.

So as you can see, I didn’t exactly like my stay at Castle Peak Hotel Cebu City. So that was my first and last stay there. Obviously, I also won’t recommend staying at Castle Peak Hotel Cebu. If you can find another hotel, please stay there. It will save you a lot of headaches.

Related Images:

PLEASE SUPPORT BY SHARING:

9 Comments

  • CebuAccommodation

    Now Cebu is looking forward for a better living and welcomed visitors with a beautiful smile. Best beaches, accommodation and cuisine are those nice things that the visitors coming back again and again.

      • Pretty Cebuana

        LOL! why don’t you go to Waterfront, Marco Polo, or other 5-star hotels . How much did you pay at castle peak by the way? 1,200? of course, that’s worth it enough! LOL!

        • Yan ang problema if people like you do not value customer service and the value of hard earned money. Regardless of how much I pay, if I pay the right amount and I was told that I am supposed to receive good service in exchange for my hard earned money, don’t I have the right to complain? I’m not some silly brat who rely on her parents to get what she wants. Or worse, some brat who has not worked a single day in her life. I value my time and my money. Unlike some people out there.

  • Johnny

    I’m staying here in Castle Peak now.. Aug. 2018 – the hotel seemed to be upgraded now. At least it looks new. But I won’t stay here again due to several reasons – first the receptionist here are not very friendly and doesn’t explain things in detailed – it seems they don’t want to converse with you .. the bell boys or attendants are very selective in people they are helping – if you look local or not well dressed – you’re on your own even if you’re carrying so many bags – if you look korean or any foreigner – they will guide you and even hold the elevator for you even if you don’t look like you need help. the people in the front desk and the bell boys won’t even greet you .. the spa upstairs is ok – their massage is just a normal massage though – not swedish or thai or any type of massage – they will just press your muscles – the dipping pool is not kid friendly – they won’t let your kid have some fun or make any noise because they want the spa customers to have some peace (how about improving their sound proofing instead) – and they will force you to dry up before leaving the pool area – and won’t provide you with towels to do it. worst the room we have in 3rd floor have bed bugs or some critters that bites you .. i have more than 20 bites.. most of them 6+ in series in a row in my skin .. there’s cockroach too .. I got it in video and took photo of the bed bug bites that I have .. I told the front-desk about this couple of times .. they didn’t replace my bed.. just replaced the bedding .. and no apology at all .. the cleaning crew just laughed at the situation .. one thing good though is the diner downstairs.. at least they have good food.. can’t tell if it’s expensive or affordable – it’s more affordable compare to prices in Florida for sure.

    By the way our aircon takes time too get cold .. there’s no aircon in the elevators .. and our door lock gave up on our last day locking our stuffs inside. It’s disappointing – the hotel looks so nice. Did I mention the horrible lobby sofa – we waited hours in the uncomfortable wooden sofa – they won’t even let us use their wifi while we are waiting .. looking at the bedding now – it’s grayish and not white anymore ..

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

error: Content is protected !!