Me and my wife went to Costabella Tropical Beach Resort in Cebu, Philippines last February 3 -6, 2017. The resort is actually located in Buyong Road, Mactan, Cebu.
I have booked this resort in December 2016 through Agoda. The total cost I paid during that time is around USD 325 or around P15,000 for a 3-night stay in a superior room of the resort. It has free breakfast buffet included in the price of the room.
It is almost 45-minute drive from the Mactan-Cebu International Airport. You can arrange a pick-up and drop-off service from and to the airport through the customer service of the resort.
You can email them about your arrival details and your resort booking. The price for one-way transfer is P475 as of this writing or you can inquire the updated fee when you email the resort.
The resort is located in the outer skirt of the city. It is allowed to bring some food that you want. For example, you can bring beverages like San Miguel beer, soda and bottled water. I would recommend this because the price of the beverages in the resort is almost 3 times the price of 7-Eleven.
The check-in time is around 3PM so it is better to get a flight with arrival around 12-1 PM so that you will not wait long inside the resort. There’s a free drink for every new guest upon your arrival.
With regards to the room type, you can choose 3 kinds of room depending on your budget and the size that you want: Superior, Deluxe and Suite. We were upgraded to Deluxe room when we check in.
The resort has 2 swimming pools for adults and kids. There are some lifeguards manning the pools for the safety of people swimming. The pools are medium sized with the deepest level of 5.6 feet.
Swimming pool in front of our room
The beach of Costabella is not that beautiful. There are many seaweeds at the bottom of the sea.
There are times that you cannot swim because of low tide as a result there’s no water inside their fenced-beach. The good point here is that it is very safe for people who don’t know how to swim because the water level is not deep.
The food of the resort is above average. They serve different types of food: Asian and Western-type of food. I would recommend that you avail their buffet breakfast because the food are good and you can choose plenty of food.
Breakfast is served from 630am to 10am. You will be given a breakfast coupon before you go to your room after your check in.
One downside of going to this resort is its proximity to the city and airport. You cannot easily go out of resort on your own because there’s no transportation passing by. You have to request for taxi if you want to go out.
However, they have complimentary transportation every day for guests who want to go shopping in SM Mall and Ayala center free of charge. It is only for one way going there, coming back to the resort you have to ride the taxi which will cost you around P300 - P400 per taxi ride depending on your origin because of P50 additional charge. It is a common practice because of the location of the resort which is quite far from the central city.
The only tourist spot that we visited is the Magellan’s Cross located exactly in front of the Cebu City Hall. Nearby Magellan’s Cross, you can buy some souvenir stuffs that you may give to your families and friends. We bought there T-shirts and refrigerator magnets.
Magellan’s Cross
It is also near the Carbon public market where you can buy the popular dried fish “danggit” and dried squid. If you are a foreigner wanting to have cleaner and safer place to shop, you must go to Ayala Center where there are many stores for buying gifts and souvenirs.
Taxi transportation and drivers are not a problem in Cebu based from our experience. Majority of them are quite courteous and trustworthy. They will not overcharge your fare.
Overall, our experience in Cebu and Costabella resort is good. Customer service is good plus food does not disappoint. The room is always in cleanest condition and it is quite during the night.
I would say it is also ideal for families with small infants because I have seen many families during our stay in the resort.
You can check some of our photos below during our stay in Costabella.
While waiting to check in
How about your experience in staying in Costabella? Is it nice? Can you share your experience about this resort?
