Review: Portofino Beach Resort - Cebu

White sands and clear waters

Resort Review | Portofino Resort
Angasil, Mactan Island, Lapu-Lapu City, Cebu

Portofino Resort is an easy and affordable getaway for Cebuanos and travellers in Cebu. It is located in Mactan Island - the nearest place in metropolitan Cebu City where one can enjoy clear waters and white sand beaches.



HOW TO GET THERE

There are at least 4 different ways to get to Portofino Beach Resort:

View Larger Map

Private car: Follow the directions on the map above.

Taxi: Take a taxi from Cebu City. It costs around P200 and takes about 45 minutes from the city center. If you are coming from the airport, it will only take less than 30 minutes.

V-Hire*: Take a v-hire from SM or Ayala terminal to Lapu-Lapu. It costs about P25 per person. When you get to Lapu-Lapu, City, take a tricycle to Portofino Resort (it costs about P50-100).

Jeep: From SM or Ayala jeep terminals, take a jeep going to Hi-way Mandaue, then take a jeep going to Punta Engano (tell the driver to drop you off at the Barangay Angasil road going to Portofino Resort). Then lastly, take a motorcycle to the resort.

Shuttle bus: There are supposedly scheduled shuttle buses leaving the North bus terminal everyday going to Lapu-Lapu City. This information still needs to be verified, so check back for updates.

RESORT AND BEACH GROUNDS

The drive from the City to Mactan provides a glimpse of Cebu's beautiful countryside. But the street entrance to the resort is, sad to say, not presentable. So as the driveway inside Portofino itself. The rest of the resort grounds is another story.

The road leading to the resort's entrance is narrow and the area is inhabited by what seemed like informal settlers. Upon entering Portofino resort, we were greeted by a friendly security guard who led us to the reservations/customer service office. The receptionist was warm and accommodating. She confirmed our overnight booking and gave us our keys.

Standard economy room

It was drizzling then, so we had the taxi (yeah, we took a cab) drop us off to the pathway to our room. My first impression was that the place looked like an abandoned luxury resort. I say so because there were building rubble, unfinished construction and landscape overgrowth. Maybe everything was under renovation - I couldn't tell.

A tour of the rest of the resort grounds made up for its negative first impression. I was impressed at the gigantic Nipa hut rooms - they remind me of the replica structures in Nayong Pilipino. I also liked that there were big, tall trees everywhere.

The resort compound has plenty of room for people traffic and parking space. There's a swimming pool on one side that looks like a lagoon at light. The white sand beach area has a large sun shade where you can rent tables and chairs. Expect this area to be busy on weekends and holidays, especially if the sun is at its hottest.

The reflection makes this look like an open clam. Ingenious!

Although the beach coast didn't stretch for for than 2 kilometers, it's not what you come here for - it's the waters. Sign up for Aquanaut or bring your own snorkeling gear to experience the real beauty of Mactan waters. Corals and colorful fishes can be spotted not far away from the shore.

You can catch a peek of Shangri-la's Mactan Resort and Spa and Vistamar Beach Resort by walking the cement water barrier on the side of the beach. All white sand beach resorts on this side of the island rumoredly imported their sand from Bohol.

Chilling at the Beachpoint Lounge

FOOD

A restaurant, the Beachpoint Lounge sits on top of a rock cliff and gives its customers a stunning view of the turquoise waters and neighboring Olango Island. It's where you get your complimentary breakfast when you book a room. Their breakfast was a little more than I expected. They had a generous serving and everything was served hot from the kitchen!

I never got to try any other food on the menu but it seemed like you won't waste any money spent here. It also looked like they serve drinks at the bar and at the pool, too.

Some points worth noting here are that the restaurant had a toddler chair which helped a lot for me because I was with my kid; and that they can bring the food to the room for an additional P50, I think.

There are other stalls selling food, sari-sari store style. It's okay to bring your own food, and that's what we did for dinner. We pigged out on a lechon manok and puso (rice wrapped in leaves) brought in from outside.

ACCOMMODATION

We stayed in the standard economy room. It was their cheapest room and it was located in the complex farthest from the beach.

Just like what the it said on their brochure, the room didn't have TV nor refrigerator. We only had airconditioning to boast! It was a room without a view because right behind our room was a deserted construction site.

The place was old and smelled moldy but it was very spacious! The bathroom was roomy but it wasn't spotless. Somebody seemed to have used the toilet for a leak before we checked in. I can go on and on about small details. Maybe we should have booked a beachfront house.

CUSTOMER SERVICE

Making up for all the shortcomings were the staff. We never had any reason to be disappointed at the their service: from the reservations office to the restaurant, and beyond (I had to go to their clinic because I suddenly caught a fever). I was probably being too nit-picky with the rooms - the place is actually great and affordable for the amenities they offer. It is a common misconception that one cannot book a room in Mactan for less than $100, at a white sand beach resort at that. So, here you go.


Here are some more pictures:

Beachfront deluxe room

Deluxe regular (?) room

Spotted while snorkeling

Family frienly beach

*A V-hire is a 'van for hire' that sits up to 12 passengers.
*Tricycle - 3-wheeled passenger motorcycle.
*Jeep - Passenger vehicle. Don't worry, you won't miss it.

For information on room rates, visit Portofino Beach Resort's official site at http://portofino-mactanislandcebu.com/

*This is not a sponsored post.