Appleton Little Paradise Beach Resort

"The gate is rather narrow, at best allowing only SUV-sized vehicles to enter. There are parking slots outside, and alongside the national highway. They will check your vehicle for liquor; they will charge you corkage if they find one. Reception is basically you standing outdoor transacting with staff through a window. Here you will pay, in addition to your room accommodations, local government fees. Booking your breakfast here and in advance will give you about a 25% discount. Yes, breakfast is not included in your booking. Choices are the usual “silog” fare, which means tapa-sinangag-itlog (beef, fried rice and egg), longganisa-sinangag-itlog (local sausage, fried rice … you get the point). Their danggit (dried fish) is really crispy and tasty. In-room wifi is spotty. At peak hours not enough for videos and games, sometimes even for images. It can be tricky to connect to it too. They give you a voucher (essentially a numeric code) that supposedly allows up to 10 guests to connect. I had to go back to the office area twice to get new vouchers as the vouchers given to us would only allow 2 devices to connect. We picked Cottage 1, a small villa. It sleeps 4, which is perfect for our family. The interior looks a bit dated, though I understand this resort only opened a few years ago. There are 2 stone houses near the gate, but one of them, which accommodates about the same number of people, does not have its own bathroom. This place is just alongside the national highway, which means that you will hear bus and truck horns and they drive by. The beach has pebbles, not sand. Can be a bit tough to walk on barefoot. At low tide there are a lot of rocks, and at high tide, the waves can be a little on the rough side. There is a river just beside the resort, and some tourists and locals swim in it. Food in the restaurant is quite good. A bit on the pricey side, particularly for these parts, but really quite good. Try their wood oven pizzas. The seafood platter was a little disappointing though. The best asset of this resort, by far, is the staff. Especially the restaurant crew (Edelyn gets special mention here). Very much willing to please and very patient. I give them 11/10."

Calilayan Cove Beach Resort