Note: This is a review regarding the Crown Regency Hotel & Towers in Cebu, there are other hotels owned by the same brand also: https://www.crownregency.com/hotel/crown-regency-suites-and-residences I stayed at this hotel on the advice of an american friend with years of experience visiting the Philippines. It came highly recommended and on the website it boasts of plenty of unique features which made me reconsider renting an AirBnB apartment instead; Sadly none of those unique features were available during my visit with no warning given and then I was possibly scammed upon checkout, please read fully to understand the review and my reasoning. To start, checking in was simple enough although a little long compared to other hotels, I remember it taking so long I had to ask my partner what the staff were chatting about in case there was a problem; We were advised that there were set times that hot water would be available, I don't recall exactly when it was but it something like 6pm-10pm and 6am-10am, this was probably the first warning flag. We were placed on the 23rd floor, to get to this floor you need to take the elevator to the 19th floor and then change across to another set of elevators that will take you to the 20th floor+. The first thing I noticed is that renovations or work appeared to be occurring for all floors up until the 19th but nothing appeared to be actually happening, I don't recall seeing any workmen or hearing any construction noise at all during my stay, and any floor that opened before the 19th would be dark and the only people entering or exiting on these floors would be staff members. The 19th floor was also supposed to be the floor for access to some of the advertised 'features' of this hotel. Note: I visited here in November and nothing was reported on the website, however I notice on the website it now states: ANNOUNCEMENT, as of December 2023: The following outlets are currently temporarily closed due to renovations: -Sky Experience Adventure (Skywalk, Edge Coaster, Tower Zip, Viewing Deck) -Fabulous 50’s Café It is my personal opinion that this hotel is possibly having financial issues and are running minimal staff/services, but more on that below. We planned to explore the area and just use the hotel as our base of operations, the room was a good size with two double beds, decent aircon, a giant panoramic window with great views and a very large bathroom with toilet with bidet and two person shower, there is wall mounted tv and a small wingback chair (more on that later). I noticed a few issues, there were not enough towels and they were both small and threadbare, they actually run out of toilet paper and when we asked for a refill we were told they were awaiting a delivery (I just bought a pack from the store), we had paid for the buffet breakfast each morning of our trip and the choices were very lacking, the same barely-warm food, driest adobo I've ever eaten and fruit that may or may not have been fresh but hey, it was just a starter for the day and like I said, this was just our base for the trip, most days we were out at markets, restaurants or other cities before returning here to sleep. We did check out the swimming pool and found it drained and nobody was manning the poolside bar, the only staff member we came across there looked shocked to see us and asked if we were lost. Issue came to ahead upon check out, we had a flight to catch so headed down early, they asked us to take a seat whilst they inspected the room, not a problem I said knowing we had tidied the room well and everything had been bagged/disposed of. The receptionist told us there was damage to the chair in our room and we would be charged 10,000 pesos for it before we could complete check out. I was dumbfounded and my first question was honestly "What chair?" as I didn't recall there being a chair in the room, she then showed pictures of that small wooden wingback chair that had spent our trip tucked under the desk in the room, on one of the arms was a hairline split at the join next to some of the padding which appears to have 'opened up'. I asked to see a picture of the chairs condition before check-in and the only picture she could show me was one of the room overall, nothing close up showing the damage wasn't already existing, I obviously disputed this stating we hadn't used the chair at all during our stay and we've barely been in the hotel other than to sleep, my objections fell on deaf ears though and the receptionist just circled back to the same 'You must pay' speech. In the end I asked to see the damage for myself believing that maybe they had the wrong room and had a manager and two security guards flank me in the elevator back up to the room where one of them pointed to the damage, I said "clearly thats a join that's split, it looks like a design fault with the chair to me" but again, deaf ears. On the elevator ride back down the manager let me know I didn't have to pay 'full price' because they've had this issue before and the previous time the guest only had to pay 5000 pesos! I left the elevator and just said I wasn't paying and we were leaving immediately, security blocked the exits demanding to see my 'check out slip' in order to leave the hotel, one of them laughed when I suggested to call the police. My partner was getting concerned at this point and so I decided to just pay the amount on a credit card and rectify this after getting home. Checked out and left for the airport. With that checkout experience and the other issues experienced in the hotel I feel my opinion of them is justified and I wouldn't recommend staying here to anyone right now. Be warned of this shady practice if booking this hotel.
