Punta Bulata Beach Resort information and tips – Part 2
Continued from Punta Bulata Beach Resort information and tips – Part 1
5. If you’re staying at Ayu Spa, the resort hotel, and have kids with you, choose their Japanese-styled rooms in the ground floor. The bed can be separated as two mattresses on the floor as what the staff suggested. Very child-friendly and safe indeed, baby C and little R-jed had fun playing on the bed.
6. Breakfast for two is included in all accommodations (Beach Cabanas, Beach Family Suite, Hillside Cabana, Aircon Tent, Turtle Van, and Ayu Spa hotel rooms) except for the Aircon
Bus, Beach Casita and Hillside Casita.
7. The resort does not allow food and drinks to be brought in except for the Beach Casita and Hillside Casita guests. They’re strict about this. They have a restaurant serving snacks and meals and offers open air dining which has a nice ambiance during evenings. Meals start at Php100++.
8. If you intend to cook or have some food preferences, then your accommodation should be in any of these two casitas which are best for a group of 6 or less and those who want to save on food expenses. These two accommodations are located farther from the main resort accommodations which was what we liked since it gave us more privacy.
9. The Beach Casita and Hillside Casita units have a simple kitchen with stove and sink, except for a refrigerator. What we did was bring marinated pork and grilled it for lunch the day we arrived. Our meals then were mostly canned goods, fruits and food that didn’t require being put inside a refrigerator such as eggs or noodles. We also bought with us dining and kitchen essentials such as plates, spoons, forks, knife, can opener, dishwashing soap, etc.
10. Just in case, bring extra cash for additional expenses such as dining, spa services or kayaking and other beach activities.
11. The resort accepts major credit cards and cash payments should be in Philippine Pesos.
Initially we planned on booking rooms at the hotel for all of us, but since we were advised that we cannot bring in food except at Beach Casita, we decided to have two hotel rooms plus the Beach Casita instead. This is what the staff suggested. So those who stayed at the hotel just go to Beach Casita for snacks and meals. With this setup we saved much on dining expenses.
Pros:
Privacy. You have the beach all to yourself especially at the shoreline fronting Beach Casita. Maybe because there were not much resort guests during our stay.
Spa services. Two thumbs up from Mom for their full body massage. They also have Finnish sauna and other spa services.
Different types of accommodations to choose from. They have the hotel rooms and many types of beach cabanas, take your pick.
Long walk along the shoreline. This was what we enjoyed during our latest stay. It was low tide so we had fun walking along the beach until we reached the edge of the shoreline where it’s full of rocks and blocked by a high cliff.
One, two, three… JUMP! Stopping by for a pose during our walk by the shoreline.
Finally we reached the rocky end of the resort. We were happy to have walked this far.
Cons:
Some rooms and units needed to be upgraded and maintained.
Guests are not allowed to bring food (even chips and snack foods) except for Beach Casita and Hillside Casita accommodations.
Gate entrance is not so welcoming to guests. You’re greeted with a closed solid gate and walk-in visitors who want to just take a look at the place are still required to pay the Php100 entrance fee even if they decide not to stay.
Rough secluded road about 1 km before you reach the resort. This could be intimidating or discouraging for first time visitors.
A group pose by the entrance before leaving the resort.
More information and photos on resort accommodations and pricing can be browsed here. For reservations and additional queries, you can contact Punta Bulata or visit its booking office in Lacson, Bacolod City.
Punta Bulata White Beach Resort & Spa
Address: Cauayan, Negros Occidental, Philippines
Bacolod Booking Office: +66 34 433 5160 (landline) / +66 920 9003558 (mobile)
Email: info@puntabulata.com
Website: www.puntabulata.com
Distance from Bacolod City: 152 kms.
Photo credits: Aileen of dviewfinder.com
how many hours does it take from kabankalan city?
Hello JC!
From Kabankalan to Cauayan proper is about an hour. Since Punta Bulata is located in Barangay Bulata which is the last barangay in Cauayan, it would take more than an hour to get to the resort.
On positive note, the resort is good. On negative side:
1. Beware of surprises – We were asked to deposit P1000 at the gate to see if the rooms are good. Punta Bulata would not return the money at the gate. A bit of a rip- off. Bad for tourist. Bulata Mgt. must consider changing this practices.
2. Road to the resort is very rough. The local govt. & the Bulata Mgt. must address this.
3. High gates are highly guarded with civilian guards holding two- way radios. Why?
4. Sad to know that the resort is known to accommodate high profile corrupt politicians who wants privacy. Spending people’s tax money wisely?
Hello Henry, good observations there… yup, that’s what we also didn’t like, their closed gate entrance which gives you an impression that you’re not welcome. Isn’t it that most resorts have appealing gate entrances that convey their warm welcome to guests even few meters away?
We arrived about lunch time and we were sooo hungry that time, and we had to wait for the guard to open the gate since he still had to radio the resort manager to check our reservations before we were allowed entrance. This could have been done at the reservation desk, don’t you think so? IMO, visitors should be allowed entrance, and be charged ONLY with entrance fee should they decide to stay. It’s really a turn-off for first-time visitors.
I’m planning to go there but with the negative comments and its true i’d rather to go to other beaches.
I had reservation through internet 4 months ahead of our planned trip on this resort on 27th of December 2010. I expected that it was smooth all throughout because they confirmed also my reservation, but to my big disappointment when reached this placed with my wife and 2 young children coming from Silay City, almost 160 km of travel time and spending preparation for foods, transportation and other miscellaneous expenses they just told me “SORRY’ because there was another reserved family for Beach side Casista’s (mind you readers they have only 1 Casita’s). It was totally mess in the schedule/reservation system of this resort ( I think this is not the first comment related to reservation). THIS IS A BIG NO, NO TO RECOMMEND. Just go to other Sipalay beach resort.
My wife and I plan to visit Bacolodfor business. We plan to depart from Dumaguete.
We are figuring out to stay overnight either at Kabangkalan or Bais…. preferably near the beach on on the beach because we both like to take a swim in the morning.
Any recommendations??
Hello Renato, as I’ve replied in the Dumaguete road trip post, you can try La Planta hotel (www.laplanta.com.ph) for a Bais overnight stay. I’m not familiar with beach resorts in Kabankalan.
hi happy steps! I’m planning to go at punta bulata this october together with my boyfriend.how much is the beach cabana? how much will it cost for the pumpboat and diving if we plan to go to danjugan island? If we brought a food and keep it in our bag, are they strict on checking our bags? thank you
Hi Irene! About the room rates, please inquire from the resort. Their contact numbers are posted above, as well as their website. You can inquire from them regarding Danjugan island tour as they have a one-day package for that. Regarding food, nope they didn’t check our bags at the entrance, but I am not sure how it is nowadays. I hope you will enjoy your stay. Thanks for dropping by! 🙂
Can you recommend any place to go near bacolod city, my husband want a place we can go by bus with max of 3 hours ride.I will really appreciate thank you.
Hello Shela, you can go to Mambukal Resort, it’s one of Negros Occidental’s top tourist destination. It’s located in Murcia, just less than an hour’s drive from Bacolod City, about 45 minutes if you’re going there via private vehicle.
Click here to know more about Mambukal: http://www.happysteps.net/tag/mambukal-resort/
Good day!Ang 100 pesos nga entrance per head dala na tnan? How much ang cottage??. Thanks
Hello Happy steps!
We are planning to stay at casitas just curious if they were strict with number of people staying at those big cabanas?do they count per head? I know it says max of 6 but were like 8.
Thanks for the infos!
Mary
Hi Mary, please inquire from the resort directly. I really am not updated with their latest rules if they are strict with the head count. Thanks for dropping by!