Review: Lost Horizon Beach Dive Resort, Bohol, Philippines

Bohol Island Attractions such as the Tarsiers, Chocolate Hills, and Loboc River Cruise, were enough reasons a visit to Bohol was on our travel itinerary. With a bit of research, Alona Beach had been promoted as a mini Boracay Island by locals for its "pristine stretch of white sand, turquoise waters and palm trees." Specifically, Lost Horizon Resort seemed to be the perfect location that would cater to all our needs.

We wanted to:
(#1) eliminate any transit time to get to the beach, plus...
(#2) be in proximity to a variety of restaurants, and finally...
(#3) access high-speed WiFi / Internet.

We stayed Jan.10 to Jan.16 for $396.00 / ₱17,670 and highly recommend a stay at this resort and here’s why.

Review: Lost Horizon Resort (Alona Beach, Panglao Island, Bohol)

Location

We started our journey by jumping aboard Ocean Jet Ferry departing at CEBU: Pier 1 and arriving at the BOHOL: Tagbilaran Port. We arranged our stay with Booking.com, where breakfast was included.

NOTE: You won’t find taxis on Bohol unless you’re at the mall so we also had Booking.com help coordinate pick-up service from the port. It was an additional ₱500, which was the going rate to Panglao Island.

Since we had already participated in a Full-Day Bohol Countryside Tour (based in Cebu), we realized how much we missed beach life and wanted to be right near the sand and ocean. In our Talisay City, Cebu stay, everything was a taxi ride away. It pays to wake up and be within 120 meters of the beach, which Lost Horizon Resort advertised.

Comfort & Amenities

(Deluxe Room 6)
• The bed was quite comfortable. A pillow for each of us, I used my travel pillow for extra comfort.
• Plenty of outlets to recharge your phone, camera, or laptop.
• We enjoyed a warm day outdoors coming back to our room which included both a ceiling fan and wall a/c unit to cool off with.

• We used the safe.
• It was nice that they had a complimentary umbrella in the closet since it was the rainy season.

• Spacious room and shower.
Issues We Ran Into - On occasion, housekeeping may forget to restock towels or mistakenly take your bathmat. You have to visit the Reception Desk and get replacements. Initially our "hot" water wasn't working. They forgot to turn on the thermostat. We notified them of the issue around 2:00pm after returning from a rainy day of snorkeling. So looking forward to warming up with a hot shower but that didn't happen. After they fixed it which was at 7:00pm, the hot water would last a few minutes then turn back to cold water, wait a few more minutes and the hot water returned. Maybe it was on a timer?

Words of Caution

• There is a salty, puzzling taste to the water when going to brush our teeth. I don't know if they pump water from the ocean or there isn't additional filters in their catchment system. It’s not as intense in the shower but I suggest buying bottled water for brushing your teeth or heating up coffee in their coffee pot.
• Also, when the coffee pot reaches a boil, it doesn’t automatically turn off. You must unplug the coffee pot or it might cause a fire.
• What looks like a jacuzzi is not a hot tub. It’s the same temperature as the pool.

WiFi / Internet

Although the resort advertised high-speed WiFi from the rooms, we stayed in Deluxe Room 6, and access was slow. The best location for WiFi would be right next to the Reception area. There are several tables at the restaurant that allow you to plug in your phone or computer to an outlet while surfing the net. I noticed when I was about 100 feet from the reception area, WiFi started working on my phone.

Restaurant

DINING TIP: If you opt to have dinner at the resort, the best location would be on the beach so you can still hold a conversation during the evening’s entertainment.

PROS: We frequented the resort’s restaurant for breakfast and lunch. Not all restaurants offered fresh Buko juice (₱80), a young coconut, ready to drink so had my fill here. After drinking all the coconut juice, you can have them slice the coconut open to eat the coconut meat.
What we would recommend here is their:
• Sizzling Chicken (₱205), a house specialty, which I ordered on two different occasions.
• Bill liked their Chicken Cordon Blue (₱250).

CONS: I would say that the food here is just okay:
• Sinigang na Baboy (₱250) didn’t really have that many vegetables in it, and the pork cubes were tough to chew.
• Pancit Canton (₱190) was fine but not memorable.

Ambience

(Noise Level)
• The bathroom louvre windows are always open so make sure to shut the bathroom door to lessen the outdoor sounds. You can hear your neighbors come in and out of their room so if everyone can use their indoor voices and not slam doors, it’s all good. No complaints.

(Live Music)
• Evening entertainment, at the restaurant, is so loud that it can travel to the next-door restaurant (which also has its own entertainment). It lasts until 10 pm except on Tuesdays when the singers and musicians have a day off. Luckily, our Deluxe Room 6 was a little past the pool, which made the music somewhat muffled.

(2nd Floor of the Restaurant)
• Mornings and sunsets, we would be found here, people watching, enjoying a drink, and enjoying the ocean view.

What's Nearby and Getting Around

• Island Adventure Dive Center: You’ll be taken to two snorkeling spots near Balicasag Island = ₱300/pp + ₱100/pp fin rentals. All the street vendors were offering the same tour for ₱1,000/pp, not including fees & fin rentals... don't know if that was for a private boat tour, but it was too much!
• Oasis Resort: If you have dinner here, you can time it with the local fire dancing found on Alona Beach
• The Buzz Ice Cream of Bohol Bee Farm - try a scoop of their purple Ube Ice Cream = ₱40/scoop
• Rent a Moped = ₱500/8 hours
• Rent Standup Paddles = ₱1,500/1.5 hours *but we negotiated ₱1,000

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