Pulchra looks lovely. Set apart from the grinding poverty of Cebu and the Philippines in general, with a landscaped piece of beach and small lagoon, you can glance over the retaining wall on one side to see what the beach would look like without this - a bit squalid.

The hotel itself is reasonably new and the villa we stayed in was in good condition - I had to chase and squish one very large tropical cockroach, but that’s not bad going considering how much wildlife there is wandering around, and that went for everything from very sweet-looking and friendly stray cats to legions of frogs that surrounded the villa’s pool every night.

The villas feel pleasantly private although when we visited (April) the weather was so incredibly hot, that without the sea breeze it was pretty difficult to spend time by your private pool during the day. The main pool, with its large swimmable lagoon, is great and features a swim-up bar - surely the very pinnacle of what democracy has to offer us. And that’s the good bits.

The bad bits: the food is genuinely terrible. Even breakfast, which most 5-star hotels get perfectly right by default was dreadful - served in a room with the most intrusively awful mood music I’ve ever been subjected to, it was edible, although not pleasurably so and featured Philippino pork products, which while billed as a speciality screamed eono-meat when you actually have to choke any down.

At times it felt a bit too private. Sitting next to the main pool, we would often see absolutely no other guests for several hours. It started off feeling like our own private paradise. Within a few hours it began to feel a bit lonely. After a few days of that it was actually a relief to leave and head up the coast to the Shangri La (better food, better atmosphere, better pretty much everything).

You get assigned a butler on arrival and maybe there are good ones. Ours wasn’t. Other than cleaning our room and a sub-half-hearted attempt on our first day to talk about available activities, the only thing we asked him for during our stay was a set of nail clippers. He suggested we went to speak to staff at reception. We did and they happily obliged. Well, thanks.

Pulchra isn’t completely awful, but neither is it, by the standards of other hotels we’ve stayed in across Asia and indeed the rest of the world, worth the $550 US per night we paid for it. While far from a total washout, it got just enough things wrong that at half that price it would have been awesome. As it was we felt as though we’d have been better off in the Shangri La, or indeed getting a bit more local flavour and going properly Philippino for a few nights.

The Pulchra is a great getaway resort in a honeymoon type setting. Its ideal for couples and potentially families. There are only 37 rooms in total. I recommend spending more and getting a villa with a private pool. I was impressed by the number of activities and restaurants they have considering the small number of rooms. The food is fair to good with some pretty good dishes. After about 5 days or so, the food can get tiring. There is not a lot around the resort. In the city, there is a great high-end supermarket called The Tinder Box. If you want good wine, chocolate or other food, ask the concierge to help you order from there. The pool is very good, but the beach is ok. Sand is good enough, but the ocean floor has stones. The staff is very friendly and responsive. They can be slow at times compared to a city hotel, but you are on vacation so its hard to complain. Overall, I highly recommend this if you value your privacy and peacefulness. Otherwise, it can seem like a low value for the amount of money required.

Outstanding resort of 40 villas with private pools. Lovely landscaping. Even a full capacity, the resort seems very quiet and relaxing. Most people stay in their villas, so bars and restaurants are usually quiet. Beach was disappointing. Sand is sharp, water is rocky and murky, but our private pool/waterfall was so nice we soon forgot about the beach. Food was excellent, staff were friendly and professional. The perfect getaway for couples. Not the place for the party crowd. The resort is very quiet. 1 hour by van from Cebu Airport.

Top class 5 star resort; beautiful swimming pool, nice beach, brand new spa, very friendly and helpful staff, perfect food in several restaurants. Four Seasons / Ritz Carlton level.

Private houses are beautiful with a private swimmingpool.