For the past few years, Astoria Boracay has enjoyed a reputation of being one of the best hotels on the island. This 4 star beach resort has one of the best locations in White Beach – right at the start of station 1 where it meets station 2. This means you’ll get to enjoy the best part of the beach, but still be extremely close to the center of White beach where all the action takes place.
Rooms are all very large, clean and modern, and are well suited for families. The service is excellent, and so is the food. Lastly, the rates offered by Astoria are very competitive, especially compared to other similar resorts in White Beach. All this makes us recommend Astoria Boracay to anyone who wants to enjoy high standards while staying at the most convenient part of the beach. The resort is especially suitable for families with small kids, but couples would still enjoy it a lot.
Staff is very friendly and helpful. We had some issues with the shower, and it was dealt with quickly and effectively. The waiters in the restaurant also deserve a special mention – within less than an hour everybody knew our names and were doing all they can to make us feel at home.
The rooms are very modernly furnished and shiny clean. The public areas are also very well maintained, especially the private beach. The only comment we have is that the reception is too small and feels crowded – this is especially an issue if you arrive at peak hours and have to wait to be checked into your room.
Even the most basic room is very spacious, clean and well designed. The way they organized it really helps create a feeling of comfort and space. The shower were a particular highlight – very large area and everything was brand new. Also worth mentioning the WiFi inside the room was solid, unlike most hotels in Boracay.
The pool is standard but nothing special. It's not too big, and since this is a family oriented resort you can expect to see small kids in it most of the time. The private beach area is very nice – it's only a few steps from your room and is a great place to relax and have a drink. Only issue with the beach is that it's right next to the ticket station of the island's tour operators, so there can be some commotion, especially in the morning. It might be better to walk down the beach for 2 minutes towards Station 1 – and enjoy the best beach area in Boracay.
The absolute perfect location where you are close to everything but still enjoy complete privacy. D'Mall, the center of station 2, is only 5 minutes away, and so are most of the bars, restaurants and nightclubs. If you head the other direction, you only need to walk for 2-3 and you're already in the middle of station 1 with its amazing beach. Also, the entrance to Astoria is right on the main road, so reaching it is extremely simple and you won't have to drag your luggage through the sand.
Astoria keeps very competitive rates and continuously provide high quality service. The rooms are great, and so is the food. Ultimately, what really makes this hotel a worthwhile choice is its fantastic location. For us, it's one of the better deals available to people who want to stay at White Beach without compromising on the level of accommodation they take.
We came in too early for check in, and they told us our room wasn’t ready yet. However, we must say the staff did everything they can to help make our wait as pleasant as possible. They gave us free drinks, and eventually managed to prepare the room much earlier than the standard time. The friendly and professional treatment we got already helped mitigate our feelings of disappointment quite a bit. When we got to see our rooms, that feeling was already gone completely.
Even though there are only 71 rooms, the resort feels a bit crowded because of the way it was built. It’s basically one small building with a swimming pool at the middle of it. While it does help to make the place feel more homely, and it’s great to always be the poolside and close to the beach, it also means there’s a certain lack of privacy. This is especially true for rooms at ground level, where you’ll have people walking by your door during the day. Even though we pulled down the curtains, it still wasn’t the nicest feeling. The rooms themselves are great – they are big and include all the amenities and toiletries you expect to find at a high end hotel.
Astoria is a well known hotel in Boracay for many years now, and their reputation really precedes them. They have always been very popular among local tourists, so most of their marketing work is done for them, through word of mouth. Still, it was quite surprising to see they enjoy high ratings at all the famous online booking sites, since the information presented there is awfully misleading.
When thinking of whether to stay at this resort or not, we feel their are 2 very natural candidates for comparison. These are the Coast resort at stations 2 and the Astoria current in station 3, which is a sister hotel of the Astoria. Both of their competitors are similarly styled 4 star resorts, and since each is at a different location it makes an easier choice between the 3. For us, Astoria Boracay has the best location among 4 stars resorts on White Beach - but of course that comes with a hefty price tag.
It's also worth mentionin that the 2 other resorts enjoy much higher rating from guest, especially the Coast which is rated as the best hotel in Boracay. Generally speaking, you could say other hotels do a better job than Astoria in providing world class service and a feeling of luxury. Since we work with all 3 resorts, it's entirely up to you to choose where you want to stay. If you are not sure which one is the best match for your needs, just contact us now and we'll gladly help you figure it out.
There are exactly 600 individual reviews of Astoria over at Tripadvisor.com, with an average rating of 4.5 stars. 89% of guests said their experience was above average, which is a very good feedback for any hotel. People really seemed to like the beach, the nice big rooms and the show they put on at nighttime. Most common complaint was that the pool is too small and crowded.
Strangely, there are only 43 reviews at Booking.com so that isn't worth too much attention. At Agoda however, there are no less than 1514 different reviews and the average score is an excellent 8.5. This is somewhat surprising for us, since Agoda says Astoria is a 5 star resort, which it certainly is not. We can't help but feel the score could have been even higher if Agoda didn't try and mislead its users like that. In any case, people really liked the excellent service and fantastic location. The breakfast buffet got some really mixed reviews here though.
These are some very clear advantages Astoria has over other hotels:
Still, there are some areas where Astoria is lacking:
The dinner buffet is a whole different story though, as it might actually be the best place to eat dinner in all of Boracay. It costs roughly 10$ a person, and for that you get an extremely diverse serving of all you can eat dishes. Most dishes are grilled on the spot, with the main focus being seafood and fish. Afterwards, you can stay at the beach area for a show that goes on until 11pm and includes a live band and fire dancers.
Sadly, there aren’t any facilities at Astoria such as a gym or kid’s playground, which we became used to seeing at so many other Boracay resorts. They don’t have a spa either, but they do work with an external salon. You can have a treatment in your room, and it costs 10$ for an hour long massage. Room service is also available, as well as an express laundry service which is cheap and punctual.
In conclusion, Astoria Boracay is without a doubt one of the better 4 star resorts on White Beach. It gives you a very nice alternative to the 5 star luxury resorts at station 1 (such as the Discovery Shores or The Lind for example), while paying only a third of the price. The terrific location of this resort, just a short walk from everything, makes it an ideal choice for families and couples alike.
This is the cheapest room available, and at 26m2 it can easily host 2 adults and a child. The room comes with 2 queen size beds, but they can be replaced with 1 king size if you ask. Deluxe poolside rooms are also available, at an additional charge of 10$ per night.
The luxury rooms are a more upscale version of the Deluxe category, and they are also slightly larger (30m2. They come with your choice of either a king size bed or 2 queen sized beds.
The Premier room is the largest available, with 45m2 of living area, as well as a private veranda overlooking the pool. The room comes with your choice of either 1 king size or 2 queen size beds.
Astoria also has 1 honeymoon suite, which is more than 100m2 in size. It comes with a super-king size bed, a private balcony and a Jacuzzi.
