At a glance:

Starting out as a beach club, Maremegmeg Beach Club is a small boutique hotel with 12 rooms, located on Vanilla Beach, one of El Nido’s nicest stretches of beachs. With impressive rooms, great onsite amenities, stunning sunset views, and access to a popular beach club, it offers guests the perfect home base to either relax or explore the area.

What it actually is: A luxurious but casual small boutique hotel right on the beach, with impressive amenities for its size.

What it is not: Underwhelming—it impresses far more than expected!

Time of year: Winter

Scores:

Location: 94 – Maremegmeg offers great seclusion but easy access to everything. It is located on Vanilla Beach, about a 20-minute tuk-tuk ride from El Nido town. Just a short 5-minute walk away are the Shoppes at Vanilla Beach, which feature an ATM, shops, and several restaurants, cafes, and bars. The hotel is also about a 30-minute drive to Lio Airport (LIO).

Sleep: 91 – Excellent. The bed was very comfortable and the room was incredibly soundproof. Because we booked a double room, it came configured with one double and one single bed; this wasn’t ideal for us since we are used to a king bed, but all of that aside, we slept wonderfully!

Service: 88 – For such a small property, the service was excellent and highly responsive once we checked in. The staff at the beach club, restaurants, and water activities center were always friendly and helpful. That being said, our pre-arrival communications were a little slow. The hotel was also very upfront about water safety and was incredibly generous with providing filtered water.

Room Design: 93 – Our room was located on the upper level with amazing views of the beach and sunset! The interior is an airy blend of clean lines and warm, organic textures to create a tropical modern retreat, perfectly framed to capture the beautiful ocean views from the balcony. The enclosed, open-air bathroom made it feel like you were showering outside in the jungle. The shower itself was highly impressive, boasting excellent water pressure and quick temperature control, an unexpected luxury for such a rural setting.

Room Amenities: 90 – The room features a coffee pod machine, a safe, a mini-fridge/mini-bar, a large balcony, bathrobes, slippers, and filtered water. They also provided thoughtful extras, like eco-friendly toothbrushes, toothpaste, and a beach bag for use during the stay.

Hotel Amenities: 91 – The property features a beach club with a restaurant and bar, a separate restaurant, a beach bar, a small store with beach gear, complimentary water activities (SUP, kayak, snorkel), tour bookings, a beautiful infinity pool, and a small gym/yoga area. The gym feels a bit like an afterthought since it’s located in a lounge area designed for special events, but it does have a treadmill, spin bike, yoga mats, and a set of hand weights. A special shoutout to the beach bar restaurant: we loved the food so much that we actually returned on our last night in El Nido, even though we were staying somewhere else just to enjoy sunset happy hour drinks and those scrumptious shrimp and okra skewers one last time!

Vibe: 92 – Excellent vibes all around. It’s an upscale yet casual hotel setting where you can walk around barefoot and just enjoy the beach lifestyle.

Cleanliness/Maintenance: 94 – Excellent! Housekeeping was impeccable, and the rest of the hotel and its amenities were wonderfully maintained.

Value / Extras & Perks: 87 – Our rate included a daily breakfast with a great selection of fruit, pastries, and both Western and Filipino dishes. The daily happy hour specials on already reasonably priced drinks were a great perk. Overall, food and beverage prices were very fair for the quality, portion sizes, and the beautiful setting you get to enjoy.

OVERALL: 91.3

Would we stay again? YES!

• The Practical Guide to Planning Your Philippines Vacation