Henann Palm Beach Resort Boracay Review: Beachfront Room

Boracay is one of the most talked about islands in the Philippines, and after seeing it with our own eyes, we completely understand the hype. We stayed at Henann Palm Beach Resort for three nights, booked a Grand Beach View room right on the sand, and we are breaking down everything you need to know before you book: the journey to get there, the room, the pools, breakfast, parasailing, and the in-room massage.

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Getting to the Resort

Before we get into the resort, we need to talk about how we actually got here, because it is not a short journey. We flew out of Phoenix on Starlux Airlines, Phoenix to Taipei to Manila. From Manila, we hopped on a Philippine Airlines domestic flight down to Caticlan Airport (airport code MPH). It is a short domestic flight, but make sure you build in enough connection time in Manila.

Here is where it gets interesting. Once you land at Caticlan, you are not at Boracay yet. The island is a short boat ride away, and getting there involves a few steps.

We pre-booked the roundtrip transfer through the hotel when we made our reservation. It is an add-on you can select at booking, and for the two of us it came out to 3,970 pesos. Totally worth it in our opinion. You could do the DIY route to save money, and plenty of people do, but this was our first time in Boracay and after nearly 30 hours of travel, the last thing we wanted was to figure out logistics. We just wanted a smooth, stress-free arrival with no haggling and no guessing.

Here is how the hotel transfer works:

1. Find the van with the H logo. When you walk out of Caticlan Airport, look for the van with the Henann "H" logo. They even put a sticker on us to make sure we ended up in the right vehicle. The van is heavily air-conditioned, so you will not suffer in the heat.
2. Henann Welcome Center. The van picks up guests from all the Henann properties and drives everyone to the Henann welcome center, where you wait for your boat. The staff takes your heavy luggage off your hands right there, which we really appreciated.
3. Boat to the jetty. A quick boat ride across to Boracay Island.
4. Final van to the resort. After the boat, there is one more short van ride that stops at each Henann property depending on who is in the vehicle, so you get dropped right at your resort.

It is a few steps, but the whole thing felt organized and easy. We show the ride back to Caticlan at the end of the video if you are planning your own trip.

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The Price

We booked our stay for early May and paid around 33,400 pesos, which comes out to about $546 USD for three nights. The rate includes daily breakfast. We did a lot of research before booking, and for the price, we think this room is a really good value.

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The Room: Grand Beach View (Room 255)

We booked the Grand Beach View room, number 255, and it is connected right away to the sky pool area. First impression: the room is modern, clean, and the beachfront view is genuinely stunning.

Entry and closet: There is a dedicated luggage area as you walk in. The hotel provides brand new, high quality slippers. We wore ours for the whole stay and they held up really well. The closet has a safe and waffle-style robes, two umbrellas in case you need them for sun or rain, and a scale.

Bathroom:

We loved the partition layout. There is a soaking tub with a handheld, plus a separate rainfall shower with another handheld for standing up. There is no door, just a partition into the sink area. The hotel provides branded amenities, a dental kit, shampoo and conditioner, a strong hair dryer, a zoom-in mirror, and a toilet with a handheld bidet. One nice detail: the blind that divides the bedroom and bathroom is controlled from inside the bedroom, so you control your own privacy.

Bedroom:

A king bed with a clean, well-kept headboard, light controls on the nightstand, and international outlets on both sides. There is a full-length mirror, an empty water pitcher you fill from the hallway, an espresso machine restocked daily by housekeeping, a water kettle, cups, and a refrigerator (note: the fridge does not come stocked with water, so use the pitcher or grab drinks outside).

TV: A roughly 50-inch smart TV, but it does not have an internet connection, so you cannot stream YouTube or other apps. We tried setting it up and could not get it working. The upside is the cable channel selection is wide: American, Korean, and Chinese shows, plus a good HBO selection, and no ads in between unlike back home.

Living area: The couch is made from a semi water-resistant outdoor fabric, which makes sense since people sit down in wet swimsuits. The hotel left us a welcome chocolate selection, which everyone seems to get. There is also a large desk you can work at or use to do your makeup.

Balcony: The best part of the room. You get full access to a balcony with a direct ocean view. If you have four people, two can sit out here while two relax inside. The hotel provides a drying rack out here. You are not supposed to hang clothes off the railing due to wind and the look, but the drying rack solves that.

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Parasailing

We only did one water activity, parasailing, and we had a lot of fun with it. We felt safer doing it since we always buy travel insurance when we travel abroad.

We booked through Neil, one of the local guys who tries to sell you activities and food as you walk around Boracay. Booking through these tour coordinators requires cash; they do not accept credit cards. If you want to pay by card, you can book through the hotel, which costs a little more. We were able to negotiate the price down with Neil.

The biggest tip: book your activity as early as possible. We went early and basically had a private session before the crowds rolled in. The view from up there was incredible, around 250 meters high, and it was surprisingly relaxing rather than scary. By the time we came down, the beach was packed, since it was the weekend. Definitely worth it, and definitely go early.

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The Pools

The resort has two pools. Pool one is right in front of the lobby, and pool two is on the other side and has a bar. Above pool two is the sky pool, with a view of the beach where you can order drinks from the bar.

There are also rooms with direct pool access, where you can step right out into the water, but keep in mind those are shared pools, not private.

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Massage and Body Scrub

The resort offers massage, body scrub, and foot scrub service that you can enjoy either poolside or in your room. Poolside treatments are more budget friendly, but we chose the in-room option for the privacy.

We did a 2-hour full body Filipino massage plus body scrub package for 1,700 pesos, about $28 USD. The staff arrived at our room, set up the area with towels over the bed, and gave us a relaxing two-hour treatment. One downside: they did not bring their own massage table, so doing it on our own bed meant our necks were not the most comfortable.

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Breakfast Buffet

Breakfast is included with the stay and served right by the beach. There is a good mix of Filipino dishes to try alongside international options. Eating by the water in the morning was one of our favorite parts of the day.

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Final Verdict

Overall, we really enjoyed our stay at Henann Palm Beach Resort. The property is nice and clean, the room is modern, and we slept comfortably. Breakfast was solid and the location is great. The thing that stood out most: the beach area for this property is noticeably better maintained than the other Henann properties we saw while we were there. That was a nice surprise, and it made us very happy with the choice.

The best tip for this stay: book the roundtrip airport transfer through the hotel. After 30 hours of travel, arriving without having to negotiate boats and vans was completely worth the 3,970 pesos.

We did a lot of eating outside the resort too. If you want to see everything we ate around the island, check out our Boracay food tour, where we cover lechon, Jollibee in the Philippines, and that famous coconut ice cream. You can also watch the full food vlog on YouTube.

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• Boracay Food Tour: Lechon, Jollibee & Filipino Food