We went to Tacloban, the capital city of Leyte for a few days. Essentially there are two hotels in Tacloban that cater to tourists such as ourselves. They are the MacArthur Beach Resort and Leyte Park Resort. We stayed in Leyte Park. Right now, if you stay here, don't expect the quality of room or service that you can get (for significantly less money) at the Marriott Cebu City. Leyte Park Resort is in a great location, with views of the bay and the islands beyond, but unfortunately, it has not been maintained and some of the staff do not understand how to take care of their guests. Our room, one of the villas near the pool had a bathroom that was "worn" and not clean. However, because there are limited places to stay in Tacloban, it was late and MacArthur Park didn't look much better, we elected to "stick it out." We found the front desk staff, particularly a clerk named Ruth very inflexible and of little help. On our last day, we wanted to have lunch before leaving by bus for Carigara, so we asked if the hotel could store our luggage (just a few carryon bags) for a couple of hours while we had lunch nearby. Ruth insisted that it couldn't be done because the bags would be there after their 2:00 pm late checkout. So we had to carry our bags down the hill to the nearby San Pedro restaurant (in which we had a great lunch). While at the desk we had requested the name of the person in charge of the hotel so we could register a complaint about the condition of the room (for its cost) and about the service. Coincidently, while we were doing so, a consultant (to the owner) named Roger Landry, hired to get things in shape, overheard our discussion with the front desk staff. He pursued us down the hill apologized for our treatment and the condition of the room. He called for the hotel transportation to take our luggage back to the hotel to store for us and he treated us to lunch. Based on his what he told us and did for us, I would guess that within 6 months to a year, he will have Leyte Park shaped up. My suggestion is that if you are dissatisfied with either the condition of your accommodations or the service you get at Leyte Park, you should ask to speak with Roger. As the accompanying pictures show, the resort is in a great location, so there is a lot of potential. They need to fix it up and retain staff who understand how to take care of their guests. Roger and the owner might want to send their staff over to the Marriott in Cebu City to see how it should be done.
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