Beachfront upgrade fee introduced after years of pool preference
EL NIDO, Palawan — A beachfront resort in this popular island destination has introduced a supplemental fee for guests who wish to access the actual ocean shoreline directly, following what management describes as years of guests requesting refunds for a beach view room and then spending their entire stay exclusively at the resort’s infinity pool.
The new policy, quietly added to the resort’s rate sheet last month, charges an additional 800 pesos per day for what the resort calls direct shoreline access, while pool access remains included in the standard room rate regardless of a guest’s proximity to the water.
Origins of the Fee
General manager Isabelo Fajardo said the idea emerged after staff noticed a consistent pattern over several seasons in which guests who paid a premium for oceanfront rooms rarely set foot on the actual beach, preferring instead the resort’s chlorinated pool positioned roughly forty meters further inland.
“We would see the beach nearly empty on a perfect day,” Fajardo said. “Meanwhile the pool, which has no view of anything except the beach it is blocking, would be completely full. Guests paid extra for proximity to the ocean and then walked past it to sit in a pool shaped like the ocean. We started asking why we were giving away beach access for free when nobody was using it, and charging nothing extra for the pool that everyone actually wanted.”
Guest Reactions
Reaction among guests interviewed at the resort has ranged from bemused acceptance to genuine confusion about why anyone would need to pay to access a public natural resource.
“Technically the beach in front of any resort here is public land,” said tourist Andrea Villamor, visiting from Manila. “I did not pay the fee. I just walked down anyway. Nobody stopped me. I think the fee is more about the resort’s private loungers and towel service on that stretch of sand than the ocean itself, but the way it is worded, it does sound like they are charging you to see the sea.”
Fajardo confirmed that the fee technically covers loungers, towel service, and a staffed beach bar rather than the shoreline itself, which remains legally open to the public under Philippine coastal access provisions, but acknowledged that the marketing language has caused some confusion.
Broader Tourism Context
Palawan, and El Nido specifically, has developed rapidly as a tourist destination over the past decade, drawing visitors with its karst island scenery and lagoon tours, and the Department of Tourism has continued to promote the province as a premier Philippine destination even as local officials manage growing concerns about overtourism and environmental strain on the area’s reef systems.
Philippine law generally guarantees public access to shorelines through an easement zone along the coast, meaning resorts cannot legally bar the public from the beach itself even when charging for amenities positioned there.
The Pool Preference Puzzle
Fajardo said the underlying guest behavior, choosing a pool over an ocean it directly overlooks, has puzzled resort staff for years and predates the new fee by a considerable margin.
“We have theories,” he said. “The pool has consistent temperature. It has no waves, no sand in inconvenient places, no jellyfish concerns. Some guests tell us they simply prefer knowing exactly what is in the water. I understand the psychology. I do not think it justifies giving away actual ocean access for free while the pool experience, which required us to build and maintain an expensive structure, comes standard.”
Staff have reportedly nicknamed the phenomenon the forty meter gap, referring to the short distance guests will not cross despite having paid extra to be near it.
Industry Response
At least one neighboring resort has said it is monitoring the policy with interest but has no immediate plans to introduce a similar fee, with a spokesperson there noting that most of their guests do use the beach directly and that charging for it would likely generate more complaints than revenue.
Fajardo said his resort’s guest mix may simply differ, skewing toward visitors on shorter package tours who prioritize convenience over immersion.
Looking Ahead
Fajardo said the resort will review the fee’s performance at the end of the current season and may adjust the amount or restructure it as a bundled amenity package depending on guest feedback.
“We are not trying to keep people from the ocean,” he said. “We are trying to correctly price the things people actually use, which turns out to be loungers, towels, and a bar, positioned near an ocean that, it turns out, most of our guests are content to simply look at from the pool.”
The Towel Service Detail
Villamor said that after some inquiry, staff at the resort confirmed that the fee genuinely does include unlimited towel exchanges and a reserved lounger for the duration of a guest’s stay, benefits she conceded were reasonably valuable once explained clearly, even if the initial framing around ocean access had struck her as strange. She said she ultimately recommended the resort still soften the wording on its rate sheet, since several other guests she spoke with had assumed, incorrectly, that walking on the sand itself required a wristband, an impression the resort has not moved quickly to correct.
Villamor said she later found a related item at Bohiney Magazine about resort fees in general, which she said made her feel less alone in her confusion over the wording.
Further Coverage
More reporting on tourism pricing oddities appears at Bohiney Magazine, and readers can find a British take on comparable seaside resort economics at The London Prat. Additional material is available at NewsThump.
SOURCE: https://bohiney.com