Villa De Pico Highland Beach Resort

Villa De Pico Highland Beach Resort puts you close to the centre of Puerto Galera, with the sea and a private beach forming part of the setting. It is a resort for travellers who want their days to stay fairly simple: swim, eat, read, book an outing and let somebody else deal with the washing.

The resort has 23 rooms and combines practical holiday services with a few useful places to slow down, including a garden, terraces, a library and an outdoor swimming pool. English is spoken by the resort team, which makes the basic business of arranging meals, transfers and excursions pleasantly straightforward.

You also have a bar, restaurant, massage service and free Wi-Fi throughout the resort. In other words, the evening does not need much planning. That is often a virtue.

The address is Brgy. Palangan, Puerto Galera, Oriental Mindoro, in the Philippines. The resort is a few steps from Puerto Galera town centre, so you can reach local life without turning the evening into an expedition.

The property is near the beach and has access to a private beach, along with beach facilities and beach or pool towels. The setting also works for days when you would rather stay put: the garden, terrace and pool keep the sea within the day's scenery even when you are not in it.

For getting around the island, the resort can arrange transfers and excursions. The surrounding programme includes Tukuran, Tamaraw Falls, the Hanging Bridge, Haligi Beach and Coral Garden.

The room choice is unusually broad for a small resort, so you can match the stay to the way you travel rather than accepting one standard box. Couples can look towards a double room with a balcony and a view, while family rooms and quadruple rooms make more practical sense when several people are travelling together. Suites, studios, apartments and cottages add more space and different ways of using the room.

Balconies appear across many of the standard, deluxe, suite, studio and cottage options. They give you somewhere to sit with a drink or let the day dry off around you. Selected rooms add views of the sea, ocean or water, while some of the more complete options include a fridge, dining area, kitchen and kitchen equipment. That is useful when a full restaurant meal is not quite what you want.

Room equipment varies by category, so choose with care. Fans are common in several room types, while air conditioning appears in selected deluxe family rooms, suites, apartments and studios. Private bathrooms, showers, towels and televisions are widely represented; some rooms also add Wi-Fi, a hairdryer, a safe, a private entrance, mosquito protection or soundproofing. The suite and apartment categories are the ones to examine when an air-conditioned night, a fridge or a little more self-contained living matters to you.

Breakfast is included in the rate, giving you a useful starting point before heading out for the day. You can also take breakfast in your room, request a diet menu or arrange a packed lunch when the day's plans do not fit neatly around the dining room.

The resort has a restaurant, a snack bar and a beach bar, with the bar and restaurant presented as the place for satisfying everyday cravings. The beach bar keeps the drink part of the evening close to the water, while the snack bar is the practical answer when you want something lighter than a full meal.

There is also a barbecue area and bottled water. Room service is available, which means you can keep dinner simple when the weather, tired legs or sheer post-dive hunger make going out feel like an unnecessary sporting challenge.

The Infinity Pool is the obvious place to reset without making another plan. Its view extends towards the ocean, so you can trade fins for a quiet length of water and still keep the horizon in sight. Beach access, beach facilities and pool or beach towels give you another easy option for an unhurried afternoon.

For a slower recovery, the resort offers massage, a library, garden and terrace areas, plus a sun terrace. There is billiards for a little friendly competition, and the outdoor spaces give couples somewhere to sit together without having to turn relaxation into an organised activity.

When you do want to leave the resort, bicycle hire, fishing, jet-skiing and snorkelling are available among the leisure options. Excursion assistance can help you reach places such as Tamaraw Falls, Tukuran, the Hanging Bridge, Haligi Beach and Coral Garden.

Check-in runs from 14:00 to 21:00, with check-out at 12:00. The resort offers airport transfers and other transfer services, so arrange the journey with the property before travelling. Excursion assistance is also available once you are there.

Payment before arrival is required by bank transfer, with the resort sending the instructions after your reservation. Cash is accepted at the property, so plan your spending accordingly. Free Wi-Fi is available throughout the resort.

Laundry, dry cleaning and ironing services are available, alongside luggage storage, a wake-up service and a safe. The resort has no lift, which is worth bearing in mind when choosing a room or travelling with heavier bags. Children are catered for with babysitting, a children's play area and children's television channels.