Cave In Bar Samal is now Open

We went there on April 8 expecting the vibes and moments they were posting on their social media. However, what we ended up experiencing at Cave In Bar was far from what was advertised.

First, the communication was not consistent. They did not inform us that they were having issues with Azalea, which resulted in them not catering guests or allowing people inside Cave In on that day except for people who booked rooms (which turned out to be only us). The disappointing part is that they never informed us ahead of time, even though the gap between the day we booked and the day we arrived was enough for them to update us about the situation.

When we arrived, we were literally the only people there, ni isang tao wala. Since we came from a far place, we arrived early because we just wanted to confirm if our booking was listed since we had already paid the down payment. We only wanted reassurance because we had experienced being scammed before, so we just wanted to be safe.

When we arrived at Azalea’s reception, since we were informed that Cave In is located inside Azalea, the staff immediately told us, even before we could properly get out of the vehicle, that Cave In was closed and unavailable. We were shocked because we had no idea what was happening and questioned why they never informed us beforehand.

So we called them, and guess what? It took more than 10 call attempts before someone finally answered. When we explained that we only went there early to check and confirm our booking, the staff sounded irritated and kept asking why we were already there when our appointment was at 2 PM. I responded politely and explained that we knew the schedule and that we were only planning to confirm the booking first before exploring the island. However, she kept repeating why we arrived early, as if she did not understand what I was trying to say.

I chose to ignore it and instead asked why they never informed us that they were closed due to issues with Azalea. I even told her that we could have simply rescheduled because we expected a vacation place with people, vibes, and the atmosphere they kept promoting online. Take note, when we arrived, the bar was not even properly arranged because they were closed.

Overall, Cave In Bar was not the kind of place they described on their social media, not even close.

During the call, I told her that they should have informed us because we could have rescheduled our booking. Then she said that they could still cater to us and that all the inclusions such as drinks and breakfast would still be served. I also asked about the bar because we were planning to take pictures there. She then assured us by saying, “We will open po.” But honestly, all they did was turn on the lights, that was it.

From the way she was talking, it felt like she was trying to assure us that we would still experience the same vibe and atmosphere they advertised on social media. But honestly, kahit katiting, we did not feel that during our stay.

After all her assurances, I told her that they still should have informed us properly about the status of their business because there was clearly an issue with communication that they needed to fix. Then she responded with, “Parang wala naman po issue sa communication ma’am,” and continued insisting that they could still cater to us.

I honestly felt bad for the on field staff because when we could not contact the booking agent, sila yung sumasalo ng frustrations namin. At the same time, I want to acknowledge their effort because they still did their best to accommodate us. Later on, we found out that the person I was talking to was just the booking agent stationed in Davao, while the actual on field staff were in Cave In handling the setup.

However, despite their efforts, the overall satisfaction was still not met because what we experienced was completely different from what was promoted online.

When she said there was no issue with communication, I was honestly shocked because how could there be no communication issue when all of this happened simply because they failed to properly inform us?

Here are the results of the communication issue based on our experience:

We were not informed ahead of time that Cave In was closed to regular guests.

We traveled all the way there expecting the full experience they advertised.

We were shocked and confused upon arrival because the information was only given onsite.

We wasted time and effort traveling without knowing the actual situation.

We lost the chance to reschedule our booking earlier.

The place did not have the vibe or atmosphere promoted on social media because it was practically closed.

The bar setup was incomplete and not properly prepared.

We experienced stress trying to contact them because they barely answered calls.

The booking agent misunderstood our concern and became defensive instead of addressing the issue properly.

There was a disconnect between the booking agent and the on field staff.

The expectations they built through social media were not met in reality.

The poor communication negatively affected our overall vacation experience and satisfaction.

I know your business is still starting, but if this kind of business ethic is already being established during the early stages, then that is concerning. I may not be an expert, but I know that ethics, proper communication, management, and customer handling are very important in building a successful business.

Maybe don’t focus too much only on aesthetics and beautiful promotions on social media. Also give importance to proper management, business ethics, coordination with staff, and especially how customers are treated and informed.