PhilFAQS

Castle Peak Hotel, Cebu, Philippines.

Here’s an interesting, well-recommended destination location I came across recently.  Please note that this particular property is not one that I have stayed at, yet, but several trustworthy friends have.  I thought it was well worth featuring because so many hotels and resorts don’t bother to have a website, especially with complete contact information, so I want to take a little time and highlight those which I have found who have taken the time to smooth the path for a visitor

Castle Peak Hotel F. Cabahug corner President Quezon Streets Villa Aurora, Mabolo, Cebu City 6000, Philippines Trunkline: +63 32 233 1811 Fascimile: +63 32 232 6838 Email: reservations@castlepeakhotel.net

• 15 minutes from the Airport
• 5 minutes from the Port / Pier
• 20 minutes from the nearest Beach
• 2 minutes from the nearest Mall
• 5 minutes from Downtown or Uptown - Cebu
• 2 minutes from Cebu Business Park

Here are their latest posted room rates and a location map.  They will also be marked on the PhilFAQS Maps page for easy trip planning.  Stay here or stay somewhere else, but make the trip, you’ll be glad you did.  Cebu City is a great place to visit.

This is a hotel which shows up frequently on listings for Subic.  Have I stayed there?  No, and I’ll tell you why.

I went to check this place out and I found the locations is quite remote from any of the ‘fun’ things on Subic.  It is a refurbished navy billeting (what they call Navy Lodge’s in today’s world) building on the border of the huge Kalayaan officer’s housing area on the extreme east side of the base.

Disadvantages:

• For the price you can do better.($70 to $80 USD per night)
• It is quite remote, you have to drive to everything of interest.
• There are very limited eating choices, only one in walking distance

On the plus side:

• It’s probably the quietest location on Subic.
• Lots of safe hiking/bike riding all around, up hull and down and virtually no traffic.
• If you are looking for a home in Kalayaan heights (one of the prime home leasing areas) the Mountain Woods is very convenient.

As with all my reports, if you have stayed there and have the same or different views, please leave a comment or contact me directly via my secure, ‘no spam’ contact page.

Mountain Woods Resort Hotel
Rating: AA
Entremedor St., West Kalayaan, Subic Bay, Freeport Zone, Philippines

Disclaimer. I haven’t stayed at the Davao City Microtel Inn and Suites.  I thought it was worthy of a mention, though, because it is a US  chain and very familiar to many of my US readers … and this can ‘make or break’ a trip to those who otherwise are overcome with all the strangeness of taking a trip to the Philippines.  The parent company, Hyatt, is one of the few US-based business organizations actually trying to do business and market here in the Philippines, so it is certainly worth a look.

Their current rates are about PhP2300 ($55 USD) so they certainly won’t break anyone’s bank account.  A breakfast is included as well as free high speed Internet

They offer ‘Stay and Play’ packages for Davao visitors who want to explore the many Davao City attractions … often a better deal than trying to find your way around on your own … and they are conveniently located only a few minutes from the airport.  I may check them out on my next Davao trip, meantime, if anyone reads this and stays there, or has stayed there already, feel free to make a comment or drop me a line on my secure, spam-free contact page and let me know your thoughts, good or bad.

Davao City Microtel Inn & Suites

Damosa Gateway Complex,

Mamay Road
Davao City
Tel: 63-2-6717171
Fax: 63-2-6717172

I just did a cursory search here on PhilFAQS and was surprised to see that I seem to have ignored an old friend of mine, the Montebello Villa hotel in Cebu.  This is a moderate price hotel located on the north side of the city (within walking distance of the Gisano Country Mall, so anything you could want is near at hand.  They offer airport shuttle as well, so just give a call in advance and no worries about getting a cab.

Single men, in particular, should take warning, though.  The Montebello is a famous location for weddings … they average several per day, year-round.  Don’t stand in one place to long and think twice before you casually say "I do".

Unlike many hotels, this one was originally the grounds of an old Spanish estate.  The grounds are quite large for a hotel, nearly ten acres worth and they are beautifully landscaped, with many ponds, bridges and other features to make a stroll pleasant.  There are two swimming pools as well.

In many hotels the food is, well, hotel food.  The Montebello Villa has several on-site eating places where they take great pride in the food and it is good.

In addition to standard and deluxe rooms, the hotel offers suites, honeymoon cottages and longer-term apartelles.  A recent check of their room prices showed about PhP 3400( ~ $80 USD), in the past I have always gotten a better rate at the hotel by just showing up and asking.  Making tawad (bargaining) is a fine tradition here in the Philippines and usually it evokes a smile from the business person you try it on.  At the very worst, you’ll just have to pay the published rate … you could save measurably.

Anyway, I don’t write about places I don’t know, and I know this one … it’s nice.  Cebu is one of my favorite cities and if you haven’t been there, I recommend a trip.

A funny thing happened during our last stay at the Montebello Villa.  My wife saw signs for organized city tours and my wife inquired about price and availability.  The answer: "Oh ma’am, those are for Japanese-speakers only".  A good laugh for us Americans who think we’re the ones who travel and spend money. The staff did, though, instantly arrange us a half-day taxi charter with an excellent Tagalog/English speaking driver who took us everywhere except those tourist-trap markets that bus tours seem to focus on the world-round.

Montebello Villa Hotel
Banilad, Cebu City
Cebu, Philippines 6000
Tel (03-32) 231-3681 to 89
Fax No.: (03-32) 231-4455
Email : info@montebellovillahotel.com
Website : www.montebellovillahotel.com

The Bayfront Hotel in the Boardwalk area of the Subic Bay Freeport is a place I have stayed several times.  (The hotel also lists themselves as being in Olongapo City, which is partially correct, the Subic Bay Metro Freeport area is actually carved out of Olongapo, but the hotel is inside the gates and security perimeter of the Freeport.)

The building is purpose built as a commercial hotel and restaurant, not converted former Navy barracks or billeting as some of Subic’s offerings are.

The hotel has about 43 rooms,all with very easy access to the central indoor/outdoor pool (the pool is in the center of the building but open to the sky).  On their web site … hooray, they actually have a website … they claim room rates start at $49 USD but the times I have stayed there rooms have been in the $60 to $70 range.

The website includes online availability and booking service which I found works fine, but there is a charge for the service they use, so better to call, fax or email the hotel directly.  I found the staff to be helpful and with excellent English skills, so just call and discuss direct.

The Bayfront is nearly on the beach, you can see the beach from the front rooms and it’s less than 100 meters across the street and through a parking lot to sand and palm trees.

All rooms come with an excellent hot breakfast buffet.  The attached Korean/Japanese restaurant has good food and has an international menu for those not into Korean barbeque and kimchi.  There are a number of other restaurants on the same street within easy strolling distance and at least 20 more eating places within a 10 minute drive.  There is an SBMA-provided shuttle service or taxi service from Olongapo is available … it’s less than a kilometer from the Bayfront to the Subic Main gate in the heart of Olongapo City.

Good performing Wi-Fi access is free and they also have a small Internet kiosk in the lobby if you travel without a computer but want to get online … that goes for PhP 60 per hour I believe.

Would I stay there again?  Certainly a ‘yes’, since I have been there more than once … but there are a number of other hotels I plan to check out as well.  The Bayfront hotel, though, is a good bargain for a better class hotel and I recommend them.

<< Note:  See updated contact information at the end of this article >>

On my last visit to Davao City I stayed at the We R Inn Hotel on JP Laurel Avenue, Bajada, Davao City.  This is a moderate-priced hotel that is a pretty good bargain for the money.  I had a mid-priced air conditioned room, at PhP 1,000 per night which included a generous-sized room with two single beds, a decent-size bathroom with towel, soap and good shower and plenty hot water and an air con which cooled the room well and made little noise.  The TV was small but worked well and the cable package was adequate.

All the rooms are non-smoking as is, essentially, the entire city of Davao, the only place I saw on my entire visit there where smoking was obviously legal and encouraged was in a bar at the airport with special air-lock doors for entry/exit.  You don’t go out on the sidewalk or in the parking lot for a smoke in Davao…unless you want to visit the city jail which is also, you guessed it, non-smoking.

The room price included a quite decent “order from the menu” breakfast with a good choice of Filipino, European and American-style meals (sorry, Australian friends, I didn’t note any Vegemite) and, important to me, all the coffee I chose to drink.  As is so often the practice only instant was available, but they were happy to keep refilling my cup.

It’s hard to believe it, but the Philippines is a coffee producing country … there is excellent coffee grown near my home location (in Batangas) and I believe several good producing areas in the mountains of Mindanao, perhaps in sight of Davao City … yet getting a cup of coffee, unless you are staying in a large city where Starbucks and other over-priced ’boutique franchises abound can be a bit of a problem.

Anyway, that’s my report on the We R Inn Hotel on JP Laurel Avenue, Bajada, Davao City.  Check them out if you are looking for a bargain place to stay or want plenty coffee with your breakfast.

———-

Telephone: (82) 227-9328 (from the US you would dial 011-63-82-227-9328 … tell them Philly sent you ;))
Email: we_r_inn@yahoo.com
Address:
Central Plaza I Compound
J.P. Laurel Avenue (Fronting Gaisano Mall)
Davao City, Philippines

Recently I went to the visit the Subic Bay Metro Area, one of the common names for the former US Navy base on Subic Bay, Olongapo City.  I was favorably impressed.  One of the things that occurs when peace breaks out is that governments close bases and this has been a major problem for many Amer4ican communities, certainly no less of a problem for the Philippines.

The government set up quasi corporations to convert and redevelop the bases and in the case of Subic, they have done quite well.  There are two major shipyards already building ships and employing thousands, a deep water container port, an international cargo airfreight operation, hotels, longer-term residential leasing, restaurants and dozens of retail stores.  The area is clean and very secure, something new-comers to the Philippines worry about a lot.

Hotels were the major focus of this trip … my son was in-country for a short visit and we decided to put our feet up for a few days at Subic.  We chose the Bayfront hotel in an area called the Boardwalk (there are no boards) or sometimes called Moonbay Marina (there are several marinas on Subic, but none are near the hotel.  Welcome to the Philippines

The hotel is quite nice … more expensive that most Philippine accommodation but a decent bargain in US terms, our total bill including rooms, excellent cooked buffet breakfast served for 4 solid hours in the morning, taxes, mini-bar drinks and snacks, etc. came to $61 a night per person/room.  I felt it a good bargain.

What can you do if you visit Subic?  A lot.  Parasail behind a fast speed boat (P 1500 per pax), rent a jet ski, hike through native jungle (guided by instructors from the former military survival school), swim … dozens of open beaches … gamble (at least two government-operated casinos), drink beer (P 30) in a number of decent clubs, many on the beach, eat (more on that later … no way could I ever get around to all the restaurants … and shop until you drop.

Recommended, especially for first-time visitors to the Philippines … kind of a half-way house between the two cultures.  The SBMA facility is nestled closely into Olongapo City … 5 minutes walk to the main gate, and Olongapo stands on it’s own as a very well-run, decently clean and workable small Filipino city.  Several hospitals used to dealing with foreigners and foreign insurance and many dentists (did you know if you need a crown or two you can probably save the entire cost of your trip to the Philippines at the dentist?  And don’t forget to check with your tax advisor about what is or isn’t deductible).

If it sounds as if I am bullish on Subic, you’d be right.  There is nothing else as oriented to the tourist anywhere in the Philippines that I’ve found yet .. and there’s now a brand new expressway connection to Manila, about 90 minutes from Manila to the Subic Tipo gate, with very little traffic … speed limits of 100 kph most of the way and you can actually drive 100 kph.