Sunday, February 07, 2016

Kalibo: La Esperanza Hotel

I booked a standard room in La Esperanza Hotel along Osmena Avenue. The hotel is a 15-20 minute walk from the Plaza. It is near the rotonda where you can find a Chowking and a Dunkin' Donuts (which is where I got my caffeine fix multiple times during my stay). There's an Andok's right next to the hotel which is open 24 hours I think. There are also many sari-sari stores and a drugstore nearby. (I can't recall which one it was; I think it was Super K?)


The standard double room comes with a queen-sized bed. There's a TV mounted on the wall. The toilet is quite spacious and the shower area has hot water. There is free WiFi in the hotel but the internet speed could be better - I guess maybe there were so many people checked into the hotel during my stay that at certain times of the day, everyone was online.


Note: there are no elevators so if your room is on the 2nd or 3rd floor, you need to use the stairs. This should not be a problem for most people but if you have difficulty going up stairs for whatever reason, you may need to request for a room on the ground floor.


What I realized is that hotel room prices really spike during Ati-Atihan. When I checked the price of a standard room in La Esperanza on a different date, it is around P1,300. During my stay, I had to pay around three times that rate. I will assume this is the same for any other hotel in Kalibo.

La Esperanza is about a one to two-star hotel. During my stay, my room was not cleaned and my towels were not replaced. However, I didn't have any need for my room to be cleaned (I had no trash inside and I was pretty tidy when I was there) and I wanted to conserve water and energy so I didn't want nor need my towels to be replaced. That said, I am guessing that if you want your room cleaned or your towels replaced, you can probably ask them to do it.


I initially thought of staying in a different hotel the next time I go to Ati-Atihan, one that is closer to the plaza. However, I think that La Esperanza is a very good option primarily because its distance from the plaza. This means that you can get some peace and quiet at the end of the day when you feel like it since you won't hear drumbeats all throughout the day and you won't be amidst thick crowds of people all the time. I would definitely recommend La Esperanza as a place to stay in Kalibo.

La Esperanza Hotel
http://www.agoda.com/la-esperanza-hotel/hotel/kalibo-ph.html 
Address: Osmena Avenue, Kalibo
Phone:(036) 262 3989

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