PROS:
* Located Downtown
* Just beside the street
CONS:
* Old Building
* Damage
* Smells old
* Poorly cleaned
* Bike shop at the lower ground floor
November 2014 – I was sent by WithLocals as their Ambassador to Ilo-ilo Philippines to verify a host. With this, I need to find an accessible hotel for me that will also be budget friendly, but still a comfortable and safe place to stay.* Located Downtown
* Just beside the street
CONS:
* Old Building
* Damage
* Smells old
* Poorly cleaned
* Bike shop at the lower ground floor
It took me weeks to finalizing the details, the hotel to stay, and the Ong Bun Pension House is my last resort. I was not sure on how near this accommodation is to the destinations I want to visit in Ilo-ilo, or if it will be easy for me to get around the city, but since it’s within the city I go for it.
Ong Bun Pension House
The Ong Bun Pension House is one of the cheapest accommodation that we can find in Ilo-ilo. We tried our best to get the best and cheapest deal since after Ilo-ilo, we’re heading to Boracay Philippines and get some beach bum.If you’re looking for a cheap place that has an easy access to transportations going around the city, then you might find this pension house the one for you.
I was with fellow bloggers from Cebu, Mary, Chanel, and Princess and we asked them if they could reserve us two (2) rooms that is good for two. They did reserved us a room, without needing to give a down payment, but then they say if we’ll not be there on the day we need to be there they’ll be giving our room to someone else.
It’s located in Ledesma Street, and when we told our Taxi driver that we’re going for Ong Bun Pension House, he knew it right away. It took us about 30 minutes to get to the pension house, and that is from the pier.
You’ll not notice the place actually, we were actually wondering why the Taxi stopped and he told us “we’re already here Ma’am”. He pointed out to us the sign, and the guard of the pension house was standing in the stairs, and the guard asked “check in Ma’am?” and of course we said “Yes Kuya!” and he helped us with our bags, and called for their boy to help him – since we have 4 medium size luggage.
The Hotel Rooms
We got there early, so it’s not time yet for check-in but gladly one room is already available and we get to stay in that room while waiting for the other. The others get to work (online), and I get my sleep since we do want to go around.
The first room that we got just got cleaned, it’s near the stairs, same floor of the front desk. I was just fooling around at first in the room, checking it out, and fall asleep.
Few hours later, Chanel and I got our room which is at the third floor of the building. I forgot why we’re not able to use the elevator, it was there but maybe something is wrong with it that time, so we took the stairs.
I like our room it’s bigger than we got first, it’s a twin bed, but there’s something with its smell. It’s smells like an old room, but it was cleaned, and the air-condition is old but working well. Even the comfort room smells funny, but when I was about to put the bags at the closet, I saw the dirt behind the TV and there seem to be a black bag of cellophane. Didn’t touch it, I was too scared to touch it.
I asked Chanel if we go back downstairs and just stay there until when we want to sleep – I was that scared. It’s an old building, need some constant cleaning, and maybe also needs repainting.
Also, I can hear the people from the other room and the wall that’s dividing us was just a thin wood, so no wonder.
I asked Mary and Princess if they have any problem with their room, they said it was just too noisy in the morning since it’s on the street side and there are motorbike shop downstairs. It was like their alarm clock that its 7am already, and sometimes around 5am they get that kind of alarm too since again it’s on the street side.
The Hotel Bathroom
Again, their bathroom smells funny too, the first room was okay but yeah, what we got smells old. It’s obvious though that they cleaned it but I hope they sprayed it first or put some deodorizer too.
The water flow is just fine, but the water sink have a problem. When you brush your teeth at the sink, the water goes down to your toes even you spit everything on the sink. Yes, there’s no tube below the sink.
The Hotel Restaurant
They do have a restaurant that serves breakfast, lunch, and dinner, and I believe their open around 6am. We got our breakfast there every morning since we don’t know where else to get our breakfast fast and easy since we need to be on the go.
The food is of course expensive, they have value meals but still you can get a full tank (stomach) for that price since their servings are small. But then, if you’re like us, they’re on the 5th floor (if I am not wrong) of the building – yes, we took the stairs.
The Hotel Room Rates
The hotel have air-conditioned rooms and non- air-conditioned rooms. Of course, the rooms that are non- air-conditioned are way a lot cheaper (like around P150/day) but we want to be comfortable, so we choose the air-conditioned room.But if you’re looking for their rates, you may visit their official website or just check it out here. But make sure to check their site too since I may not be able to update this as often.
Room Type
|
Air-Conditioned
|
Non-Air-Conditioned
|
Economy
|
P150-P330
| |
Standard
|
P385
|
P330
|
Deluxe
|
P330-P720
|
Prices are only a bracket since it also depends if you want a single, double, and triple bed. Some prices are also lower since there’s no bathroom within the room, you’ll be sharing with the others.
Exotic Philippines Hotel Ratings
It’s hard for me to weigh things here, what do you expect from a cheap accommodation? Surely, it will not be like a luxury hotel, but at least I was hoping that it’s not that damaged and poorly cleaned. As a place that offers comfort and shelter, you should be at least clean.
With this, I’ll give this pension house an Exotic Philippines rating of 2 stars out of 5 stars. Minus 1 for being poorly clean, 1 point deduction for having some basic needs turns out to be damaged, and another point deduction for the old room smell on our room. And yes, I could’ve given them 5 stars as a pension house if only they’re able to fix all these. I am easy to please.
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