Cebu Rooms - San Marino

The location is good, with SM, Galleria and G Mall all within walking distance. There are taxi companies nearby too, though catching one during rush hour is hard. Living here costs more than 2800pesos a month in association dues. The old building has lots of broken facilities, and the two elevators are rarely both working. There's no emergency generator, so power is out during outages. Homeless people from nearby areas sometimes sleep on the property, and security leaves them alone. There's no motorcycle parking now. It used to be available, but we were suddenly told to park on the nearby street instead. Many homeless people hang around the used car dealership's lot across the road and play pranks on the parked motorcycles. (See the photo) If I get another chance to live in Cebu, I won't choose this place again.

SM Mall and Robinsons Mall are both close enough to walk to. The roof deck has a great view of downtown Cebu, but there's an open square between the 4th floor and the penthouse with no safety net. It could be scary if you're afraid of heights. There were three power outages during my two-night stay. Luckily, I wasn't in the elevator when they happened.

The view was nice and GMall and SM City are nearby, but the problems made the location less appealing. The ground floor smelled bad, and the homeless people outside made us feel unsafe. We booked for 8 days hoping for a relaxing stay, but on day three our unit lost power because the building dues hadn't been paid. No one had told us about that, and other areas still had electricity. When we decided to leave early, the elevator was broken too. We packed in the dark and moved to a hotel. Never booking here again, not recommended.

You can walk to three malls from this old condo, though for another one you need a jeepney, and the route feels risky because of homeless people around. Lots of jeepneys and taxis pass the road, so you usually won't wait an hour for one. There's a set garbage schedule. Laundry is on the ground floor, though I heard it may be less than expected. For parking, you can pay 50 pesos and leave and return with your car without being charged again. Don't leave things in the back of a pickup, though, as they'll get stolen. Nearby street parking can be tempting, but don't park there or you'll get towed. Getting along with homeless people nearby may be your best option if you want to park close. There are lots of roaches in the units, the elevators often don't work, and you should expect only one to be running. The tiles are quirky, and the rooftop is unfinished, though you can visit anytime. 8th Avenue or store at ground and Caffe Marko are gone, so you'll need Grab or have to leave the condo to get food. Paying bills on the third floor can sometimes be a problem for other reasons. If you're on a lower floor, expect more noise because the condo is near squatters.