San Remigio Pensionne Suites

The rooms are roomy and comfortable, with hot and cold showers, and breakfast at the hotel lets you choose Filipino or Western food. It’s an inexpensive place near the heart of Cebu City. Just remember it’s a budget hotel, so don’t expect the features you’d get at places that cost a lot more.

The spacious room had clean bedding, but the rest of the stay was unpleasant. The toilet was clean and comfortable, though it needed at least two flushes. The grimy shower head sat on a broken support that sprayed water at the wall. Someone had tried holding it together with toilet roll, which clearly didn’t work. The aircon looked like an old motorbike engine bolted to the wall and barely sent out a narrow stream of cold air. The room got hot, so we were sweating and needed water. There was no complimentary water, and room service didn’t exist. The building was dark and locked up at 4am, so I took my girlfriend to look for the canteen. It was unlocked on the fourth floor, with a till and alcohol on display and apparently no CCTV. I could have taken anything, but that’s not how I am. The fridges had beer and wine, but no water. There was only warm water in upside-down big bottle dispensers, with no cups or other vessels nearby. Unless you carry a cup around, use a boot, or drink from one hand at a time, you’re out of luck. I ended up missing breakfast, deliberately, and I’m glad I went looking because I found something worse than the lack of water. In the cooking area, food and egg trays were left uncovered, the bins still held organic waste from the previous day, and three huge brown rats were running around in a corner. With those hygiene and food safety problems, the broken shower support, the toilet that needed two flushes, no complimentary water, no fridge or safe, and little customer care, I wouldn’t recommend staying here. I’d also been told the hotel wasn’t responsible if our things went missing. The two room prices I saw, 1,200 to 1,800 pesos, don’t match what you get. I was unlucky to stay here, but fortunate to see what goes on behind the scenes. I’d encourage anyone booking a hotel to do some research first.

There’s free parking, and Wi-Fi is available in the common areas. The rooms are spacious and have cable TV and hot and cold showers.

I found the hotel nice, with good rooms at good prices, 800 pesos a night in 2018. It’s in Manolo eria, in the center of Cebu, though the neighborhood looks a little poor.