Jeamco Royal Hotel - Cotabato

The room felt creepy and was very dim, with no window facing the street. The free WiFi was slow, and the cable TV had no proper connector for plugging into the wall outlet. The split-type air conditioner did work, at least. There were broken or loose tiles on the floor and walls, plus stains and peeling paint on the ceiling. Some towels had stains too. Small cockroaches were crawling across the room and bathroom floors and walls, and I stepped on about 10 of them in 18 hours. I wondered if the city hall had any sanitary inspectors. Water for bathing was available only for a limited time after 7 PM. There was no bottled drinking water in the room and no hotel restaurant. One fast food chain was across the street, and Novo supermarket, beside the hotel on the ground floor, closed around 6 PM. To find a local restaurant still serving dinner, I had to walk almost a kilometer along a dimly lit road. My reservation details were messed up, and payment was cash only. Check-in was allowed earlier than 2 PM.

The location gets 4/5 from me: groceries and fast food are within walking distance in the center. Still, there isn’t much appeal to the area, and because of peace and order concerns, everyone should be back in their rooms before 7 PM. I booked a five-day stay in January 2024, for reference. Parking gets 1/5, with only about three spaces in front of the hotel, and reception gets 1/5. The room gets 2/5 for cleanliness. In the CR alone, I’d see three to five little cockroaches running around. Not recommended.

Jollibee and Mercury Drug are right across the street, which was the one good thing I found. The hotel entrance looked awful, with sewage flowing and trash scattered around. We got there late, around 7:30 PM, and there was no running water. When we asked the concierge when it would be back, they said, “I don't know, ask them [other staff].” By 4:00 AM there was still no water, so we used bottled water we’d bought the day before just to clean ourselves a little. Cockroaches were everywhere, and the towels hadn’t been cleaned properly. The air conditioner had to be switched on and off at the breaker, with no way to adjust the temperature. Staff were laughing so loudly we could hear them outside. This place is a big red flag. Calling it “Royal” is really pushing it. STAY. AWAY.

The staff were really friendly, and at least the shower had hot and cold water. Hehe. But there were lots of cockroaches, the bathroom door in my room was defective, and the room wasn’t soundproof. We also had frequent blackouts during my stay. 🥺😶💕