Kastilyo de Ilocos Tourist Inn & Villas

It’s a quiet neighborhood, and mobile data reception was fair during my stay on December 28 2019. But the layout felt like a tiny house without wheels. There’s a narrow hallway, one narrow window at each end, and a really narrow spiral steel staircase to the attic where I spent most of my time after work. The loft fits around two or three medium-sized people. Downstairs are two bedrooms that fit one person each, or two if you’re willing to give up some comfort. There’s one small toilet and bathroom, suitable for S to M sized people. The main thing I disliked was the single inverter AC, placed high on a wall. It made the attic really cold while downstairs and the bedrooms stayed kind of warm. That didn’t make sense to me. Small air vents and a thermostat could have even out the temperature. Bring your own drinking water. There’s no fridge, only a couple of wall sockets for charging, so I needed an extension wire. Two bedroom exhaust fans are on the attic floor, so be careful if you sleep up there. There’s one flat screen LED TV in the hallway.

I stayed here in 2017, when the inn was still new, and had a wonderful time in Ilocos Norte. Our tour package included the place, so the price was okay. There were eight of us, but it didn’t feel too crowded. The setup was almost like a home for a short stay: two bedrooms, an extra bed on the loft, a dining area, kitchen, bathroom, and our own parking space.

The place is very far from the city proper, so getting around isn’t convenient. There’s no sign outside, which leaves you wondering if you’ve found the right place. Security seems poor, with an opening at the back between units. There was a cockroach in the bathroom. The inverter sits just outside the bathroom, and heat from it hits you at the sink opposite, so you end up avoiding the sink. This place doesn’t feel like a Kastilyo at all.

This doesn’t deserve a star, but I had to give one to post the review. We were eight Americans and Canadians, including one couple who arranged the prepaid trip through EAT SLEEP TRAVEL and TOUR. We arrived at Kastillo de Ilocos Tourist Inn at midnight last February 18 2019, excited for our trip, but the villa accommodation was horrible. They expected eight people to fit into two tiny bedrooms with two small beds, a small loft reached by a narrow spiral staircase, a short narrow hallway, and a disgusting bathroom with a toilet like a child’s, a small shower stall, and no hot water. The pictures were absolutely deceiving. The villa was probably only about 150 square feet. There was no way we could stay there, so we left and had to find another hotel. I’m not sure where all the “great” reviews came from. We didn’t get a refund.