D' Lucky Garden Inn

There were ants everywhere in our room, including on the beds, bathroom, and walls, and the hotel itself feels dated and needs work. In the middle of the night, I got locked out of the bathroom because its lock engaged from the inside. Wi-Fi wasn’t available in the rooms. They suggested using the garden, which has no air conditioning, so I ended up paying for coffee at a cafe just to get online. The front desk didn’t know the area, and there were no motorbikes available. They kept pushing their tours, which I didn’t try.

The Wi-Fi was only in the lobby, but it worked really well compared with the rest of the Philippines. The room was clean and nice, and the staff were friendly and helpful. The resident cats were a drawback, though. They’d pester you and even jump on the restaurant table trying to steal food. We were also annoyed to learn that the supposedly free airport shuttle was only free if we’d arranged it before arriving. We had to pay 100 pesos for a tricycle instead. It’s a nice little hotel.

The staff were helpful and accommodating, though they still need proper customer service and hospitality management training. Cleanliness seemed good to us, but the service wasn’t consistent. There’s a mini restaurant inside the inn, but the meals were overpriced. Only hot water was free. The location is quite far from the city proper, and there were times when the electricity was out. With the roads under construction, this doesn’t seem like the right time to book at Lucky Garden.

A comfortable, clean and cheap place to stay in PP. The staff are warm and helpful, and they offer some amazing tours at reasonable prices.