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Set in lovely gardens on a hill above Banaue, the hotel looks like an expensive private house. There is nothing on the outside to indicate that it is a hotel. It was late afternoon, and I was surprised and relieved when I found that I had arrived at the right place, and wouldn’t have to climb the steep road again to somewhere else. My room was at the top of the house, another three floors up, under the pitched roof. It was clean, airy and spacious, with wooden floors and walls, and minimal furnishings, rather like a room at guides’ summer camp. It was the only place in the Philippines where I felt cold at night, and, of course, the only place that didn’t provide sufficient bedding. I had to add my coa
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The view from the gardens is breathtaking, and worth the climb up from the village in its own right. Garden chairs, including a large carved wooden swinging chair for two, are arranged along the east wall of the hotel in the garden, facing the valley, the village, and the famous rice terraces. At dusk, the setting sun picks out the glassy surface of the flooded terraces. The road up to the hotel is swathed in butterflies, many small ones coloured yellow and blue, like English butterflies, but big exotic velvety Filipino varieties too.
Good value at 500 pesos for the double room with shared bucket of cold water for washing, but pricey as a single. The large restaurant on the first floor was closed, which was unfortunate, as the village is just far enough away to make an awkward journey uphill on foot at night. I got the impression that most other guests had their own transport, or used taxis to get everywhere.
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