Hotel of the Month

Hotel of the Month – DM Residente

December 16^th, 2009

Why is DM Residente this month’s Hotel of the Month? Well, because I just stayed there, that’s why! And what better hotel to feature since I can give you an honest personal appraisal of it? With so many new hotels in AC, you might have a difficult time choosing one. It all comes down to what you need in a hotel. Some guys care about location most, some care about amenities and reputation, while others look for the best deal price-wise. Me personally, I’m probably a combination of all of those things. I still remember the days when rooms at the Orchid Inn were $18 a night. Those days are gone for the most part. All of the “big name” places down on Fields don’t offer anything much lower than $30 or $35 a night. And then there’s the big new places like ABC and Wild Orchid who start out at $80 or $90 and go up from there.

The good news however, is that even in this day & age, there are still some decent places to stay for a good value. I was pleasantly surprised with my stay at DM Residente. I got a standard room for 950 pesos. That is just a little over $20 bucks. It’s 2002 all over again. The room was cozy (read: small) but I don’t need or want a lot of space, so it was just fine for me. Aircon worked great. Water was hot and with good pressure. Bed was comfortable and staff was adequate or better. The only thing some may dislike is the location. It is several blocks off of Fields Avenue. It’s in the direction of Norma’s Money Changer if you know what that street is on. All of the Trike Driver’s know where it’s at, so no worries there. In daylight you can walk to Fields in 2 minutes. It’s that close. For me personally, I quite liked the secluded, out-of-the-way location. I don’t like the feeling I get when I stay closer to Fields. It feels like everyone is watching your every move when you go to & from of your hotel.

DM has all of the basic amenities too. (small pool, wireless internet, room service, etc) Check out their site from the complete list. And if you do want a more spacious room, they also offer Deluxe (Php1050), Junior Suite (Php1195), Suite (Php1295) and Executive Suites (Php1800) all for very affordable prices. If you want something even bigger & nicer, they even have Villas (Php3950) and Condos (Php1950-5000) at their other location just a few blocks away. It’s really a nice alternative to the “big name” places in AC. I would recommend it to anyone asking me where to say—–as long as you don’t mind the location and taking a trike at night. Trikes, oh god, I’ll save that rant for another post.