People's Lodge & Restaurant — Hotel in Banaue

I am usually someone who does their homework before staying in a place but I got caught out in a bad way when our bus from Manila arrived 3 hours earlier than expected into Banaue at 0330. A random man at the bus station took us to this place and because we were left without another option we decided to stay. ||||Here are my thoughts.||PROS||* Cheap - A double room only cost us 600PP which was half the cost of the subsequent accomodation we ended up staying in.||* Restaurant view - The hotel is perched on the side of the mountain (as you can make out from the Tripadvisor picture) and affords beautiful panoramic views over the town of banaue. We were enjoying this set view with breakfast until a wild dog which had wandering into the restaurant urinated next to my chair. No one seemed phased by it and I think they just waited for it to evaporate rather than cleaning it up.||* Guides - We were able to organise a hike here on very short notice to cambulo and batad. We ended up getting a fairly young but friend guide for a 2 day 1 night hike and they held our bags while we were away (Although I noted when I went to pick them up the guy just gave me the key to the lock up room and didn't even supervise what I was doing down there despite there being a few other bags in the room). ||||CONS||* Filthy - Poo stain on the toilet when we got there. Sheets were questionably clean.||* Location - Located next to the main drag of banuae and the noise from the motorbikes/cars goes through the paper thin walls making sleeping post 0700 impossible.||* Hot water was poor and delivered as a trickle with no shower pressure||* Wifi didn't work||* No powerpoint in the room||* No window||* Only had one tiny light for illumination||||In general all of the accomodation in the northern Philippines is fairly basic and limited but this was far below even that low standard. I'm all for saving a dollar here and there but this is just too much - pay a bit more and stay somewhere nicer. We left...

This guesthouse has no redeeming features. The rooms have no electrical outlets to charge your phone or computer and forget it if you have an electric shaver. They want you to go upstairs to charge your equipment and the charge a fee for that! They wanted extra money for hot water and extra to clean your room. They don't even mop the floor, just sweep it. The WIFI is very weak and you cannot even upload a photo. There was a power outage for almost 24 hours. The restaurant staff is lazy and not smart. I asked for eggs cooked sunny side up. I explained not to flip the eggs and that I wanted soft yolks. They agreed and brought me eggs that were flipped over with rock hard yolks. Then when I complained they said this is what Filipinos call sunny side up. To make matters worse a local drunk butt in and started arguing with me. The rooms have a terrible odor that smells like a sewer. ||As far as the rice terraces go, they are beautiful but it's a long way to travel to see them. The rice terraces in Northern Vietnam, Southern China and Bali are just as nice and you don't have to travel so far. Banaue is really out of the way. Once you get here the town is just ugly with no idea of city planning. The vehicles cause a lot of pollution and there is dog feces everywhere. On the way up here I made the mistake of stopping in Baguio which is the most polluted city that I have ever been in. Keep in mind that I have lived in Mexico City, Saigon and Bangkok. They all seem like a rain forest compared to Baguio. In summary, I would avoid this place altogether and go to the above mentioned places for rice fields instead. This country as a whole has been ruined by pollution and nobody here...

(A food review) My guides from Las Vegas Lodge brought me here to eat because of the view. The view is STUNNING! You get a great view of Banaue town and some of the rice terraces.

I came during off season, so I was nearly the only person there to dine for lunch. I was able to order Pinakbet (veggie mix) one day and Apritada veg (a tomato based mix). Both were good and of shareable size for two. The rice used was local rice, which was delicious.

Both times I came to eat, it started to rain. The valley is so beautiful as the rain pours. A silence lulls over the valley, really showing you the majesty of Banaue and its famed rice terraces. The silence as I sipped my coffee was so welcome, an invitation to the wonderful present moment. I am grateful for the time I could slow down, relax, and eat nice home cooked food there. Salamat for giving me that opportunity...