Hidden Garden Pensione — Hotel in El Nido

We had a terrible experience at this place, I would say some of the worst. We booked two rooms for $180 but the staff had no idea we were coming, no hello, no greeting, no welcome, no wifi password given, no water, nothing. We were just pointed to an available room. There was no toilet seat in one of the rooms. Upon being asked to fix it they said they cannot do that. When we told them that it’s a problem they said they can only do that tomorrow and if we don’t like it, we can check out. No apology, nothing, they were rather rude about it, I’ve never been treated like this. If I pay you money and I don’t like something, it’s your problem, not mine. I tried to talk to the owner but she was also quite rude, also said if I don’t like it, I can check out, said I was not being understanding. Shouldn’t something as simple as a toilet seat be already present in the room that you pay for? There was also no water so we were unable to take a shower right away. Another person showed up much later, Ian, who finally did treat us like human beings and offered an apology but this is after over an hour of trying to resolve this. Water was fixed by evening. The other room is quite old and there is seemingly permanent water on the floor, which was partially absorbed by the curtain. This is no way to treat paying customers. The lady’s name is Kay and she should never, ever work with people or allowed to be near people. Some of the other staff was nice but the owner and Kay were quite horrible. Worst in the Philippines from our experience. I would highly recommend against...

The worst in the Philippines! We had a terrible experience at this place. We booked two rooms for $180 but the staff had no idea we were coming, no hello, no greeting, no welcome, no wifi password given, no water, nothing. We were just pointed to an available room. There was no toilet seat in one of the rooms. Upon being asked to fix it they said they cannot do that. When we told them that it’s a problem they said they can only do that tomorrow and if we don’t like it, we can check out. No apology, nothing, they were rather rude about it, I’ve never been treated like this. If I pay you money and I don’t like something, it’s your problem, not mine. I tried to talk to the owner but she was also quite rude, also said if I don’t like it, I can check out, said I was not being understanding. Shouldn’t something as simple as a toilet seat be already present in the room that you pay for? There was also no water so we were unable to take a shower right away. Another person showed up much later, Ian, who finally did treat us like human beings and offered an apology but this is after over an hour of trying to resolve this. Water was fixed by evening. The other room is quite old and there is seemingly permanent water on the floor, which was partially absorbed by the curtain. This is no way to treat paying customers. The lady’s name is Kay and she should never, ever work with people or allowed to be near people. Some of the other staff was nice but the owner and Kay were quite horrible. Worst in the Philippines from our experience. I would highly recommend against...

This truly was a hidden place. From the street it's just a small opening between two buildings with a small sign. Hidden Garden is down this narrow, paved alleyway (you can easily wheel your suitcase) and behind the two buildings so is far away from the street and quiet. There was some construction going on in those buildings in January which looks like it may go on for a while, so no sleeping in as pounding started at 8:00 (construction ended after 5pm). The room is simple, clean, and adequate. Be aware that the shower is not in a separate area and makes the entire bathroom floor wet afterward, though the water is hot and pressure is good. We really enjoyed the outdoor veranda where we ate take-out and enjoyed the evening breeze. A nice touch is the laundry line strung from one side of the porch to the other on all the rooms to hang wet clothes! Note that the garden is beautiful, however the backdrop you see from your room is a tall ugly 3-story building. Not a deal breaker, but not shown in any photos. Also, the family that owns the place lives onsite and uses the garden, so you may see and hear small children. There was people noise from the family and other guests. One thing we really appreciated is that this is located just outside of the busy tourist area of town, yet is a very short walk to it. We didn't have to hear all the noise and bustle of that area at night, which was really nice. We recommend Hidden Garden if you just need a place to lay your head at night and...