During our trip to the Philippines, we stopped in El Nido for two nights to check out the beaches, lagoons, and islands. The town itself isn't the fanciest - just roads with homes and hotels and lots of hustlers running shops, restaurants, and services to make money. The beaches are beautiful though and the boat tours are totally worth it.
The only reason this hotel gets 2 stars is because it is ocean front and the view from our room was insane). Besides that, it's very VERY basic and low maintenance. Stepping into the room, I was super underwhelmed. The room was tiny - just big enough for the bed and a little dresser. The bathroom is what really got to me. The only separation between the shower and toilet is a foot or two. No tub, ledge, curtain, anything. It was really inconvenient when everything in the bathroom got wet during a shower. This also meant that there was sand everywhere once we washed off after the beach. So weird!
The AC was right above our head. It was impossible to keep it on overnight as we got terrible headaches from the cold hitting our heads directly. Thankfully, there was a fan that we were able to keep on instead.
Tiny ants. All over the wall. Thankfully they didn't seem to go near the bed or bathroom, mainly just stayed near the front door.
There is no nightlife in this hotel in particular - but when you walk a few hotels down, there's plenty of restaurants and bars. I loved that we weren't directly in the middle of the commotion but were just a few minutes away. All the places were super chill and so much fun. For food during the day, there are lots of restaurants in the area. But why stay in the area when you could be on a boat tour?
The hotel itself seemed clean and well kept (besides being low maintenance). They did have an included breakfast buffet every morning. Not much selection, but everything was good. As far as the people in the front, most of them tried to be nice but were not always helpful. Like when I was bleeding from getting cut by a coral reef, they were unable to provide me with any bandaids. What kind of hotel doesn't have a first aid kit?
The upside is that this place was super cheap - I think we paid like $50 a night. Walking along the beach and comparing to other hotels, I do think El Nido Beach Hotel was one of the best (if not the best) that we saw. Spending only 2 nights here was not the worst thing possible - however, I would not have been able to handle a whole week here. Like I said, it was totally worth it! I'm glad we went to Boracay for a few days afterwards to relax in luxury! read more