$25/Day Budget Hotel in the Philippines
Hop Inn Hotel MOA, Ortigas and Tomas Morato Review (Travel Tip #04)
Whenever I book a hotel, I look for affordability, amenities and accessibility to transportation. I needed to be in the Ortigas area so my friend recommended a hotel near the Manila MRT (Metro Rail Transit) Shaw Blvd. station. It was beyond my budget so I looked for other hotels nearby. I found Hop Inn Hotels that charge $25 or less per day which was quite affordable. I signed up for their free Hop Inn Rewards, they gave me 5% discount plus early check-in and late check-out, depending on room availability. But what about its amenities and accessibility to different places? In this post, I will share with you my experiences in three of its hotels located near Ortigas Center, Mall of Asia (MOA) and Tomas Morato, Quezon City.
Hop Inn has most hotel amenities but you should know they:
give bottled water daily but there is no coffee maker or fridge
supply extra towels but there is no soap or shampoo in 2 out of 3 hotels I stayed in
However, they are always next to a 7-11 where you can easily get coffee, food, soap and shampoo. Some hotel staff also gave me free hot water for my tea. Lastly, a warning. I slipped thrice while stepping out the shower because water overflow outside the shower’s glass door. Luckily, I was able to hold on to something before falling. I kept on forgetting about it until I accidentally left a towel on the floor. It helped! So if you plan to stay in this hotel, put towels on the floor outside the shower just in case the overflow happen.
I love to walk and ride subways. I know that Metro Manila traffic is horrible so I usually ride the Light Rail Transit (LRT) or the Metro Rail Transit (MRT). I expected to walk from my hotel to all the places I needed to go and did not sign-up for Grab (Philippines’ Uber/Lyft). That was a mistake.
Walking from Ortigas Center Hop Inn
Hop Inn’s website estimated that their Ortigas Center Hotel is 270 meters (0.17 miles) to SM Megamall and 450 meters (0.28 miles) to Rustan’s Shangrila Plaza. As an avid walker, I thought I can have a leisurely stroll to Shangrila then window shop my way to MRT Shaw station. That did not happen. I was not prepared for the numerous motorcycles plowing all the side streets. When I tried walking on Shaw Boulevard, I was greeted with dust and almost non-existent sidewalk, it was as if they are discouraging people from walking on the main roads. Moreover, there are NO pedestrian lights in the area. Yes, there are traffic lights but they were not in sync with the people trying to cross the streets. I was so dismayed walking in that area that I almost cried in happiness when I saw pedestrian lights in BGC (Bonifacio Global City) later.
Hop Inn Aseana is not really near MOA
I stayed in Hop Inn Aseana to be nearer my appointments in the south of Metro Manila. Their website estimated that it is 1 kilometer or 0.62 miles from Mall of Asia (MOA). This time, I rarely saw a motorcycle and crossing streets was not an issue. However, there were no other walkers besides me. The other people I saw were policemen or construction workers. Plus, you have to walk further to cross a very high and long overpass to go to MOA. Later, I just rode a bus or took a taxi. Their location is at the back of a McDonald’s where the bus stop was as shown in the picture above.
Cancelled Walking Plan - Tomas Morato Hop Inn
Finally, I had some business in Quezon City so I stayed at Hop Inn Tomas Morato. This one is in front of Il Terrazzo where I met some of my friends - I just had to cross the street. Their website claims that they are 700 meters or 0.43 miles from MRT Quezon Avenue Station. Again, I was planning to walk but the hotel security guards discouraged me. I tried to walk for two blocks but saw no one else walking by the network station nearby. I saw a tricycle and paid 30 pesos for a ride to the station (my friends told me it was too much). There, I found a bunch of tricycles waiting for riders. It was not what I planned but it was a convenient ride to-and-fro the hotel and MRT from that day on. Other days, I just rode taxis.
Verdict
It is affordable and the amenities lacking can easily be bought in a 7-11 next door. If you do not plan to walk, stay in one of their hotels. The staff are nice and there is no penalty for changing or cancelling your booking. Next post, I’ll share how I managed to minimize my phone bills and call the USA for free using a Google Number.