el toro bumingo: Albergo Hotel, Baguio City (Part 1 of 2)

Tuesday, February 28, 2012

Albergo Hotel, Baguio City (Part 1 of 2)

I was able to attend the recent Grand Parade of the 17^th Baguio Flower Festival Celebration (a.k.a. Panagbenga) last February 26, 2012. Sef is supposed to be with me during the festival but due to unforeseen events, he wasn’t able to attend the festivities with me. Since I already booked a hotel room at Albergo (and the cancellation period already elapsed), I went to the festival alone.

I’ll tell you more about my experience of the Panagbenga celebration in the next few days. For now, let’s focus on the hotel I’ve stayed with – Albergo Hotel. It’s located at #1 Villamor Drive, Brgy. Lualhati, Baguio City (Zip Code is 2600 if you intend to send them a snail mail).

From Session Road in the heart of Baguio, you could go to Lower Mabini Street and ride a jeep en route to Mines View Park. Albergo Hotel is a few meters away from Wright Park and you’ll see it before you reach The Mansion.

I made the online reservation via www.booking.com and it offered the following prices and amenities:

Total room price: PHP 3,090.00 (Please note: additional supplements (e.g. extra bed) are not added to this total. 12% VAT is excluded. 1% city tax is excluded. You will pay the hotel in the local currency (PHP) according to the exchange rate on the day of payment.

Room 1, Superior Suite

Offers a microwave oven and a living are for 2 persons (strictly non-smoking)

I also communicated with Albergo Hotel directly and they gave me a bit more detailed amenities:

1 Superior Suite

Two 48” beds
Cabled flat TV
T&B with hot & cold shower
Double Occupancy (max. 4 occupancy) with TWO complimentary breakfast
Table and Chairs for two
Window seat

So ignore the microwave oven because it’s really not included in the package. I hope Albergo Hotel communicates with www.booking.com and remove it there since it’s misleading.

Other than this minor discrepancy, other things that I noticed in the Superior Suite (I got the room #911) are:

No toothpaste and toothbrush.
No pen or memo pads to write on but you can request for bond papers. It would be a very nice souvenir if they could provide something to write on with the name of the hotel on it.
No wireless network detected in my room. Probably their wireless router is in camouflage mode or I’m very far from the wireless router.
The flooring on the entire suite is ceramic tiles. It could have been better if the finish is wood or carpet. Ceramic tiles are very cold to the feet. I forgot to bring along my slippers.
The room is not acoustically treated and you can hear the staff’s conversation outside of your room clearly.
Massage service is being offered (from an outside source) at P600.00 per hour (Swedish, Shiatsu etc). I asked for a masseur before I went to sleep but there’s no available male masseur at that time.
The room smells of fresh varnish when I checked in.

Other than these minor things, the Superior Suite is very cozy and comfortable. You won’t hear any noise from vehicles because it’s about 10 minutes away from the heart of Baguio.

I slept very deeply in my room. The staffs are very efficient, courteous and accommodating. The room itself is masculine and business-like in design. I would definitely go back to Albergo Hotel next year.

My final bill (including taxes) when I checked out of Albergo Hotel is P3,491.70. Check out the following pictures of the Superior Suite. I’ll post more pictures of Albergo Hotel tomorrow and discuss its other amenities.

For reservations, you may contact Albergo Hotel at: