After the morning drive to Ilocos and the afternoon walk in Calle Crisologo and Baluarte, we drove a bit north to check in at West Loch Park Hotel for a much needed rest. I booked a Deluxe Room through www.agoda.com. Price was a bit high that time because it was peak season (Holy Week, April 2014) but I think a Deluxe Room should range from Php 4,000 - Php 5,000 ($ 92 - $ 112) on regular days.
Armed with Google Maps, I navigated towards the location and saw an unassuming facade to my left. Parking slots at the hotel front are for about 3-4 cars only. Upon our arrival, all the slots were taken. Mr. security guard was quick to approach us to check if we will be checking in, and he was courteous and fast enough to open the hotel gates and assist us to a vacant slot. Checking in was a breeze, it only took about 3 minutes tops before they gave us the key to our room. Upon entering the room, I was surprised to see a well maintained, clean and modern room.
It's been my usual routine whenever I check in to a hotel to scrutinise the bathroom first before giving my thumbs up. I was not disappointed. The bath tub was really inviting so I gave in to a 45-minute hot tub reward after long hours of driving and walking around town.
Their towels smell great, just like the towels in Shangri-La hotels - I'm not exaggerating :) When I got out, I saw some hawaiian macadamia nuts (a can of Mauna Loa Macadamia Nuts) and a basket of fruits near the complimentary water bottles. Called up front desk to double check if the fruits and nuts were part of the generous compliments. They were indeed free, loved it! :) The room is equipped with wifi too..
I changed to sleeping clothes and pulled the sheets up my head, the bed was comfortable. The pillows were fine and the sheets were fine too. If there were any drawbacks, it was the puzzling sliding door in the balcony that I didn't know how to lock (it was hard to lock, probably some other guest forced his/her way out to the balcony thus the weird fit of the door and its locks). The room door failed to double lock from the inside too. I gave these concerns to front desk and the staff were nice enough to inspect on my complaints and solve them for me.
The next morning, I had coffee the moment I got up. Used the supplied instant coffee from the bar and I was thrilled about the taste. It was not the usual 3-in-1 taste you get. It was more of a "Kopiccino" level, if you get what I mean. ;-) I asked the waitress about their instant coffee because I liked its taste ("Nova" brand), she said it was imported by the hotel owner probably from Hawaii (or some other country). She asked their manager about it since I was so interested and they were kind enough to offer and sell two bags to me for a total of Php 400 (around $9), 18 sachets per bag. I knew it was their supply but they were the ones to offer so I bought it anyway. :)
The room went with complimentary breakfast sets and these were the meals we had:
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| Bacon, Fresh Fruits (Slices of Apple, Pear, Mango & Grapes), Scrambled Egg, Baked Potato |
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| Bangus (Milkfish), Sinangag (Fried Rice), Scrambled Egg, Eggplant, Fried Banana |
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| Vigan Longganisa (Pork Sausage), Sinangag (Fried Rice), Scrambled Egg, Eggplant, Fried Banana |
After breakfast, we checked out the pool at the back of the hotel but we didn't have time to dip in it as we were headed to Ilocos Norte... Here's a snapshot:
This picture didn't give much justice to the real inviting appearance of the pool. You should check out the gallery on their website, but that picture doesn't give much justice too. It's slightly bigger than the usual house pool but not olympic size. It looks clean and well maintained.
Overall, my family enjoyed our stay in this hotel, even more than Fort Ilocandia! The service, cleanliness and the value you get for your money is so worth it. It will surely be our hotel of choice if ever we will be back up North. My family kept raving about breakfast and the accommodation, and they kept comparing it to the other places where we stayed. The hotel is relatively new, it's been around for more than a year now, but it's well kept and I'm pleased with the way the staff handled our requests. Two thumbs up! :) I highly recommend staying here, I'm sure you'll love it too.
Their website is: www.westlochparkhotel.com and I booked our accommodation online through www.agoda.com :)
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