The promised land

I made it to Baybay just before noon and already the sun was beating down on my pasty American complexion. Lormi had sent me pictures of the entire downtown area so it didn’t take long for me to gain my bearings and plot my course. Since they were going to be busy with church activities during noon hour, I decided to make my way to the hotel and check in. There are several choices for hotels in Baybay, with the best known place being Hotel Palermo; however, I wanted to stay at a place close to the chapel and the bus terminal so I went with Asia Novotel.

Asia Novotel is right in front of the market and bus terminal so it was mere steps from where I got off the van. Much to my dismay, two flights of stairs awaited me on my way to the reception counter. Normally I wouldn’t balk at the sight of stairs, however, it was well over 85 degrees and I had 15lbs on my back and a 44lb suitcase to carry up those two flights. I got up the first set of stairs with gusto, but it left me short of breath and soaked in sweat. By the time I made it to the counter, I could barely speak, but I tried my best to conceal my sheer exhaustion from the receptionist and gave her a big smile.

I told her that I needed a room for 6 days and was informed that it would cost P4500 (or P750 a day); that’s about $100 USD for 6 days. For that $100, I get a twin bed, air conditioning, cable TV, and a hot/cold shower; now that’s what I call a deal! As I was filling out the paperwork, the receptionist lady couldn’t help but notice I was from the States and mentioned that it was really odd seeing someone from America who could speak Tagalog.

My home for the next 6 days

I gave her another big smile and mentioned that I was born in the Philippines; I guess they must not get very many balikbayans in this part of the country! After I got my key, I went to check out the room and I got a text telling me to get ready since the brothers Sioson would come by to bring me to the chapel. I instantly dreaded having to haul my luggage back downstairs again after nearly passing out trying to get it up to my room, but I needed to drop off the pasalubongs at their house so I had no choice but to man up.

But before moving on, it’s best to say a few words about my stay at the hotel. Before I paid the rent, the receptionist warned me that occasionally the hotel will have no little to no water pressure. This didn’t really bother me as Lormi had told me weeks before that water pressure tended to fluctuate depending on the time of day, so I handed my money over willingly. Later that day, I needed to take a shower before service to wash off the layers of dirt and sweat that I had built up over the course of my expedition, but as luck would have it, there was no water pressure, not even a trickle from any of the fixtures! Strangely enough, the toilet was flushing and filling perfectly, but that wasn’t any help in this situation. I inquired with the front desk lady as to when they expect the water to return and she said 6PM. Great, the service is at 5 so I just resigned myself to the fact that there’s no way I can get cleaned up before then. I immediately began to question my decision to stay at this particular hotel.

I returned to the hotel later that evening and before walking to my room, I made sure to ask the front desk if the water was finally back on because there was no way I would go to bed in this condition. She went to the employee’s bathroom and checked the sink and sure enough, there was no water. She then asked me if I intended to shower and in my mind I was picturing Jackie Chan doing his confused look and wanted to produce some smart alecky response, but of course I retained my manners and simply answered “Yes”. The young lady then dispatched an able bodied male employee who left the building through the back door and presumably went up to the roof, judging by the noises coming from the ceiling after shortly after his exit. A few minutes later, water began to trickle out of the faucet and not long after, it began to flow freely and vigorously. I peeked outside my room and gave the employee a big thumbs up and immediately took advantage of the available water supply; after all, it could be gone by the morning!

I’m happy to report that this was only an issue on my first night at the hotel, as the water continued to flow freely from that point on. However, I did have a few other issues with my stay at Asia Novotel. The most grievous was the poorly designed shower area in the bathroom; for some odd reason, there’s no barrier or divider between the shower area and the rest of the bathroom.

Tiny bathroom, but it’ll do

Since the shower area tiles are not lower than the rest of the bathroom floor, the shower water can and often does spill over to other parts of the bathroom. To make matters worse, this water tends to sit wherever it decides to pool instead of going into the drain, so it’s pretty normal to have puddles of still water in the bathroom after a shower. The water does usually evaporate before the day is over, but it’s still incredibly unsanitary and a potential slipping hazard.

Then there’s the lack of a view; I’m not sure if my room just happened to be in the worst possible location in the building but outside my window was a concrete wall about an arm’s length away. What’s the point of putting in a window if all you see is a wall? There’s also no housekeeping; I have no idea if this is typical for provincial hotels, but no one cleaned my room or replaced my sheets or towels during the entire length of my stay. This didn’t pose such a huge problem for me since I only stayed for 6 days and only used the room for the shower and to turn in for the night, but I could see this becoming a deal breaker for someone who needs to share the room with another person or stay for more than a week. I also read that the hotel is supposed to have WIFI available, but was not able to find any available access points. I didn’t fret about the absence of WIFI that much, I was far too exhausted by the end of the day to write for the blog or browse around the Internet.

Even with all of those downsides, I was happy with my stay at Asia Novotel; I was able to get a good night’s sleep every night and the A/C never gave me any problems. Though next time I’m in town, I’ll try the other hotels and find out who really provides the best experience for the money. I was neither disappointed nor was I wowed with my stay, it was just as I expected; I wouldn’t hesitate to stay here again if need be.