Ibay Zion Apartelle - Worst Ever

I love to travel. My work also takes me to different places.

And I have stayed in a lot of hotels already. I am not that picky in terms of hotels, just as long as the room is clean and you get what you pay for, I am okay with it. For example, if I pay cheap, I will not except to get star treatment in the hotel, but if I pay a lot I will except to get a nice service.

Mac and I went up to Baguio this weekend together with some of his office mates. When we went to Bagiuo before, we stayed at The Veniz Hotel. It was a good stay because their price is reasonable, the hotel is in a good location in the center of Bagiuo and they offer buffet breakfast already.

Unfortunately, our trip was during a long weekend so Veniz was fully booked. Since we were working on a budget, we left the booking of the hotel to one of Mac's office mates. She booked all of us in Ibay Zion Apartelle which was just beside Mines View Park.

I researched the hotel beforehand and already had doubts about it because we would have a hard time going around given that we were commuting and the hotel was a little far from downtown Baguio (It was a 10-15 minute ride - I consider this far already since we are used to walking). A room costs P1,500.00 for 2 people which I think was a bit expensive because it did not have any aircon. I know that most hotels in Baguio do not have aircon, but they had windows where air comes in. The rooms in Ibay Zion do not have windows because it was located in the basement. It was chilly during the night but it gets hot during the day specially since this is one of the hottest summers ever. Also, our point of comparison, Hotel Veniz charges almost the same rate but they already have aircon.

We arrived at around 9pm so we were really tired and we just wanted to rest. But we were not allowed to go in the lobby until we were checked in. The checking in process also took a while because they had us pre-order the free breakfast meal. They offer 2 free breakfast per room. I found this weird because they should offer the meals per person. Example, if the room is good for 4 and everyone is registered in the hotel then they should give breakfast to all 4 people since everyone will share in the payment.

So after everything, we were brought to our room which was just okay. The linens were itchy for me and the hot and cold water fluctuates from very hot to very cold.

We woke up early the next day to avail of the free breakfast. We were already in their restaurant by 7am. We told the waiters our room number assuming that they have already prepared our pre-ordered meal. But after almost 30 minutes of waiting, nothing came. We reminded them of our food order only to be told that our order was not available anymore. We really did not appreciate this as what was the purpose of the pre-order if this happens? They weren't clear which items in their menu was available. When our food finally came, we had to request for utensils.

The free coffee and milo also did not come. We finished eating without our drinks despite us having to ask for it several times. Even the people beside our tables were already complaining because the waiters couldn't get their orders right.

I will never stay or recommend this place ever until they improve their service and people skills. Makes us wonder how they got their Department of Tourism accreditation.

The only saving grace was that their manager called us up and apologized for the poor service and even gave us free gift certificates to their silver shop. But the damage has been done and it is an experience we'd rather not have again.

I'm leaving this place...