Don’t expect the amenities that you might be used to in Thailand or other destinations as the hotels here are much older and worn down. Be that is it may, there are still a handful of very nice hotels at reasonable rates. Opinions vary widely in hotels and many like to go to the same hotel because they want to help the owner or they are comfortable there. There are no review of the Blue Nile Executive Hotel or Park Chicago Hotel as they are newly constructed. The rankings will be in stars but the rankings are relative to other AC hotels only.

**** Apartelle Royale-This place has the best rooms of all of hotels I looked at in AC and Clark. There is a website which you can access through Balibago.com. I paid $32 a night for my place(executive suite) but could have upgraded to $40 for the jacuzzi suite. There is also a $23 Standard room that is the best value in AC. Make your reservations early as there are few rooms here
The Good:
-25 inch flat screen tv suspended on a swivel so you can watch in the living room, bed or dining table.
-AC has a remote and works perfect without brownouts as they use the Camelot generator\
-In room safe, studio apartment that is 50 squre meters to my estimation, large closet space, kitchen with new equipment, dining table, large couch with two full-sized wicker chairs, queen-sized bed, new bathroom.
-walking distance to everything, you are in the heart of AC
The Bad:
-Located right above Camelot so all the girls from local bars can see you butterfly.
-On the weekends you can slightly hear the Pinoy sing broken English Karaoke songs.
-No room service
-No pool
-Narrow stairs to get to rooms

**** Oasis Hotel-
The Good:
They have a web site that you can access through Balibago.com. The rooms are nice but your best value would be the deluxe rooms which go for 2,700 pisos a night. It is quiet and out of the way and there are only a few mongers that stay here...usually Asian men. The pool is beautiful and the nicest in AC. There are no hallways and the rooms are accessed from outside. Beautifully manicured gardens and great room service. Great place to go if you have a chick you dig and want some privacy. The standard room is pretty small but well kept. Service is excellent.

The Bad:
Not a very cheap place and pretty far away.

*** Orchid Inn:

The Good: The location is right in the middle of the action and very close to Santos Street. The rooms in the newer wing are pretty nice and have decent size and internet connection with in room safe. The pool area is nice and has a lot of activity during the day. The café has good food and a big screen television. The wait staff at the cantina bar and café are sweet and pleasant. Also has a mediocre go go bar called Flamingos on sight.

The Bad: The standard rooms are aweful. The place may be too close to the actions and the girls feel way too comfortable to just waltz over to your room. The standard rooms are overpriced at $45 when the executive rooms at Apartelle Royale are twice the size and only $32.

*** Clarkton Inn:

The Good: The rooms are spacious and well kept. The staff is extremely courteous and helpful in every way. The room service food is spectacular by Philippine standards. The pool is the second nicest pool in Angeles and is huge....great place for pool party. They have laptops to use in the downstairs café on your table. There is also a business office with everything downstairs. Attached is a GRO Bar called Mirrors that has decent looking girls from time to time. Has a shuttle that goes to Fields Ave. every hour. The web site allows for live reservations with the front desk clerk...amazing for the Philippines. Prices vary depending on size of the rooms but expect to pay around $22-25.

The Bad: The place is pretty far and you will need to take a jeepney or a trike if you miss the free shuttle. The place is a little older and the rooms aren’t as big as some of the better hotels.

*** Hana Hotel:

I believe this place was formerly called Las Vegas Hotel. It is on a side street past a gas station about a mile or 2 down Fields before it turns into Perimeter Road. The only way to get to the bars is by trike. The place is owned by Japanese. The place has decent room service and a small cafe downstairs with a a business/internet center. The staff is very courteous. You can walk down the street to Garfields, Nifty's and the Other Bar. The rooms are of decent size with stone/marble floors. The bed is comfortable but the place is a little worn and older...very clean but old. Evidentally there are rooms with a view of the pool, but my room had one tiny window. The television was pretty new and had all the new cable channels, including Discovery Travel and Adventure. The one bright spot of this place is that it has a beautiful pool. The pool has multiple waterfalls and and looks quite modern. There are also surrounding tables with palapas. At 890 a night, it is a good place to stay in a pinch. A great place for the value. It is a little farther away so you will have to take a trike to get to Fields.



*** Sunset Gardens/Premier Hotel

I have never stayed here but checked out the hotel. The rooms are clean and great size but a little older. The place is fille with cool mongers that can give you good pointers...albeit jaded. The big bonus to this place is the outdoor café which is shady and covered giant palapas and a decent pool nearby. The food is also quite good considering the cooks are Filipinos. The place normally has cheap rates and has a web site for reservations. The same owners have a hotel called the Premier Hotel which has almost identical amenities but the outdoor café is not as nice. Great garden area though to take your honeyko. These hotels are right off of Fields and close to the Perimeter Bars.

** Kokomos: New hotel right above the Kokomos restaurant. The owner Dave is a great guy and runs Voodoo Bar and Treasure Island. The location is superb and the restaurant serves great food. Voodoo Bar is on the premises. The rooms are of decent size but the furniture sucks. Has a computer with internet inside the room. There is a pool on the premises. The downside is that there is a lot of noise from nearby bars and the rooms look really worn for being so new.

There are a lot of hotels and I would encourage other mongers to post reviews on the following hotels which are recommended by many: Amercan Hotel, Europhil, Marlim Mansions, and Phoenix.

I have no clue about all the hotels you mention a trike ride away from Fields, nor will I likely be staying in any of them anytime soon (unless I need a short time room), but I have no idea how Kokomoz can rank at the bottom of the list. Because they could use some new furniture? Sure, it ain't exactly wood paneled elegance, but IMO it's a tossup as far as I'm concerned between Kokomoz and Apartelle Royal for the best budget-friendly hotel option in AC. Having the computer and internet in the room is damned convenient if you're not carrying a laptop. Blazers also forgot to mention the in-room safe.

Keep in mind that if you go with Apartelle Royal (which I did for my December trip -- I'm not knocking the place, it's great) you are getting a room ONLY. There is NOTHING else onsite besides a bar at the bottom of the stairs. No front desk, no room phone (security is two floors below you, outside the almost hidden front door), no restaurant, no internet, no pool, no lounge area, NADA.

The huge negative for Kokomoz is the problem with water pressure in some rooms, IMO the noise wouldn't be so bad if the AC wasn't so quiet.

If you DO decide you want to stay at Kokomoz, you better book early. The place can fill up even faster than the lower profile Apartelle Royal.

I have no idea why anyone would want to stay a trike ride away from the bar scene, but to each their own.

Haven't been to the new Hana Hotel, but the former Vegas was my favorite place in AC. Good staff, which may have changed. It's out of the way which mongers may or may not like.

I never stayed at Sunset Gardens but Blazers is right about the outside cafe...kinda nipa hut feeling. Which brings me to Swagman in AC. I liked it when I stayed there because it had a very extensive restaurant right across the street with many activities and many ex-pats lounging around all the time. The place is old and musty but I liked the atmosphere of the restaurant. Again, pretty out of the way.

For those considering a stay in Angeles City, checking out the following site is a MUST. They have some info about hotels there and you can book your room at most of the hotels directly through that site.

http://www.balibago.com/where_to_stay.html

http://www.centralpark-ac.com/

The newly renovated Central Park Hotel. Review to come in 2 weeks when Epi, Size 15 and I descend on the place!

http://www.orchid-inn.com/

http://www.champagne-angeles.com/apartelle/default.htm

http://www.kokomoz.com/hotel.htm

anybody tried the Blue Nile Hotel lately? any inputs are welcome - cheers

I would also place Central Park hotel as a recommended hotel for your stay. The location is excellent, the food is very good by AC standards, and the service beats any place I have stayed in the WORLD....no bola...the service at this place is bar none the best. You will be shocked. See what happens when an American owns a hotel in Asia....the customer becomes valuable. In addition, they will let you store luggage there if you are making a trip. The standard room is almost exactly the same as the supreme room but the bigger room has a DVD player. If a DVD player is important then you can rent one for 100 pisos a day and DVD's for 50 pisos a day but you might as well just buy them for 100 pisos on Fields.

I stayed at Kokomoz Hotel last trip in April and thoroughly enjoyed my stay. Having the computer in the room was the big plus, and many of the girls liked to check their email to keep in touch with their money kos. I THOUGHT I was getting a free meal every day with the room, but it was a bait and switch which left a sour taste in my mouth. I'd still stay at Kokomoz for the PC in the room, great location, decent sized room for the price, and the fact that they get Armed Forces Network sports feed on TV, a HUGE plus for me. Of course they usually have it on downstairs in the bar as well, so you don't have to stay there to take advantage.

A friend from the board stayed at the brand new Swiss Chalet, directly across from Central Park and his room was VERY large and nice for the price (25-30 bucks a night). It's more apartment style than hotel (like Apartelle Royal above Camelot) in that the 'front desk' is inside the restaurant downstairs and there's only a security guard outside to screen guests, plus no pool, as there's no place to put one.

http://www.swisschaletph.com/

I will be staying at Central Park Hotel on my next trip, as it's a great value, great location, and the staff, as Blazers mentions, are incredibly friendly.

(Message edited by Porker on June 16, 2004)

I hear that there is a new hotel called the Marquis out on the perimeter. Has anyone stayed there? Did you like it?