Puerto Princesa's Hotels

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Puerto Princesa City is a sprawling affair. A coastal city, it is one of the largest municipalities in the Philippines. There is an airport serviced by all of the major Philippine airlines as well as a ferry terminal. The streets are chock full of tricycle traffic and scooters. There are a few shopping centers like the NCC Center where you can find everything from groceries to hardware to musical instruments. The town is noisy and dusty with commerce.

After leaving Coco Loco and Roxas we made our way south by mini-van on well paved roads. Puerto is approximately 2 hours drive and the van ride costs 200 pesos. We were clued in on a great hotel in Puerto called the Deep Forest Garden Inn by Felix the manager of Coco Loco Resort. Dina and Zupy had also stayed here and gave the inn a sterling review. When we arrived we were met by Irene the desk manager and Alvin Dexter R. Tan the hotel manager. Alvin and Irene immediately made us feel comfortable in their nearly new, four month-old hotel. Built on the site of a former amusement park the inn is private, quiet and relaxing. A fantastic menagerie of life-sized animal statues fills the interior landscaped garden. Flowers and hummingbirds abound. There are two pools to choose from as well as a huge spa. All rooms open onto the central garden-pool area.

The rooms are large and spotless and come with with flat-screen televisions, cable, hot water and A/C. All of which performed perfectly during our three day stay. There is a full selection of English language channels including HBO and CNN. The hotel also has the best free Wi-Fi we have found anywhere in the Philippines. They even have a hardwire port if you need it. The hotel has a large open restaurant decorated with large wood carvings. The ceiling is filled with leafy artificial tree limbs that immediately made Karen think of the Rain Forest Cafes in the United States. Service was excellent throughout our stay. Karen and I had to download and print our visas for Vietnam. Irene, the desk manager, went above and beyond the call in helping us print and collate our papers. A task which turned out to be more taxing than we had anticipated. Thanks to Irene it was all done with a smile.

After we settled in Alvin came out to check on our comfort. He speaks fluent English. We talked for a long spell about his life in the Philippines. Believe it or not he started one of the first ice hockey teams in the Philippines while he lived in Manila. A real sharp kid who is doing a great job with Deep Forest. It was the only hotel we stayed in during our stay here where the staff continuously checked up on us to make sure that everything was all right and also the only place that cleaned our room on a daily basis. You miss the little thing when you’re away from home. But not here.

The inn has free shuttle service to and from the airport which is a mile away though you wouldn’t know it as we never heard any planes landing or taking off. NCC Shopping Center is a short tricycle ride away. The trike will run you 30 Pesos per person. They also offer island hopping tours and travel services to other locations. It was, hands down, the best conventional hotel we stayed in during our vacation here.

It was nice to finish our Philippine vacation with two good hotel experiences in a row.

Rates start at 650 Pesos for a dorm bed. A deluxe room goes for 1,900 Pesos/ night. There are also queen and king rooms available at higher rates.

Make reservations as the operation is popular and usually fully booked.


Abueg Road, Bgy. Bancao-Bancao, Puerto Princesa City
Telephone: 434-1702
E-mail: deepforest_reservations@yahoo.com
Website: deepforestinn.com

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