Puerto Princesa Accommodation Guide: My Experience Across 3 Different Stays | Philippines
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When I was travelling around Palawan in the Philippines I ended up staying in Puerto Princesa 3 separate times. There’s not a huge amount to do, it felt more like a stopover location (the Underground River day tour* is quite popular if you are there for longer though). Rather than staying at the same place each time, I had different requirements for each of my stays.
My original itinerary was:
- ✈️Fly from Manila to Puerto Princesa Airport
- 🛏️Stay in Puerto Princesa
- 🚐Travel north – bus to El Nido and back
- 🛏️Stay in Puerto Princesa
- 🚐Travel south – bus to Balabac and back
- 🛏️Stay in Puerto Princesa
- ✈️Fly back to Manila
Where To Stay in Puerto Princesa
In This Guide
Reef Hostel
- ✈️20 minute walk from the airport
- ✅Has a pool/garden area, next to a convenience store
- ❌Entertainment a little loud at night, if you have an early start
- 💰Most ‘expensive of the 3’: See current rates* (BUT has dorm rooms which are cheaper).
The Room
Even though it’s technically considered a hostel, I booked a private double room, with private bathroom. Out of the 3 places I stayed, it was by far the largest room. The bed was really comfortable, there was a large TV and a kettle with tea, coffee and refillable glass bottles of water.
Facilities
I originally booked it because I knew I would have a whole free afternoon, so thought the pool and the outside area would be nice. Essentially I paid ‘extra’ for accommodation that especially had these.
When researching Puerto Princesa, there’s not really any parks or outside spaces where you can relax. There’s a Baywalk Park near the port, but it’s a 30 minute walk from the airport. I wanted to stay closer to the airport, as that was a given that I would be flying in.
I arrived early and was able to relax by the pool until the check in time. I loved the hammock! The owner’s daughter had also made a bunch of bead bracelets that guests could take for free, I thought that was cute! It was right next to a convenience store and a cafe, which was handy for stocking up with drinks and snacks. I walked to Jollibee’s for dinner, which was around a 10 minute walk away.
Outside of all the rooms is a long sitting area with chairs. I really liked sitting here with a coffee. I found that for the most part, during the day it was very quiet.
Entertainment
As it is essentially a hostel, they did have evening entertainment the night I stayed. It was the typical thing you would expect, free shots and karaoke. As someone that’s close to 40, it’s not really my ‘thing’, so I just sat outside of my room and watched from afar. It did make me feel pretty old though, as during the intro section I think the oldest person that joined in was 31, most were early 20s.
I was quite happy that the extra loud singing portion finished around 11pm, I was exhausted from an early flight, so was desperate for some sleep!
The next day, my transfer bus to El Nido picked me up from right outside the front of the hostel, so that was handy.
A&A Plaza Hotel
- ✈️10 minute walk from the airport
- ✅Has free cancellation up to 7 days before, breakfast included in the room rate
- ❌WiFi didn’t work in the room as soon as you shut the door
- 💰Budget friendly: See current rates*
For the A&A Plaza Hotel*, my priority was that I wanted free cancellation and close to the airport. I was planning to stay before my Balabac trip which:
1) Has a pick up of around 2am…if you don’t stay at a ‘partnered’ accommodation, you are picked up from outside of the airport. As a solo traveller potentially walking around at 2am, I wanted somewhere VERY close by to the pick up point.
2) Tours can be cancelled last minute for a whole bunch of reasons. The company I booked with said they would confirm departure 1 week before. Many hotels in the Philippines don’t seem to offer free cancellation which is crazy considering how unpredictable travel in the Philippines can be. A&A Plaza had a policy which meant I COULD cancel a week before if my plans changed.
Some hotels also allow you to store large bags, as there are luggage restrictions for the Balabac expeditions. As far as I was aware from reading other reviews, A&A Plaza did offer bag storage for these trips.
Ironically my tour WAS cancelled 4 hours before the pick up, due to high speed winds and the coast guard cancelling all small boat crossings. By then it was too late and I was already at the hotel.
Breakfast
The ‘benefit’ of the tour being cancelled meant that I was then there for the free breakfast, which I would have missed leaving at 2am. It was quite a basic offering: scrambled eggs (which were unfortunately cold), sausages, rice, beef, watermelon and coffee. But it was something.
Alternatively, a 24hr McDonald’s is one block away, which I did eat at for dinner. and then again for breakfast after my 3rd Puerto Princesa stay.
The Room
A&A Plaza hotel is quite a large hotel, it even has quite a few large conference and meeting rooms. My room was quite basic with a private bathroom (with hot showers!). They supplied 2 free bottles of water and an amenity kit with a toothbrush, toothpaste, soap and shampoo.
The only real downside is that the hotel offers free WiFi, BUT as soon as I shut the room door, the signal would completely cut off. As a solo traveller, I like to relax in the room in the evening and watch YouTube, video call home etc without ploughing through my mobile data.
Also with the tour being cancelled, I then needed to arrange some sort of plan B. In the end I sat in the communal area, just outside of my room, on the sofas, where the signal was perfect, rearranging my trip at 10pm.
My bus to Port Barton picked me up from outside of the hotel the next morning (which wasn’t offered by the Balabac transfer).
RunwayView Traveller’s Inn
- ✈️10 minute walk from the airport
- ✅LOVED the runway view of the airport
- ❌Very communication dependent for arrival times
- 💰Budget friendly: See current rates*
For my 3rd Puerto Princesa stay, I booked the RunwayView Traveller’s Inn*. Mostly because it was then close to the airport for my flight back to Manila, and both the Balabac transfer and Port Barton bus drops off at the airport, so I could easily walk after those drop offs.
It’s only a 10 minute walk away from the airport. It’s not located along the main road like the other 2, it feels more like a residential area. But there are a couple of drink and snack stands a short walk away, as well as the MCA Market Mall which sells souvenirs.
RunwayView Traveller’s Inn had very good reviews on booking.com and it was the same room rate as the A&A Plaza Hotel.
I’ve put ‘communication dependent’ as a downside, but that was partly my fault. The communication was great, and I was asked for my arrival time which is quite normal for booking.com accommodations. I knew with my Balabac tour that I would arrive back to Puerto Princesa around 3-4pm so I had given this as a time.
With my change of plans, I ended up going to Port Barton and the bus back to Puerto Princesa arrived more like 1pm. I thought it would be like a normal hotel where I could potentially drop my bag and then go somewhere else until check in time regardless.
However, when I arrived there was a padlock on the gate and I couldn’t get in. I ended up walking 1km with my backpack to McDonald’s and hanging out on their outside area for 2 hours. In hindsight, I should have sent an update with my earlier arrival time. They were ready at exactly 3pm for my arrival.
The Room
The room at RunwayView Traveller’s Inn was probably the most comfortable out of the 3 rooms. It was small, but the bed had a nice fuzzy blanket and soft pillows. There was also a ‘kitchen’ sink area in the room, as well as the bathroom then having a second sink in the bathroom.
I was put in the room on the end, next to the external corridor. I grabbed the plastic chair out of my room and put it on the balcony type area in the sun. No one goes past this area, so it did feel a bit like a private balcony (of course I put the chair back in my room when I wasn’t using that area).
Runway View
My favourite part was the common room! This area had drinking water, a kettle and free coffee, along with a table and chairs overlooking the runway at Puerto Princesa airport. As a plane nerd, I loved watching the planes take off and land.
It’s technically an inside area, but it has big windows with bug screens, and when open it has a nice breeze, making it feel like you are sat outside. (The screens can also be slid back if you want better photos!).
Final Words
These 3 accommodations were all fairly budget friendly, the most I paid based on solo occupancy in a private room was just over £30, the others were under £20 for a night. The room at RunwayView Traveller’s Inn was my favourite, but I loved the outside area of the Reef Hostel.
Alternatively, you can get dorm rooms for even cheaper (some for under £5 a night!), as well as hotels that are more like £50 a night. Around £20 seems to be the average though. If you want to be really fancy, I even saw a hotel advertising overwater villas with private hot tubs* too (but these are upwards of £300 a night)!
Thinking about travelling to Port Barton or El Nido? You may find this post useful: Port Barton vs El Nido: Here’s My Honest Opinion | Philippines
About the Author – Kylie
My travels have taken me to over 50 countries worldwide (& I lived in USA for 4yrs). I hold a BTEC National Diploma in Travel & Tourism (triple distinction) and have been writing on Between England & Everywhere since 2015.
Expert in: Adventure travel🎢, beach destinations🏖️, and packing light (mid-budget backpacker)🎒