Deep Forest Garden Inn | An Unbiased Review
Last March 16-19, we went to Puerto Princesa, Palawan to celebrate my birthday. It was actually our second attempt to go there. The first one was in July 2012 but we did not make it. Ye, our ticket has been forfeited. So this time, we made sure that it will be memorable and it really was!
We stayed in Deep Forest Garden Inn in Puerto Princesa. We picked this because it looks good in the pictures from their website. But our first impression is that it looks like a day care center. Maybe due to the many wood crafts and figures displayed everywhere. Nevertheless, I can say that the entire resort is really like a deep forest :-).
What we like about Deep Forest Inn is their food and room. The room is spacious and their food is in huge servings. While the food is a bit pricey, for us, the prices just resemble its average taste due to big plate serving except for the Strawberry Crepes that costs Php 300. The images below are just some of the food that we ordered from Deep Forest Inn Restaurant. The main dishes starts at Php 250 up (or about $6). The steak is Php 580 (or about $14.50, AFAICR).
The entire place is adorned with wood crafts… oh did I say that already? I bet you there are lots! Here are few photos from our room. You will see that there are more wood crafts inside our room. Even the sink was made of wood. It’s exotic!
We never had the chance to use the pool but looking around, it’s also inviting. The pool is quite small and it has a bar where you can order drinks while enjoying the water. Sorry I never had the chance to take a photo of it.
Puerto Princesa, Palawan – Philippines
And here’s their key chain. I’m pretty sure you don’t want and can’t lose it.
Puerto Princesa, Palawan – Philippines
Overall experience…
We have a great time in this resort but there are some selected experiences that made us think, we should have stayed in other hotel. I’ve shared this in my Trip Advisor review but since you’re already reading this, I might as well put it here.
1. We we’re not able to use the Cable TV during our entire stay. It has no signal due to the issues encountered by their provider.
2. The in-room internet is not fast and reliable.
3. Only few staff (in front desk) are approachable. They always look like they’re busy even there were no guests.
4. Don’t order the crepes. Nothing special on it and it’s pricey and small in servings.
5. Tricycle rate going to the city proper costs about Php 80-100 (or about $2-2.50) per trip. We spent 600 pesos for the fare alone during our stay.
6. We booked our Eco Adventure Tour to this hotel and the person we talked to assured us that we will be joining other groups. Thus, she told us that we will be in a van. On the day of our tour, we were fetched by a tricycle and we traveled along the dusty and hot highway for almost 1 hour. We haven’t had our breakfast that time and it’s really annoying. We went back to the hotel with that tricycle too. Not a good customer service eh! Definitely not recommendable!
If you are budget conscious, I recommend that you stay in a hotel that are near to the city proper. There’s only one sari-sari store nearby and the bottled water in the room fridge costs triple times what you can buy in convenient stores. Businessmen may consider this resort due to its location because it’s near the airport. But for leisure travelers who want to spend more time in exploring the city, I suggest that you look for other options.
More details and tips related to our stay in Deep Forest Inn, Palawan Puerto Princesa Philippines:
* Date stayed: March 16-19, 2013 (3N/4D)
* Booked from Agoda for Php 2,200 per night (breakfast not included)
* Location: Abueg Road Bancao Bancao Jacana Puerto Princesa 5300, Philippines
You can also view other photos of my travel in Google Picasa.