Balay Tuko Garden Inn

Very nice, room was spacious and clean. Hotel staff very nice and gave advise for late diner place.

We had a wonderful stay here at the Balay Tuko. The room was spacious, the bed sheets crisp and clean, the bathroom very clean with rainhead shower and hot water. We ate breakfast all three days we stayed and it was very filling and reasonable. (you'll need to order your meals in advance, as they are cooked just for you) The owner, who built the inn 32 years ago, was interesting and accommodating as he arraigned our day trips the night before. They do not take any money from the tour so we saved a little on the over all price. There is an aviary, a garden with orchids and other flowers, an almost olympic sized pool, a pingpong table, and motor bikes to rent.(if you like that) The inn is out of the way but there are plenty of tricycles to take you where ever you want to go locally. There is plenty of room to host a larger get together for family reunions, or weddings etc. It is very quiet at night and cool enough to forgo using the air. You will enjoy staying here and the rates were very reasonable. 1300 for a queen size bed. The negatives were few, no outside food allowed.

From the moment we entered we were impressed with the grounds, lots of trees and plants, a huge aviary with some very happy budgies, two lovely Shih Tzu’s and a cat. The strange point was before arriving we were talking about how we were missing our Shih Tzu’s then seing two really bought a smile to our faces. Walking to reception the vibe of the place was, it’s family run, not sure if that’s right but I’m going with my instinct. The staff in all areas were great, many doubling up in other areas. We had room 3 which is next to reception. It was very clean, the bed very comfortable, very good air-con with a ceiling fan also. Good size flatscreen TV with a multitude of channels, fast wifi, open plan wardrobe and shelves for clothes and plenty of lighting and plug sockets for gadgets. Bathroom is spacious with a powerful rainforest shower and good quality towels. You will need to bring your own toiletries as they do not supply those. Your order breakfast in the evening for the morning, it’s adequate to kick start the day and good quality. We ordered our evening meal after breakfast, absolutely everything is fresh and after being in El Nido you will understand what a God send that is. They have a large indoor swimming pool which is also used to teach sub aqua diving so if your looking to do a PADI course then stay here as it’s excellent value for money. We also hired Scooters at the hotel which were nearly new. and their local knowledge of areas to visit was very helpful. We stayed twice here as we wanted to travel the island and they allowed us to leave our luggage at no charge, even late checkout was not a problem, we really loved everything about this place. When travelling around Palawan you are restricted on luggage, the busses generally allow 15kg per person, the vans alot less. We didn’t like the van due to being packed in like sardines and me being claustrophobic so we went to El Nido by taxi which was £110 and came back by bus which was £24 for the two of us. Next time we will spend more time in this area as we really haven’t done it justice and Balay Tuko will be our base