Home Out of Town Garden Bungalows in Siquijor: What Your Tropical Daydream is Made of

Garden Bungalows in Siquijor: What Your Tropical Daydream is Made of

Jul 18, 2016

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siquijor hotels — My view of the garden and the pool from the deck.

The biggest misconception about Siquijor is that it is full of mysteries, faith healers and dark magic. But what lies beyond that is an enchanting virgin island full of kind and charming people, great food, powdery white sand beaches, stunning century-old churches and hypnotic waterfalls. If you are planning on having a sweet escape in Siquijor, stay at Garden Bungalows Resort.

Garden Bungalows is a two-star resort situated in the tranquil part of the town of Siquijor, in Barangay Pulangbato. It is owned by a Swiss and Filipino couple named Rene and Jennifer, who opened the resort for business in December 2015. The resort has only four bungalows to choose from; but what they lack in room choices, they make up for with excellent customer service and modern facilities.

Facilities and Amenities

Garden Bungalows has two deluxe rooms and two superior rooms. The deluxe rooms cost P2,500, while superior rooms cost P2,800 per night. The price comes with free breakfast for two, fast and free wi-fi (which is faster than in most resorts in the whole island province), refrigerator (for superior rooms), hot and cold shower, a flat-screen TV, and free use of the swimming pool and jacuzzi, a beautiful deck (my personal favorite spot) and a gazeebo where you can choose to hang out with your friends or eat your meals. For guests who like to have some booze without going out, they have a bar with great choices of alcoholic beverages. You can also request to use their high-quality karaoke system, which I’m sure many Filipinos would like.

superior-room-with-refrigerato — Superior room Photo courtesy of Garden Bungalows Management

Superior room Photo courtesy of Garden Bungalows Management

Deluxe Room Photo courtesy of Garden Bungalows Management — The bed in the Deluxe room. We we’re a group of 3, so we took an extra mattress which only costed us P450 and it comes with a filling breakfast. Sorry it was messy, we forgot to take pictures upon arrival.

deluxe-room — Deluxe Room Photo courtesy of Garden Bungalows Management

Their bathroom is so clean I could stay there and read a book for a while! LOL

Their full-sized pool and the Jacuzzi is just perfect!

13661892_1235342546476903_6143399093881968585_o — Sam enjoying the Jacuzzi

My favorite spot: the deck under a beautiful tree with two rocking chairs. Perfect spot for reading a book or just relaxing. You will have the view of the lush green hills at the back of Garden Bungalows and on your side is the view of the pool and the garden. Sometimes, there’s a spot where you can see the beach.

The resort has no restaurant for now, but you can ask one of their staff to cook for you. You just have to ask them at least an hour in advance, so they have time to buy the ingredients. We didn’t know about this on our first night in the resort, but Kuya Bobong was kind enough to drive us to a great restaurant at the center of the town. The next day, Rene told us their cook’s Chicken Curry is the best, so that’s what we ordered for dinner and boy he is right.

As usual, I forgot to take a photo before digging in.

Our free breakfast that Cocoy and Ate Serena (?) prepared for us. (Hi guys!)

The bar. This is where you can also sing your hearts out using their high-quality karaoke system.

Excellent Customer Service

Customer service is very important in the hospitality industry and I rate Garden Bungalow’s as excellent. Upon arrival, the gate was quickly opened by a staff and he took our bags right away. The owner, Rene, then welcomed us with drinks and had a chat with my companions and I. It was also very kind of him and Kuya Bobong to offer to drive us to a restaurant in town for dinner since their cook was not around during that time. Cocoy, Ate Serena (the cook, not sure of her name) and the other staff members were also very courteous and polite.

How to get there

If you are coming from Siquijor Port, you can get a trike outside the port. There’s an information desk just outside the port and a person from Siquijor’s DOT office will help you find a trike and show you the standard rates. We paid P100 from the port to Garden Bungalows. Garden Bungalows offers free pick-up and drop-off from/to the port, but since we came from another part of the province, we didn’t ask to be picked-up.

If you are coming from Larena Port, you can charter a trike ride to Garden Bungalows.