Comments on: Sitio Remedios, Part II: The Glass Half (or More)Empty

By: Philip Nolasco

Philip Nolasco — Mon, 25 May 2009 14:24:35 +0000

Wish I’d read your blog before we stayed in Sitio. I liked the unique experience of almost being transported in time. theyve updated fixtures in the showers ( we stayed in Balay Dingrass) right across the bahay na Bato, theres hot and cold water everyday, and they now have Wifi. no more music blaring out from the church (thankfully) but yes, there were cobwebs in the bathroom, and I spotted a couple of spiders. The goat you refer to is gone, a statue of a goat has replaced him. they still have awful pillows and foam beds, but they now provide big fluffy towels. aside from the ilocano towels. I agree that service needs to be improved. I was aghast because when we checked in the first night (flight from Laoag was delayed and we decided to have dinner in Laoag first) we had to walk aimlessly in the dark to get to our balay -we didnt know where it was located and we were not escorted to the house- which was at the very end of the resort! Sitio at night when not lighted with the tea lights is kinda creepy. Agnes was waiting at the house for us, but nobody even pointed out the way, we just figured it was our house because it was the only one with doors widely open! we decided to shrug off the lapse in service, food is extremely yummy. and staff are very courteous and helpful. But on our last nights stay, we were ROBBED. somebody came in through the bathroom window (which is quite big) right under the window were piles of wood-thus, thief easily lifted himself up to our room. what was alarming was that the staff was aware that the locks on the bathroom window was already missing, yet they didnt even bother to replace it! to be fair they reacted quickly, police came to investigate, and our room balance was waived. I’d recommend a day trip or maybe have dinner there. it is still worth the trip to Currimao. maybe just opt to stay elsewhere for the night.

By: carlos celdran

carlos celdran — Wed, 22 Apr 2009 16:30:57 +0000

Rather harsh article but I guess you are entitled to your opinion.

I just came back from Sitio. I stayed in exactly the same house. I loved every minute of being there. I even loved the goat.

It’s not a hotel, I guess. It’s someone’s house. I get it. Perhaps the price may be high. But I look for uniqueness more than anything else. And I got it in leaps and bounds.

I get Sitio Remedios. Not everybody does. And that’s just fine. I’ll be there again next month.

By: Walter

Walter — Thu, 18 Dec 2008 12:24:00 +0000

I was actually planning on staying there for a couple of nights with my partner. All the reviews I’ve read have been glowing. At the risk of sounding patronising, I trust your judgement more than those people who do ex-deals with these establishments.

Thanks for this post. You just saved me PhP 12,500!

By: Edgar Dacpano

Edgar Dacpano — Wed, 10 Dec 2008 02:01:56 +0000

And I’m planning to see the place when I go home next year because my mom was born in Ilocos Norte, having second thoughts, or shall I say….saanen manong!!!!! Roach? Just like the resort we stayed in Bauang, La union with my little girls in 2004. It was a nightmare.

By: Marketman

Marketman — Thu, 27 Mar 2008 22:02:46 +0000

Hi Everyone, here is a link to a follow up post I wrote after Dr Cuanang sent an update on improvements at the resort, link here.

By: Mike Abasolo

Mike Abasolo — Sat, 08 Mar 2008 10:47:17 +0000

We’ll if you guys are after the experience of colonial philippine, then you are in for a real treat. It is true that
the place is still a work in progress, but for that authentic Ilocano experience, you might as well give it a try inspite of those minor obstacles you get to hear.

My advice is you may have to organize your budget to maximize your full stay in the resort. I might have guessed it right on what you are thinking, I am careful of my comments :-).

https://redsimba.blogspot.com/2008/01/sitio-remedios-ilocano-getaway.html

By: michelle

michelle — Tue, 15 Jan 2008 10:56:15 +0000

OMG! That toilet would have sent me out the door in a flash…Reminds me of a one night stay at this dump in Rome. I slept with my hoodie and socks on. Hands inside my pockets. I refused to have any part of my body touch the sheets. When I knocked on the door of the ‘hotel’ owner to borrow a phone directory (so I could get another place ASAP), I was greeted by a paunchy middle aged guy wearing a stained kamiseta and carrying a plate of spaghetti. *sexy—-NOT!*

By: joven cuanang

joven cuanang — Sun, 13 Jan 2008 15:39:07 +0000

Dear readers, Happy new year to everyone. I am Dr. Joven cuanang and I would like to give you an update on the ongoings in sitio . As I posted in the blog last time, I really appreciate comments that are constructive because that is the only way to improve, thus we addressed the concerns one by one in the last two months prior to the coming of the guests last december. the bathroom in the big house were tiled to replace the cement flooring styled by an artist friend. We realized that it could look dirty coz the application of the material placed was uneven, so we did away with that. We assessed the other bathrooms and changed those which we thought needed to be tiled. The other houses where we thought the artist”s concept worked we kept. Hot and cold water is now available in the showers in all of the houses. One guest thought that the previous situation where the househelp asks whether one needed hot water at the end of the day ws charming. However the chill of December was thetipping point. We had the hot wter installed and I am glad I did as most of the guests in December appreciated it. So did I. The architect reviewed all the details that needed to be improved and That is all done. The perimeter fence is now properly coated with cement covering the Hollow=block look. The fence is properly topped and hope that all the cadena de amor we planted willcover it. The chapel is a working one as the parish priest comes to sy mass the last Sunday of every month. The community comes to hear mass and that is great coz it must be shared with the people who were there earlier than me. Besides their children who compose the choir, can now sing a full misa ilocana. The old people are now teaching the kids to sing the pasyon and that is great because this ritual must be passed on. A benevolent guest offerred togive tham a complete set of choir uniform and they are gaining a lot of confidence in their singing. They were invited to sing in the museo pambata but that will take sometime. We cleared the houses with some of my junk and placed the books in a small corner in the restaurant for those who maybe interested to read them I did not mean to impose my reading material to our guestsm andI apologize for that. The goat. My friends in Ilocos thought unthinkable for an Ilocano village not to have a goat. It is now outside the fence but dont be surprised if it loiters into the yard. I have commissioned a sculptor to make a pregnant goat that could be the mascot of sitio. Expect that in a few months. I am also asking Zac Sarian, the agri writer whocomes from Batac to advise me with the best breed of goat which we can milk and make goat cheese from. That will also give livelihood for the folks in the barrio when fish is scarce due to the overfishing in the high waters. We also have finished putting up a dormitory typoe of accomodation in a one story building with a twenty year old bougainvillea in front. The simple accomodations were all that we could offer a group of four religious brothers presiding over a fine manila university whopromised they will bring the whole congregation next time. It can accomodate ten males and ten females. We are updating our website and these will be described.
Needless to say, the feedback of the marketman is very much appreciated. We aim to become the best destination in Ilocos Norte for a restful and satisfying stay. My friends and my family who conceived of this madness that we are doing to showcase an Ilocos Norte experience the way we know it: towels made of inabel, bagnet, longganisa, puki-puki, tupig, miki, real honest to goodness pinakbet, katuray flower salad goats and goat meat and seaweeds– all will stay because we are proud of all of it. We discussed this with all our staff and we are all determined to make a difference in our small way.

Add: we have ordered egyptian cotton towels for those who will not like the roughness of abel towels, they are ready at the end of january, We have made available bathrobes for those coming out of the pool and the newly installed jacuzzi,made of inabel.We are going to install intercoms to the office from the houses and for those who wnt to have their wedding in this unique place, the chapel has been granted by the bishop that honor. Raymond the manager is
arranging a few weddings this year. The bishop says the priest can also officiate baptisms.

Thank you for your time and hope to see you in Sitio Remedios.

By: jon

jon — Tue, 20 Nov 2007 04:09:44 +0000

sorry, i really can’t help myself laughing hysterically with every one’s comment. i would like to write something but am still laughing, come to think SR is in my hight list to visit and stay when i come to visit Phil at the end of the year.
Thank you MM for such objective and informative review.

By: tamaritz

tamaritz — Fri, 16 Nov 2007 10:12:00 +0000

There’s hardly anything else I can say about Sitio Remedios that hasn’t been said yet–and I agree with (nearly) all of the remarks posted before this. Especially about SR’s bathroom. It almost resembles the sleazy bathroom in the torture porn flick VACANCY! true, melizza, it badly needs re-grouting, re-tiling–a total makeover, in fact.

since the sitio’s bathroom got the brunt of the negative feedback (at the very least it was totally un-photogenic!), other public places and service establishments should perhaps take their cue from this. Hotels and restos, especially. I even think someone (like you, MM?) should do a “restroom review” on the metro’s popular food establishments–from fast-food joints to mall RR’s to restrooms of 5-star hotels and posh restaurants in Metro Manila and the burbs. rate these on cleanliness (not just clean but also clean-smelling–and please, no pools of water on the floor and urine tracks on toilet seats and surrounding areas), availability of toilet paper, paper towels, liquid soap, adequate trash bins that are regularly emptied, etc. and do i need to mention toilets with flushing mechanisms that work?

well, i’ve strayed away from the Sitio issue . . . so i will get back to it with just a gentle reminder to chi: let’s keep Dr. JC’s rep as a medic/surgeon out of this. if i’m not mistaken, Dr. Cuanang is the director of St. Luke Medical Center and was (is?) dean of the UE-RM medical school. Maybe he needs to polish his hotelier act, but most likely he shines in the medical field. peace!