Tuesday, August 11, 2015

Pechelito’s Hotel Naga: Half Done Rooms Caught in a Time Warp

Pechelito’s Hotel Naga
              Half Done Rooms Caught in a Time Warp    
               
I have blogged about Pechelito’s Place in Magarao  when 
we were invited by a sister- in- law in one of their family 
outings in the past and found it sleazy and dreadfully chaotic.

 

It was populated with drunk guests singing at the top
of their voices in every nook and corner of the resort
and everyone seem to have their own karaoke machines.


This time we were again invited by my sister- in- law as her daughter was giving 
a treat. I impishly smiled at the back of my mind when she said Pechelito’s. 
No, not the one in Magarao, but Pechelito’s Hotel, the hotel in Naga this time.


I got really curious that there must be something that
makes her a regular and loyal costumer of Pechelito’s.


There was a pre- announced city- wide maintenance brownout that 
day so we  book a room for the kids to stray  when they confirmed 
that they have a generator. To our horror and disappointment,
they never turned it on  so we stayed home and returned in the
afternoon to join our relatives swimming on the hotel pool.

Stay

Pechelito’s Hotel used the be the Hotel Mirabella,
a lovely garden hotel in the late 80’s and closed down
in the early 90’s, located in Liboton, Naga City.


It reopened sometime last year as Pechelito’s Hotel,
managed by the same people of Pechelito’s Place in
the nearby Magarao town, which I blogged in the past.


The kids have already checked- in earlier but we decided to take them home, 
as it was a day long brown- out. Although they assured us of having a  generator, 
the hotel, just like the rest of the city also did not have any electricity. What I noticed 
though, they have a lot of alcoholic drinks on display at the check in counter,


...reminiscent of Pechelito's Place in Magarao which also had
a lot of alcoholic beverages for sale but did not have any diet soda. 



When we returned late in the afternoon,


... that was the time we got to 
take a close look of the room.


It was a plain square room with green
accents with a double bed on one end,


…and a flat screen TV in front.


…there was a hanging utility counter
 at one corner of the room near the TV.


Near the entrance was an empty, unlighted closet,


…and a vanity area that could also
serve as a study and reading nook.


Right beside it is a green colored toilet,



…provided with basic toiletries,



…and just like the original Pechelito’s Place
in Magarao, this one also had a dipper.


The shower had three knobs, one of which
was meant for the hot water but what came
out was tap water as the hotel has no heater.


What caught my attention was the filthy window screen
that had all the nasty grime, dirt and dust sticking on it.


I suspect that these were the original window screens
of the old Hotel Mirabella that shut down two decades
ago and was never been replaced by the new owners.
The screen locker was also broken and was never fixed.


The room's window type aircon unit  lies right above the bed 
headboard so one could hear the whirring  noise, feel the
 vibration and the bed trembles with the wall once it is on.


The bedside table had a lamp, and it 
appears okay but on a closer look,


.... the edges are broken and was never 
repaired during the renovation.



There was also a pair of light switches on the front side but
they're  working, and might have been a central lighting 
control of the old Mirabella Hotel and were not reactivated


Just like the window screen, this table might have
 been a remnant of the old hotel and the contractor
had done a sloppy job during the renovation.


Even the broken door locks were neither repaired
nor replaced and had it happen to our house, I
would have fired the foreman for not doing his job.


The room is just half done.  I believe there are still a lot of things
to  be done and the room seem not ready to accept guests yet.

Stray

The hotel is located in Liboton, way off  in
Magsaysay Avenue Extension but still close
to some of  the city’s famous tourist attractions.


It is a block away from the Penfrancia Shrine,


…within walking distance to the 
glittering  Magsaysay Strip,


…and the Penafrancia Basilica.

Source: TRIPADVISOR

It is in front of a satellite market and
just across a 7- Eleven store in Liboton.


Play

There is really nothing much to do in the hotel
as the amenities were limited. The kids were
invited by their relatives for swimming but the
pool looked desolate and far from inviting.

 

What used to be a the old Hotel Mirabella pool
located in a lush and lovely pool side garden was 
replaced with a dreadful and ugly concrete pavement, 

 

…all the way to the small clubhouse.


Since no one of us was interested to swim,
we decided  to stay in our room to rest.


W were lucky as it was the finale for
‘Asia’s Got Talent’ and the show kept
us entertained on what was supposed to
be a tedious evening in a boring hotel.


We checked out after the talent show was over and we were 
thankful as we could finally comfortably rest at home.

Feast

Our relatives brought food to eat in the hotel
clubhouse but we already had a dinner before
coming so we just feasted on finger foods and soda.

 

The hotel otherwise had an in- house restaurant.


...but we never tired it as no one was hungry. 


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Pechelito’s Hotel, would have been a welcome
addition to mushrooming budget hotels in the city,


…and I had high expectations on this hotel as it used to be
the beautiful and charming Mirabella Garden Hotel, one
of the loveliest  in the city in the late 80’s and early 90’s. 


We booked a room for the kids due to the day long brownout as they
confirmed that have a generator, but just like other parts of the city- 
they also did not have electricity, so we had to take the kids back home.

 

After more that two decades, I was expecting a better hotel,
upgraded to suit the present times and needs-  but what 
they had was a half- finished, sloppily renovated room.


The renovation was a notch below its predecessor.
After two decades, times have changed, but the hotel's
architect appears to have been trapped in the  70’s 
time warp and seem to have been stuck there forever.

Read  the link below for related posts:

Pechelito’s Place: Raucous, Chaotic and Seedy Resort

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