Finding a place to stay is the most crucial part of all out of town trips. We would sometimes spend our lunch breaks reading online forums to spot the most affordable yet decent places to stay in Coron. We narrowed down our choices to two. One took days to respond to our queries and the other was fully-booked on one of the days of our stay. They offered to transfer us to a nearby inn to compensate for that day. We were just a couple of weeks away from our vacation and we were about to settle with option #2. Fortunately, my ex-office mate’s girlfriend and fellow blogger suggested Centro Coron. Thanks Becky! :)
Centro Coron offered the most comprehensive and most affordable worry-free tour package. I think we only paid PHP4300 (more or less) per person. It’s already inclusive of 3d/2n accommodation, airport transfer, food, and city and island tours.
Our flight c/o Cebu Pacific was delayed (again) so the designated driver and guide patiently waited for us at the airport. We were greeted by Kuya Chris who served as our tour guide during our entire stay. While inside the car, he handed us Centro Coron’s menu board and listed our orders. Prior to that, he sent us an SMS asking whether we’d have a late lunch or merienda.
After roughly a half hour ride, we arrived at Centro Coron. We were greeted and warmly welcomed by very friendly and accommodating crew members. They initially showed us a room that’s good for 4-6 people. Since we requested to have separate rooms, we opted to change. It wasn’t a busy day for Centro Coron so they asked us to choose among the three vacant rooms. They told us that two of us could settle in the smaller room and the other two could still stay in the bigger room. Humbled and flattered with their generosity, we chose the two smaller rooms. We were thinking that a bigger group might check in the next day. ;-)
After freshening up, Kuya JR (I think he’s the head waiter) personally went to our rooms to tell us that lunch is already served. With the absence of high-tech phones, a knock on the door from the staff is a very nice personal touch.
We went back to our rooms after a sumptuous lunch and took a nap before heading to our city tour. I’ll allot a separate post for that.
Their rooms are very basic. Don’t expect something extravagant. An air-conditioned room with a comfortable bed, cable TV and restroom were all they got. It wasn’t included in my list of best-looking hotel rooms. It was a bed and breakfast after all. It definitely served its purpose.
The lack of glamor in their rooms was overshadowed because they compensated it with their impeccable service! If I can sum up the experience we had during our stay, it’s like staying in a bed and breakfast with the service of a five-star hotel! :)
They are all proactive and very sensitive to our needs. They check us once in a while to make sure that we have everything we need. We really felt like we were VIPs during our 3-day stay.
Kuya Chris is very funny! It didn’t feel like we were traveling with a tour guide. It was just as if we were with a close friend. Parang kabarkada lang namin siya! To top it all, our safety was his priority. Watch out for my next posts for the (interesting) stories! Haha!
Kuya JR is Centro Coron’s all-around guy! He serves our food. He goes to our room to tell us that food is already served or that the tour is about to start. He carries our bags. He gives us directions on where to get the best pasalubong. He answers all our questions. And he laughs with our silliness!
Sir Kim, Centro Coron’s owner, was very hands-on. When we were about to leave for our island tour, he demanded the chef to cook lumpiang shanghai to add to our already overflowing food. We were always surprised to see the amount of food being served to us. With the price we paid, we were expecting to just have decent meals. But they gave us feasts! To give you an idea, here is a photo of what they served us on our last dinner.
Other guests kept on looking at our table. They were probably telling themselves, “Ang takaw naman ng mga ‘to!” Centro Coron served us not one, not two, definitely not three, but four dishes! Our jaws kept on dropping each time a server came to our table with a plate of food. They definitely gave us a buhay baboy kind of vacation. :p
Guests and non-guests go to their restaurant and coffee shop
We enjoyed our stay in Coron greatly because of the kind of treatment we got from Centro Coron. On our way home, everybody argued whether they earned something from our stay. Parang nalugi yata sila sa amin! Haha!
CENTRO CORON BED AND BREAKFAST
National Higway Barangay 4, Coron Palawan
Email Add: centrocoron@yahoo.com
CENTRO CORON BED AND BREAKFAST
National Higway Barangay 4, Coron Palawan
Email Add: centrocoron@yahoo.com
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