Philippines Travel Online » Negros

O Hotel in Bacolod City, Occidental Negros

admin — Thu, 05 Mar 2009 13:27:06 +0000

During my visit to Bacolod City, I stayed at the O Hotel. I found the hotel by surfing the internet. Reading their web page, it seemed they had just what I was looking for in a hotel. Free Wifi in the room, restaurant, reasonable pricing and quickly replied to my emails.

So I booked my standard room there for February 21-25. The rate was 1,300 php per night.

Upon arrival, I was pleased to see the hotel was exactly as advertised. The staff was warm and friendly. The room was basic, but spacious and clean. It had an in room safe, wifi was great, water was hot and everything worked fine.

The food at the restaurant was very good, including the generous buffet breakfast which was included in the price of the room. An important factor for my breakfast, they have brewed coffee!

Most of my trip in Bacolod City I used the hotel’s car and driver at very reasonable rates. The car with driver cost me about 200php per hour. Since I could not find a single place in the city to rent a motorcycle, the car was a big help for me.

I can safely recommend the O Hotel as a good place to stay while in Bacolod City.

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Day of Scuba Diving and Beach Fun at Sipalay Negros Philippines

admin — Sun, 01 Mar 2009 13:20:06 +0000

On Monday, February 23, 2009 I left the O Hotel in Bacolod City at 5am in the hotel car headed to Sipalay for a day on the beach and to get a scuba dive in. After a scenic 2.5 hour drive through sugar cane country, we arrived at Artistic Diving in Sipalay.

The beach was white and the skies were blue. Very nice day. Walking the beach, wading in the clear water, playing on the swing and having delicious foods were on the agenda.

The dive facilities at Artistic Diving were top notch. After a short discussion with Alvie the dive master, we planned a 2pm dive on nitrox at A Rock. The dive site was only 5 minutes from the resort, and I think the max depth was around 22m. The vis was quite good, no current, and we saw lots of different wildlife. Pipe fish, flounder which enjoyed being petted by Alvie, and lots of other macro sea life. After 60 minutes, I gave Alvie the sign it was ok to go up. You know, I think he wanted to stay down longer, can’t ask for more than that from a dive guide!

Next time I look forward to spending more time in Sipalay and exploring many of the dive sites available there.