Leyte hotels and hostels
The Oriental Leyte
Zpad Residences
Caimito Beach Hotel
Distrajo’S Lodge
Distrajo’s Lodge is a friendly, family-run rabbit-warren of a guesthouse.
Pongos Hotel
A hotel with a split personality. Very ordinary rooms in the old part are fading, while the newer buildings’ rooms are big with cool, tiled floors.
Hotel La Roca
Decent rooms to suit a range of requirements. Light high-ceilinged rooms above the street are comfortable but noisy during the day; towards the back it’s quieter and darker. When choosing a room, beware of the karaoke bar on the top floor.
Welcome House Pension
Set around a quiet garden courtyard, these budget rooms are simple and clean as a whistle. Out of the chaos of the town centre, it’s close to the restaurant and internet strips of Burgos St and Ave Veteranos.
Manaya Resort
A non-dive option is to head 4km north of Padre Burgos to this resort.
Sabin Resort Hotel
This green and lush place is a few minutes out of town. Rooms are big and bright with balconies; some front the bay. There are pretty gardens and an enormous pool (non-guests P100).
Peter’S Dive Resort
Peter’s is just off the road on a pebble beach with a variety of rooms catering to all budgets. Several inexpensive rooms with shared bathroom are in the main building, and larger, more comfortable cottages on the water have private bathrooms.
Hotel Don Felipe
A massive edifice on the waterfront, with rooms in the main building – some featuring balconies over the water – that are well kept. Annexe rooms are small, dark and a bit grungy. There’s also an air-con coffee shop with good harbour views.
Alejandro’S Hotel
This three-storey hotel built around the classic 1930s home of Alejandro Montejo looks like a regal colonial-era villa.
Ormoc Villa Hotel
A prettily landscaped garden and pool (non-guests P100) make this an oasis in the city. Rooms are large and comfortable, and the restaurant serves a good selection of food (sandwiches from P110).
Zenaida’S Chateau Tourist Inn
Zenaida’s is a decent budget hotel, though you couldn’t swing a cat in its clean, modern rooms with cable TV and private bathroom.
Southern Leyte Dive Resort
The oldest and prettiest of the dive resorts, the nine cottages here – bamboo with fans, or comfortable modern air-con – are off the main road and front a sandy beach.
Rosvenil Pensione
A good budget choice this, built in and around a rambling 1940s wooden house in which the original family still lives.
Mac Arthur Park Beach Resort
MacArthur Park Beach Resort is just beyond the Red Beach monument on a stunning part of the coast.
Leyte Park Hotel
This crumbling behemoth, once the premier resort in Tacloban, was undergoing much-needed renovation when we visited; the unrenovated rooms are very tired, in extreme contrast to the elegant new villas with individual infinity pools.
Sogod Bay Scuba Resort
Offers simple, clean and bright rooms overlooking the bay, and rents out canoes (per half day), bicycles (per day) and motorbikes (per day). The restaurant (dishes from P100) offers a good selection of food with a view.
Maasin Country Lodge
Situated along the Canturing River, with outdoor tables on the riverbank a few minutes’ tricycle ride from the town centre, this is the most relaxing place to stay in town.
Villa Romana Hotel
This smart hotel opened in 2007 with elegant, well-furnished rooms. The downstairs waterfront restaurant, Kinamot, is justly popular, with good seafood and other dishes – the simple grilled prawns and garlic rice is a winner.
Asia Stars Hotel
The dull facade of this centrally located five-storey hotel may not be the most inviting, but many of its rooms are off the street and blissfully free of traffic and karaoke noise.
Ampil Pensionne
A decent budget option in town, this place has rooms set off the street around a small courtyard, so it’s relatively quiet.
Ofelia’S Lodge
Ofelia’s Lodge is situated on Liloan’s main street.
Gv Pensione
GV Pensione is a clean and secure hotel.