Cafe Catalina

Wooo! A long delayed post! I finally get to review Gordion Hotel from our trip to Vigan earlier this year 😀

I must admit that this wasn’t our first choice of accommodation when we were planning for the trip. I had my heart set on Cordillera Inn because it was right smack in the middle of Calle Crisologo. I called them up but they didn’t have any available rooms, same with Grandpa’s Inn (2nd choice) and Villa Angela (aside from the fact that their rates were a little over our budget). But thankfully, Schatz made that joke about Gordion sounding like Gordon (as in Dick Gordon) and told me that’s where we should stay 😀 Gordion Hotel got glowing reviews on Virtual Tourist, so we figured it wasn’t a bad choice.

When we got to the hotel, I sort of cringed at the yellow and blue facade. I thought it was quite out of place in Vigan — it must be my hunger, or maybe I am making a valid statement. See for yourself. Below is the scrapbook page I made featuring the hotel’s facade:

The facade was one thing, the interior was a different story altogether. The lobby was tastefully decorated with antiques, giving off an old world charm. The dim lights also contributed to the romantic ambiance. Our P2000-a-night standard room wasn’t bad, either. We had a huuuuuge 4-poster antique bed (with an extremely fat mattress) with intricate carvings and curtains — sweet. Our room also had a large wardrobe with mirror, a dresser, a couple of chairs — all antiques (or antique-looking, at least. Hekhek). We also had a telephone, which isn’t connected to anything! We were told that they just installed the phones and were working on getting the connections up.

I read in Lonely Planet that the bathrooms at Gordion are substandard, but thankfully, our bathroom was quite nice. It was not very big, but it was clean and I could not see traces of muck on the tiles. I’m pretty OC about bathrooms and I am happy to say that Gordion Hotel passed the test! Well, I give them an 85% — the first night, we didn’t have any hot water because of some problem with the pipes or something. I almost didn’t want to shower — it was too cold! But the staff fixed the problem the following day 😀

The odd thing I found about the room was the key. It was attached to another key and a keychain that’s made of wood about an inch thick and is as long as my forearm. KEYCHAIN 😀 This is probably so you won’t lose your hotel keys. The other key is for the electricity. As soon as you enter the room, you insert this key through a slot in the wall and it turns on the power in your room. When you leave, you take the giant keychain with you — meaning you also take the electricity key, which means no power in your room while you are out, which means the hotel gets to save on electricity. Nice. 🙂

Gordion Hotel has a very lovely garden and the rooftop affords a great view of Vigan. Breakfast is served in the garden amidst the ruins of an old building that got bombed.

Speaking of breakfast, their morning fare has got to be one of the best I’ve ever tried in any hotel. Being in Vigan, we had breakfast of fried rice and the famous Vigan longanisa. During our entire stay there, I didn’t order anything else for the mornings 😀 Other must-try in Gordion are their pinakbet with bagnet and bagoong rice. Our arteries were probably complaining, but our tummies were definitely very happy.

One thing I noticed about Gordion is that they are only staffed during the day — the lobby closes during the night and the gates that lead to the other parts of the hotel are locked. The staff sleep in the restaurant in fold-up cots. I found out about this one night when I went to the lobby to order hot chocolate because I could not sleep. I almost tripped over someone sleeping in the restaurant! So if you feel like having a nightcap, tough.

That aside, I highly recommend Gordion Hotel to anyone visiting Vigan. The rates are affordable and the hotel is well maintained by courteous staff. The location is good too, as it is near Calle Crisologo and other attractions like the Syquia Mansion and the cathedral.

For more information on Gordion Hotel, visit http://www.vigangordionhotel.com/

V. Delos Reyes corner Salcedo Sts.
Vigan City, Ilocos Sur * 2700 Philippines
Phone: (63) 077-722-2526
Manila Line / Telefax: 02-246-1502
Mobile: +63-922-878-4657 / +63-908-891-5612
Email address: reservation@vigangordionhotel.com

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