I have been to Tacloban many times before. But I am visiting Tacloban for the first time after it was devastated by Typhoon Yolanda (Haiyan) a few years ago. Local and internationl aid poured in. Government and the private sector joined hands in its rehabilitation. And today, I saw no signs of the havoc I was then seeing on TV.

I used to stay at Leyte Park Hotel. But even on a previous trip prior to Yolanda, I got disappointed with its state of disrepair, so I checked into another hotel then. That nice hotel, I understand, did not escape Yolanda’s fury.

And so I was pleasantly surprised finding Ironwood, from my research of the best Tacloban Hotels. And Ironwood did not disappoint.

Before the trip, I booked the hotel’s biggest room, an executive suite at the corner. As I pulled the drapes, I had Tacloban streets below me. The room was of good size and accommodated an extra bed which I ordered for the rodeo players who fetched me at the airport (we rode the Ironwood Hotel van). The room had a ref with drinks and a bar with snacks charged per consumption. Toiletries were sufficient. The room also had a safe. Everything I expected from a high-standard hotel.

We checked out the 5th Floor open terrace and had beer. The place is also the hotel’s smoking area as the city prohibits smoking in public (and the hotel of course disallows smoking in rooms and in the hotel’s public areas).

Breakfast was included in the room rate, as well as complimentary wifi. Breakfast was buffet on my first stay. But plated when I returned as buffet was not going to be cost-efficient for the hotel when the rooms are not all taken.

Coffee and cake is nice at the Seed Cafe by the lobby

I actually returned to Ironwood a few days later. That pretty much sums up the satisfaction I experienced with this hotel.

Postscript: ABOUT ANOTHER HOTEL I WILL NOT NAME HERE

I couldn’t resist this. Returning to Tacloban on my way back to Manila, I was supposed to stay in another hotel, booking the biggest suite that was to cost me P30,000 a night (lower than their usual rate). When I advised that hotel I might arrive early, like 9am, I was to be levied an early check-in rate. While this was that hotel’s policy, I felt it was not a friendly one since they could not have accommodated other guests between 9am and 12noon and therefore would not have lost any revenue. I have been allowed to check in early when the room is available. When a guest is till in the room booked for me, I leave my luggage and get into the room at the usual check in time, and this is all fine. But no hotel anywhere in the world has charged me for being 3-5 hours early. Thus, I cancelled, and stayed again at Ironwood instead