“'So compact! So well planned! Everything here and everything in its place! We'll make a jolly night of it.”
Dulce domum at Mole End, Hotel Fortuna
I stayed overnight at Hotel Fortuna in a room priced at Php750 (around $16) with a shower, aircon, cable TV and free breakfast. It was a steal and I was wondering what the catch was. When I arrived at around 11 pm at the airport, the taxi driver was not familiar with the hotel, although according to the hotel website it is well-known for its bakery. I called up the hotel with my cellphone and let the driver discuss directions with the front desk.
PROS:
The place looks new and is brightly lit. One must deposit an initial amount first, which will be deducted from payment upon checkout.
Some people might have been dismayed, but when I got to my room, I was delighted because its compact size somehow reminded me of my bedroom as a kid. It had a single bed pushed up against the wall, a small space between the bed and the table holding the TV and drawers, and a small bathroom with a shower that has no divider with the toilet. Had it been dingy or old, it would have been very sad, but at the time I was there (Sept ’10) it was new, well-lit, with nice looking wooden furniture and was rather charming in its Lord of the Rings hobbit-house way. The small table and chair in the room is hardly a work area and would function more as an additional place to put your things on, but I was strangely amused by the choice of art hanging on the wall, a painting of a tiny cup of espresso. How fitting.
The breakfast was not buffet, but a set meal of sausage, egg, rice and coffee, and I told myself one must not expect too much for the price. What matters to me is a good night’s sleep with no disturbances, running hot water in either the shower or bath, and courteous staff, all of which were present. The Fortuna Bakery is indeed beside the hotel, and one need not look further for take-home gifts or pasalubong if pressed for time, the bakery carries most of the native delicacies of Cebu, plus some Chinese pastries also, since I believe the owners are Chinese.
CONS:
If you are renting a car to get around Cebu, the hotel does not seem to have parking, its front entrance being immediately accessible from the sidewalk.
I cannot recommend this hotel to people who are on a tight schedule, because its location in the downtown area makes it a busy place and it is very hard to get a cab during rush hour. The staff unfortunately did not offer to hail me a cab, although perhaps I should have asked. If you need to be at the airport, leave early so you can make it on time.
The bathroom, despite having an exhaust fan, had a bit of a stale-water smell after use, and it doesn’t seem to ventilate very easily. Given the size of the accomodations I just described, people over six feet tall will probably not find the single room very comfortable.
This review is the subjective opinion of a TripAdvisor member and not of TripAdvisor LLC
