Although the staff are welcoming and smiley it tends to mask a few problems. The room was adequate, everything worked but in the morning I awoke with small stones on the outside of the bed that could only have come from the pebble-dash roof. The wifi only works in the foyer and parts of the breakfast area and is NOT available in the rooms. We were charged 300 pesos to check-in prior to the 2pm deadline and also found the breakfast over-priced considering what you get and to be charged an extra 15 pesos for butter seems a little petty. This could be a decent stay if they stopped over-charging for everything outside of sleeping

For extra $15 per night you can do a lot better than this.
Good points:
Is good service, clean and fairly priced. I like the decor in lobby and balcony. I liked the workers. I did not see any bugs. Desk gave me change for large bills for taxis. You can never have enough small (20, 50 and 100 peso bills) for tips and taxis.

Bad Points:
Difficult to find, you cannot see from street. It is behind a large building. So forget about any kind of view. Make sure you bring address, preferable map for taxi driver. Not any taxi driver knows this place, but many know the location of the Malate Catholic High School. Which is on the same block.

The room was clean. Bed was lumpy, could feel every spring. I have the noisy air conditioner turned to lowest setting and can barely get room temperature down to 78 degrees. It is not a hot day. There are no glasses in the room. There is no phone or coffee maker either. There was a TV and a small refrigerator.

There is 1/2 inch standing water covering 1/2 the bathroom (CR) floor from the shower. There is a floor drain but the floor is not level. So all the water will not drain.

They offer breakfast at the hotel. There are 4 breakfast selections on the menu. All breakfasts include eggs, but I had breakfast there. They had no eggs or toast available. So my breakfast was bacon and biscuits. I only ate there once. Because I am diabetic and my blood sugar was low at the time. Most mornings we walked to the Aristocrat Restaurant for a better breakfast, but not a great breakfast. It is about 6 blocks away. There is also a 7/11 store about 4 blocks away.

This hotel offers good quality for at a very reasonbable rate. Very freindly and helpful staff, clean nice rooms, free WIFI Internet and located near downtown Matale.
Only if you like a nice view from your room or balcony, dont go there: There is a tall office building appr. 4 m in front of the hotel so all you see is a grey wall. But that is in fact the only drawback. Otherwise this place is very recommendable.

I have stayed at Casa Nicarosa twice in the past year, the first time alone and the second with my fiancee. While the place is certainly not perfect, it is an excellent value given prices of around 2000 pesos per night. A Continental breakfast is included and wireless internet is available for free (although usually not in the rooms themselves because the access point has a weak signal... you need to go to the lobby or the breakfast room and the signal should be fine). Most of the rooms are very nice and when I was there last they were remodeling two rooms I was unimpressed with before. The beds had real mattresses, not foam, and with the air on my fiancee and I slept very comfortably. The view is nonexistent (the back of another building), but the location is excellent for getting to shopping, the boardwalk, the US Embassy, the zoo, parks and restaurants. I found the staff to be very accommodating and helpful, and on my second visit I met the owner who was extremely personable and friendly. If you want the amenities of a luxury resort then pay three times as much and enjoy yourself, but if you want a nice place to stay at almost the rock bottom rates for Manila, try Casa Nicarosa. You'll be pleasantly surprised.