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Reviews of Novie's Tourist Inn

3 out of 5
Novie's Tourist Inn
Sitio Lugadia, Barangay Corong-Corong, El Nido, Palawan

Reviews

6.0
Rating 10 - Excellent. 6 out of 71 reviews" "
Rating 8 - Good. 23 out of 71 reviews" "
Rating 6 - Okay. 18 out of 71 reviews" "
Rating 4 - Poor. 13 out of 71 reviews" "
Rating 2 - Terrible. 11 out of 71 reviews" "

6.2/10

Cleanliness

7.2/10

Staff & service

9.0/10

Amenities

5.8/10

Property conditions & facilities

8.0/10

Eco-friendliness

Reviews

10/10 Excellent

Jelly Angel

Travelled with group
Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, amenities, property conditions & facilities
It was indeed a great stay! All the staff are very friendly and so accommodating. Special mention to Ate Joy and the other front desk Ate (I can't remember her name) Kuya (the night shift duty all around the staff. They were all helpful in assisting me to use the facility for working at night in the lobby area. Looking forward to staying at Novies but this time with my family. Novies is a safe, clean place, with easy access to almost everything. Thank you for a great stay!
Stayed 3 nights in Mar 2024

4/10 Poor

Zak

Travelled with family
Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service
Good location bad water supply system!
Room # 30 wouldn't recommend to anyone severe water pressure problem in the bathroom, for couple times there was no water at all in the morning, we used bottled water to wash face. No wifi was available during our 5 day stay.
Stayed 5 nights in Jan 2023
Response from Jayson on 24 Jan 2023
Hello good day sir. ZakThank you for your comments, and we will work on this issues.Thank you

10/10 Excellent

Verified traveller

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, amenities, property conditions & facilities
Stayed 3 nights in Dec 2018

6/10 Okay

Verified traveller

Liked: Staff & service
Disliked: Room comfort
Good staff and cold showers
Overall stay was decent. The staff was helpful and tentative. However, the hardware of the place was sufficient at best... The room itself was spacious, but warm water wasn't available through the showers so get ready to take a cold one after returning from breezy late-night scooter rides home.
Stayed 3 nights in Apr 2018

8/10 Good

Verified traveller

Liked: Room comfort
Housekeeping is almost non existent.. never cleaned our room unless sudden rain cause flooding in the room, sheets and towels were not changed daily or alternate days, altho staff n owner are friendly
Stayed 4 nights in Mar 2018

4/10 Poor

nina , philippines

Disliked: Staff & service
Robbed
The overall stay was ok besides two of my friends were robbed. We didn't know they left their money in the room if we did we would of told them not to or at least lock it in the suitcase like we locked our electronics. But we def locked the door and still someone came through and took their money from their wallet. Talked with the manager and the front desk girl but all they said was this never happened before and didn't do or say much of anything else after that. We couldn't wait to get out of there. Didn't even stay our last day there.
Stayed 3 nights in Mar 2018

2/10 Terrible

Marta

Disliked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
No water in the room in 48 hours !!!!
We stayed at the hotel 2 night and in that time we didn't any have water at all in the room. We commented the situation twice to the receptionist, the first night at arrival and again in the morning without any solution. In the evening after an all day out , we complained about no water to the owner who was really rude to us and told us that we could leave the room straight away and he could returned the money back, It was 23 hours at night. He didn't apologized or give much solution that to leave the hotel ...

8/10 Good

Larry

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
The hotel is cozy and comfortable. The staff is helpful and very kind.
Stayed 2 nights in Jan 2018

8/10 Good

pat, connecticut

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities
Mnative experience
The staff was very accomodating and provided excellent service. Lala at the front desk was very helpful and very attentuve to our needs. A very cozy place to sleep in. My only complaint is the plastic covering on the mattresses. Very noisy when you move or the person sleeping with you and makes it feel warmer.
Stayed 2 nights in Jan 2018

6/10 Okay

Alma

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, room comfort
Customer service was really good, they were very accommodating and gracious esp Maria.they offer great deals for the island tours.
Stayed 1 night in Dec 2017

6/10 Okay

Verified traveller

Disliked: Staff & service, property conditions & facilities
Not so good. Our room was not cleaned for the whole duration of our stay. The room and bathroom had unpleasant smell. Staff though were friendly. Mr. Ramon, the owner, was kind enough to ask his son to drive us to the van terminal on our departure from the place.
Stayed 3 nights in Nov 2017

4/10 Poor

Douglas

Disliked: Cleanliness, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Los of bugs...not clean.. don't recommend
There was a cockroach in our first room which was really far from the front of the inn and then my family transferred to a room closer to the front and there were moths outside the room every night when someone's wanted to leave the room we had to turn off the lights just so the moths didn't get in. The food and service was good but the overall cleanliness of it was really bad. Lots of bugs and no hot water and the wifi was bad it barely worked. The people were really nice and very helpful but overall at least for my family...we will never stay here again.
Stayed 4 nights in Jun 2017

8/10 Good

Khan, Japan

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
great view and service
The view from the room was amazing, you can really see pretty much all the islands in the area. it was a very pleasant stay; a cosy, clean room and friendly staff. I booked a tour with the front desk, it all went very smoothly. The hotel is a 10 minute walk from the bus station and a 5 minute tricycle ride into the city centre. The facilities are clean and accessible and there's free coffee available all day long. The only complaint is WiFi, it's pretty much non existent, didn't work for me at all, neither in the room nor reception. I still recommend this hotel, I really enjoyed my stay.

6/10 Okay

No Name Nothing, Citizen of Heaven

Liked: Staff & service
Inexpensive, quick, uninformed booking, exotic loc
We booked online about a month in advance, primarily for location and price. We were uninformed about the place or the unit(s) themselves. Check-in was stressful because we thought they knew we were coming, they didn't. And they had no idea of what we had reserved until the regular receptionist returned about 14:45, (when ck in was 14:00) and put us in a place high on a cliff with little room in it. We then asked about something bigger and we ended up in another room, much more accommodating. The bathroom was natural stone with tile & large. The water could be sandy or rusty at times, why? The people tried hard to accommodate us. The units are more attune to being an older cultural type of structure. We were told the owner wants to keep the facility like bamboo with thatched roof type of ambience, which is okay, maybe even great for backpackers, (which is a lot of their business). They were building more units. They do have a restaurant and they do sell tour packages but we didn't use them. They work strictly on cash which is why we chose to use other facilities. They restrict the use of a/c, electricity from 10am-4pm. One evening the electricity was out causing some stress. The only TV was in the reception area. They had some inadequate Internet WiFi near the reception area but it was weak and many people would try to use it in the evening.

2/10 Terrible

Oli, Belgium

Disliked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Rude people and dirty rooms
After facing issues with rude staffs during check-in, we finally had a dirty family room. Holes and stains on the bed sheeds. Spider web and dust everywhere. Poor quality of the furnitures. I would not advise that place at all.

6/10 Okay

Robert

Not great
Clean quiet room. Cold water shower. Bad wifi. Free morning coffee - decaf only.

8/10 Good

Decelaine

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service
I like the proximity to everything
Attendants are very accommodating and nice.

8/10 Good

Peter

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Very good needed a room for 5 last minute.

8/10 Good

Verified traveller

Liked: Staff & service, property conditions & facilities
average hotel comfort
No hot shower, food very basic and lacking variety. Staff and manager could have been more dilegent in accommodating clients starting from hotel transfer at the PPS airport and back. Garden view of the hotel is very impressive with beautiful plants surrounding it.

8/10 Good

Aaron, Denver, CO

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
A great place outside of town
Novie's is a nice, quiet place to stay that's only a 5-minute trike ride from El Nido. The property is very lush and overgrown, and the rooms feel pretty private (although the walls are pretty thin!). However, we experienced constant power outages during our stay, due to some heavy rain (though, I guess, normal for this season?). Novie's also has signs posted that they only have electricity during certain hours of the day, but I don't think the schedule applied while we were there. Other than that annoyance, the place is a nice budget choice!

2/10 Terrible

Verified traveller

Disliked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort

6/10 Okay

Bob, Abu Dhabi

Liked: Staff & service
Cheap hotel but prone to power cuts and lack of wa
See above..friendly staff...just a bit basic otherwise fine staff like a drink at night!

6/10 Okay

John

Good budget option
We had a noisy room, due to local cockerals - earplugs reccomended

6/10 Okay

Christopher, UK

Liked: Staff & service
3 star hotel with good service
Stayed in a family bedroom with a/c for 2 nights. First impression it's what your expecting for a 3 star tourist inn. Everything is a 3 star standard but the service I would give would be a 4 star. Reason because in el nido they have daily blackouts or brownouts which they call it during specific times in the night. The a/c didn't function so i compained as i had a 19 month old toddler who hates sleeping in the heat. In a matter of minutes the reception guy quickly escalated the problem and rrquested the backup generator to feed into our room. During the whole 2 nights we slept peacfully in the cool ventalated room. The price is reasonable too. It won't break the bank and it great if you want to stay in if you have activities which el nido have, and i mean they have a lot of activities if your looking for relaxation it not for you. A place for you sleep and shoot out to enjoy the sights, views and activities. Highly recommended.

2/10 Terrible

bob, ny

Disliked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Think Carefully
Hi guys! This hotel is a small family business which is fantastic to support. However, it is not run right. There is no water and power half the day and Internet is spotty at best. They don't clean your room, nor supply any toiletries and towels. If you feel like a cowboy and think, you can pull this off then this is the hotel for you, if not, then go--- run somewhere else! Again, this is a family run place and they are the kindest people, but the hotel is less than a star at best.

2/10 Terrible

traveller3112, uk

Disliked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Bugs and lying management
This is the first time I have ever written a review because the experience and condition of this "hotel" was absolutely terrible. First, we wasted money booking an air conditioned room because the a/c unit did not work. We only had a fan that turned on and off. We asked other guests and they complained of the same thing (sometimes people were only given fan rooms despite paying for an ac room)! My partner and I did not want to let it ruin our vacation, so we continued with our day. I would not have written a bad review if this was the only issue. Upon coming back to the room after a tour, we ended up finding our bed and our luggage completely covered in ants! There were literally hundreds of them. When we went to complain to the management it turns out three other rooms were having the same problem. The hotel manager refused to switch or clean any of our rooms and instead suggested that we get a broom to "sweep" the ants away. We had already prepaid for our hotel and had no choice but to try and sweep them out the room, but of course that didn't help! I've attached photos of just one portion of our bed (this doesn't include what ended up in our clothes and luggage)! Usually when I read a bad review on a hotel, I think the person must be a bit dramatic and high maintenance. I can promise you this is not the case and I can only hope this helps prevent someone else from wasting money and having an experience like this as you will not get any of your time or money back.

6/10 Okay

Verified traveller

Disliked: Cleanliness, property conditions & facilities

8/10 Good

martina, italy

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities
Nice hotel 100 m to the beach
I was in a delux room... A little expensive for its confort... But good hotel always speak about the Philippine style.... El nido is a beautiful place where you can do a lot of things

8/10 Good

Verified traveller

Liked: Staff & service
Totally fine
It's cheap. That's why you're considering it. Make sure that you note that there is no hot water in the showers. That's pretty common in El Nido for the cheap places, and it says so on the site, but don't miss that. The wifi is... Well, it's rough all over the island, but be forewarned. Finally, there're brown outs. We had an AC room, but when there is a brown out, it's fans only. That's not such a big deal. It's cool enough at night, but the generator was behind our room, and the sound of it going on or off at random hours made it hard to sleep. It's a little down the road from the main drag. That's not a big problem, but it does mean you're not on the beach or at the downtown area. Still, it's cheap. The service is fine. Really, for what you are paying it's totally fine.

6/10 Okay

Jasmin, London

Liked: Staff & service
Disliked: Cleanliness, property conditions & facilities
You get what you pay for :)
This was so cheap, you can't expect much of course. Staff was friendly, wifi is only in reception area though and intermittent & slow like anywhere in the Philippines (we had the room closest to reception and wifi didn't reach) It was a 4min tricycle ride to El Nido but 1min away there is sunset bar and beach if you want something close by. The floor needed a good wipe with a mop, but otherwise room was fine. If you're backpacking, this will be do just fine.

4/10 Poor

Daniel

Liked: Staff & service
Disliked: Cleanliness, room comfort
2 star
Novies hotel. I'd give it a 2 star for good air con and helpful staff. The wifi is terrible. If you need to sort out onward travel, flights etc and need wifi don't book here it's basically none existent if more than 2 people are using it. The rooms are ok, rain water shower which is obviously always cold. I'm a heavy sleeper and was woke up every morning/night by cockerel's and building work going on either side of the rooms banging starting as early as 7:30am. The location again is ok but el Nido have loads of accommodation actually in the city and near the beach that will do the same job and won't be paying 50 pesos every time you want to go into the city.(5 minute trike ride, 20+ minute walk). So if planning on coming to el Nido and want a location near the beach where you can get good wifi and a full nights sleep this is not the place for you. Also it would be easy to just turn up in el Nido and find accommodation on arrival as there are rooms available everywhere.

6/10 Okay

Dana

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service
Disliked: Room comfort

2/10 Terrible

Verified traveller

Disliked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
dirty, dirty, dirty!
thermostat of aircon is out of order so its so hot even if you paid for an aircon room. Clogged bathroom, no hot water, and inconsiderate staff to my grandmother who was given a room on the second floor and has to climb stairs!

2/10 Terrible

Verified traveller

Disliked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Never will I let my guests stay in this inn.
they served my breakfast without me w/o even covering it. Flies are everywhere. clogged Bathrooms. Staffs shuts off water supply in the evening. Brownish water in the shower. Rooms with mosquitoes. Inhospitable hosts. Very expensive but not delicious breakfast. Slow internet connection... staying in this inn will make you forget how beautiful El Nido beaches are...

4/10 Poor

Dean, UK

Disliked: Cleanliness, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
OK if you're not spending your time in the hotel.
Nothing really close by and we got stuck inside a lot because of the rain. Staff were friendly, Internet was terrible, food was average but the rooms weren't very comfortable always felt damp . Spent most of our time down the beach so it didn't ruin anything for us. Cheap and ok if on a budget.

2/10 Terrible

Verified traveller

Disliked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Never again
No Toilet seat! The room should be cleaned daily but wasn't cleaned within 5 days. At 7pm we wanted to order some dinner but was told that it is to late-when we came back from a restaurant the same day a hour later the staff was eating! They can cook for themselves but not for the guests?! The owner and some of the staff were nice, but good that we doublechecked our transport that we booked with them because they forget our pick-up

8/10 Good

John Paul, Cebu City

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
El Nido Getaway
The room was really spacious and the staff was very accommodating.

6/10 Okay

RG, Los Angeles

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service
Good for budget traveller
I'll keep this short. Staff is amazing. They are friendly and make sure guests have a comfortable stay. The facilities are mostly new. El Nido is growing fast and the business can't seem to keep up with the demand. They are rushing to finish new cottages and rooms which isn't always a good thing. In this case, haste does make waste. The plumbing was rusty because they used inferior quality materials (that's according to the owner). The shower was leaking, no hot water, no TV and internet is horrible (but you're in paradise, why use the internet at all?). Overall, it's a good choice for travelers on a budget. Rooms are clean and facilities are ok.

4/10 Poor

Verified traveller

Disliked: Property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Look for better options in Corong Corong.
Our experience: - We stayed for one week. They overbooked the first night and made us stay in their prison-like sister hotel called the "Overcomer". The room was next to the check in desk and had leaky plumbing. - Rooms at Novie's are nippa hut style and next to the highway. You will hear lots of noise in the rooms, including what your neighbors are whispering next door. There is a party place next door that blares house music all day. One night they blared their music until 3am. Apparently, the locals were celebrating a child's first birthday. - The rooms are not sealed well. They easily let in all sorts of critters. - There is no hot water and sometimes the water ran brown. Sewage odors often wafted up from the bathroom drains and permeated the air in the bathroom. - Novie's is in Corong Corong and not El Nido. We liked this, but you'll have to haggle with tricycle drivers unless you want to make the 30 minute walk to El Nido. This walk can be unsafe as there are no sidewalks and narrow shoulders in places. - You will continually be asked about your plans by staff who are eager to sell you their overpriced tours. After mentioning that I could find the exact tours for cheaper in El Nido, the owner tried to discredit the companies, and then told me that he gives a 20% discount to his guests. This was never mentioned before I brought up the issue. Even with this discount, you can get these tours cheaper in El Nido. - The wifi is an advertising gimmick. Don't count on it.

6/10 Okay

couple , sydney

Liked: Staff & service
Disliked: Cleanliness, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Staff were very friendly and very good rates.
Hotel itself is not too bad. The rooms were very basic - no hot water etc. We still had a comfortable stay and the rates are very very good. The staff were very friendly and always willing to assist. All of the accomodation in El Nido is very basic so don't expect any 5 star accomodation. The roosters are very loud - one always went off at 430am. Apart from that the rooms were fine - air conditioned. Thank you to the staff for being so helpful.

4/10 Poor

Bram, Manila

Disliked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Overcharged, not very competent
Overcharged hostel. Friendly but not very competent. Almost all rooms have some malfunction that isn't maintained. Despite this our stay was still okay though.

4/10 Poor

Thena, Canada

Disliked: Property conditions & facilities, room comfort
a bit close to las cabanas beach (beautiful beach)
when you take shower, the water goes all around the floor of the bathroom; the water is yellow when its raining and the aircon shutdown itself even if there is electricity (we woke up one morning and the room was very warm) but the staffs are nice anyway..

10/10 Excellent

Andrew, Sydney, Australia

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Brilliant hotel staff!!
I really enjoyed staying outside the El Nido town centre, and Novie's made it that much easier. John Paul and the rest of the staff were genuinely caring and amazingly hospitable. If I could be half as good a host they are, I would be happy :).

4/10 Poor

michele

Disliked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Bien placé sur coron coron
Les chambres ne sont pas faites tous les jours . Faut batailler pour payer le juste prix des tricycles à El Nido. Bref El Nido C'est finalement cher pour la qualité en comparaison de toutes les autres lieux visités aux Philippines tels que Coron Island , Bohol, Panglao , Malapusca . Tour A et B fait avec un pêcheur ... le rêve à l'état pur ...et j'ai payé 30% du prix des tours operators. Bref il a tout fait pour s'assurer que nous que nous ayons les lagons et les plages rien que pour nous .

2/10 Terrible

Anko, Japan

Liked: Staff & service
Disliked: Cleanliness, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Never again
No hot shower, super thin wall, very stuffy in room.

4/10 Poor

Verified traveller

Disliked: Property conditions & facilities
Man får vad man betalar för.

8/10 Good

Verified traveller

Nice place
Nice place. 2,5 km to city center. Wifi only in lobby. Nice view. Quite many backpackers.

10/10 Excellent

Vitalii

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
классный отдых в Эль Нидо
Очень отзывчивый персонал - готовы всегда помочь во всем. Особенно хотелось отметить Лялю и Джоусефа - помогли при потере нашего рюкзака при переезде из Пуэрто Принцессы и обратном трансферте.

6/10 Okay

Verified traveller

Liked: Staff & service
Disliked: Property conditions & facilities, room comfort
ビーチに近いホテルです
エルニドに 行ったら また 泊まりたいです 部屋まで 行くのが 階段 坂道を登って

8/10 Good

Daniel, Sweden

Liked: Staff & service
I can recommend it
Nice place situated 5 min by tricycle from El Nido centre. Staff is good and helpful, aircon room is spacious with a bed table, day bed, mirror and a small wardrobe. They have generator, small restaurant, and a chill/wifi area. You can get tour discounts here aswell. A few restaurants, dive shops and mini marts as neighbours.