YM Business Inn Hotel & Restaurant

My Negros Oriental Tour: San Carlos City, NegOcc

Ah I’ve made mention of this hotel in some previous entries, right? But I promised you I’ll cover this one in a separate blog entry so here I go… Let me try to highlight other things else that I thought you should know. First, this was not my target place for an accommodation at San Carlos – ah I’ve also mentioned about that some blogs ago, right?! Yes, my target was Mom’s Small Hotel & Restaurant. But mind you, I think I may have discovered something better in YM than mom’s! I may not be too sure, though there were/are indicators I caught a nice place in YM Business Inn.

Its spacious compared to others. YM Business Inn looks like it was planned to be made like it is now so. There is ample space just by the side of the building for parking vehicles. And that area is not just a simple row of parking slots. Aside from some well maintained flower plants and trees, there are cages of love-birds to liven up the place. Something to grab your attention in an otherwise urban setting (as this is center of town). I could even hear their cute chirping while in my room! Hey, if it has not been done yet, I believe that parking space front of the ground floor rooms can even become an extension of the restaurant’s open-air area for bigger functions or parties!

There is a big enough lobby for it to be called a hotel and there is formal front desk (at mom’s it is just some corner of the cashier’s area at their turo-turo-style restaurant, though am not saying its not good). YM’s lobby has a few tables that doubles as a snack bar or café. While you can have your breakfast in this area, or have coffee while tapping along with the free wifi, there is that nearby ice-cream freezer that I wish they’d remove. Why? Because the diabetic in me kept salivating at every glance and at times I think I already hallucinated that them delectable goodies were waving at me hahaha! Pssst, here’s a secret, and don’t tell Dr. B… from arrival at YM (that was evening) until I checked out (after 3 days), on the way in or out, I‘d always pick either a drumstick or a cup from that freezer as if it was in my own kitchen hahaha! Hey, of course I paid everytimie!

Well the beds (I’ve seen a total of four, right?) have soft mattresses and are expertly made. That only tells me their staffs must have received some formal housekeeping training. Oh well, there are the protruding steel frames though (part of the bed’s design) that even if you are aware of them, you could get a bump or two when not careful – children especially. I have this maxim in my head that if a part of the bed’s frame must be revealed it should be high enough as the headboard for it to be prominent so a person does not accidentally sit or bump them thinking there was only foam in there. Hmm, what am I now, an IKEA consultant?! Hahaha!

The cozy restaurant is tucked somewhere away from the roadside of the building. You actually walk from the lobby past the ‘public’ comfort room and ground-level rooms to reach it. Simple elegance in its own right with big and bigger LCD TVs dominating the walls. I looked around at the speakers and hmm, branded! Menu is an acceptable fuse of local, oriental and western dishes and those that I got to sample in the course of my stay are of hotel standard. Apart from the usual bar, there is even a separate counter before entry into their kitchen. What was that, another front desk? Hehe, I think that’s where they control the orders or keep the condiments or both. Ah, I just know that whoever commands the ladle in that kitchen must be wearing a tall white hat with some admirable credentials under his/her belt!

Hey, I saw them do it while I was tapping away at the free wifi lobby, the manager (a scion of the owners) only comes around to meddle with the staff at day’s end (late evening) though I think he lives or has quarters in the hotel itself. I heard them discuss issues, do some quick accounting, tackle some guest needs for the next day and so on. But this is definitely not the usual Chinese-family-run business where someone is ubiquitously roaming the place not doing anything other than to find fault in their crews! Maybe this guy knows how to select and trust his hotel staff! And maybe Chinese family businesses in this country (including a chowking and a mang inasal branch in Cebu) should learn from him! Really!

The uniformed men and women of this establishment are a jolly pack eager to serve. Ah, I should know, I have so far trained many thousands of folks like them. They just know their hotel’s primary objective – and that’s us the guests. Here’s an example… at one time I stood out at the parking area to stretch from having crouched on the little keyboard of M912. An unlighted cigarette was in my right hand. I don’t know where she came from, but a housekeeping staff (yes those who clean our toilets and make up our beds) appeared to offer a lighter, BUT she courteously reminded me that the love-birds hate cigarette smoke and they could die from it. Wow! An excellently subtle way to tell a guest "umalis ka dyan kung magyoyosi ka"!

Here’s another… over at the restaurant’s open area, while typing away on M912, a waiter noticed I kept glancing at the big LCD TV where CNN was on. All of a sudden, they opened up the glass partition separating me from the inside area of the restaurant. I asked why, the smilingly gay reply was… so I could see and hear the news clearly. Wow! If you don't call that 'alert' I don't know what is! You want another? Well, arriving at midmorning, I was surprised to hear the guard say “welcome back sir, enjoy ba ang Sipaway?”! Nge! He must have been listening when I asked earlier in the morning. That means... if by chance I suddenly disappeared from the face of this earth, an attentive guard could give a lead. Ah, and at about the same time, the jolly beautiful front desk clerk was saying “hello sir, we still have one pinipig crunch”!

Oh well, the joys of roaming around this country!


If you want to read the chronology of all stories on this tour, click the following:
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