SEDA Atria, Iloilo City
I arrived in Iloilo via an air-conditioned bus from San Jose De Buenavista in Antique, hailed a GrabCar and voila, I was in my overnight accommodation, SEDA Atria Iloilo.
Did I like this hotel? Oh yes, I did. Was this planned? No!
Aw ah, as I always say in my stories, let's start from the very beginning...
I was in San Jose. The plan was to stay overnight there, then take the early morning bus to Iloilo, in time to catch my 1120H flight to Cebu, so I could transit to Tacloban.
As advised by my contacts in San Jose, I should choose a hotel online then just ask them for comments - turo ko sa kanila yan in the first place - locals do not stay at their local hotels since they have their own homes, thus they don't know much about rooms!
I had a choice, it was approved by my contacts, so I called them up the night before to reserve a room. Done. They advised me to just pay when I'm already checking-in!
That hotel also agreed that I leave my things early morning (due to early arrival) and that's what I did upon arrival! They said "come back at check-in time which is 12NN".
Adhering to that agreement, I went back at 12NN, to check-in - which - per plan, was just to actually drop my things in the room, then continue roaming San Jose proper.
Unfortunately, eto na! At 1203H, the 2 women there, who would not even stand from the lobby couches where they were seated told me that check-in time was still 3PM!
I explained that during my call last night, I was told it was 12NN. And looking at one of them, I said sinabi mo rin kaninang umaga bumalik nalang ako ng 12NN to checkin.
The other woman with a face that seemed to be saying I was disturbing them, very sarcastically said pwede naman, bayad ka lang ng 300 per hour, 12 to 3PM. Tangina!
What pissed me was not the "sudden change of rules" nor the "300 per hour". It was the way it was said by that woman, who was treating me like I was some nuisance.
What ran in my mind was "tangina marketer ito"! Yes, palengkera!
No use arguing, and tutal, I have already roamed their town the whole morning. So I calmly said sige hanap nalang ako ng iba. Got my bags, took a trike to the Ceres bus.
While waiting for the bus to depart, I googled available hotels in Iloilo - I know there are always a lot. I could even bunk-in with some friends or distant family, if need be.
So many choices. It was even confusingly fun! Should I go go back to Urban Sands? Del Rio? Injap? Amigo? Sarabia? Midtown? Go Hotels? Even River Queen if need be! They laughingly evoked lots of memories while each of these places came to mind!
Then I saw Seda. And I said oh, meron pala dito nyan? So I booked a room. That's it!
Even before the Ceres Bus departed from San Jose DeBuenavista, I already had one room in Iloilo paid online and waiting for me! At SEDA Atria in the Atria Park District.
I initially wanted to walk all the way from the Ceres Bus Station in San Pedro (Molo Terminal) to the hotel, passing by the Iloilo River Esplanade. Ayay, I had bags in tow!
Thus, that last pic in my previous story! I rode a GrabCar for just about 2kms. Sosy!
Now what should I tell you about this hotel? I'm not good describing hotels I liked.
I am best at describing accommodation places that I didn't like, or those that ruined my day/stay/itinerary haha! Like that one in San Jose, na palengkera ang frontdesk!
Seda Atria is a "starred" hotel, I pressume, as it is owned by the Ayala Land Hotels & Resorts. But, I do not have many things to say, so, let me show my pictures instead.
My Room...
I had a good fifth floor window view, even at night, when already resting in bed!
The in-room amenities and abubots!
Nag-effort pa si frontdesk mag print-and-cut those little sheets of paper hahaha!
At least me comedy relief, indi ba la?
The bathroom and bath amenities...
Elsewhere in the hotel...
A view from the 5th floor veranda...
Meeting and Function Rooms...
Lobby Lounge...
Beside the lobby (right) is an e-Lounge w/ street view. At the back is a restaurant.
Inside Misto, the restaurant.
My favorite window-side! That's already the street behind this glass wall at left.
Instead of the usual breads to start a meal or to go with the soup.., Biscocho it is!
Molo Soup with a twist. It has shrimps, reason why it has an orangy color. Namit!
Their Biscocho (it's an Ilonggo favorite) is made in-house. Also good. Not too hard!
A view of the restaurant entrance and part of the lobby from inside Misto.
This was a nice stay. Definitely better than if I stayed back at that "dark" hotel in San Jose, where the only thing good seems to be: it's a parking area of a police patrol car.
Anyway, let's go see that monument on a rotunda up close - in my next story!
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