Hostel: Chill-Out Guesthouse, Malate, Manila

You know a backpacker as soon as you meet them, right away Olivier made us feel at home. He also had two philosophies about his place, “cheap rooms and clean bathrooms”, and so they were. Everything about the place was catered to the backpacker. Free wi-fi, being one of the most important, of course, but there were other things. One of the things I saw that was innovative was the “open kitchen” policy. There were lockers for food, where each guest could keep their stash, and they could cook and wash whenever they want. He also had a washing machine for laundry that you could pay per load. There was a free landline that you could use for food deliveries and other non-long distance calls. And there were maps everywhere, maps in the room, maps on the walls, and a whole drawer full of brochures that even I’ve never seen before. Plus Olivier had links to the French network all over the Philippines, so he could hook you up with trips to Bohol and Palawan, had a self-made map for trips to Sagada, and was particularly proud of the cheap dive packages he also had in Bohol. There were also big closets where you could deposit your backpacks for 20 pesos a day, if you didn’t want to lug them all around the country. And the rooms had lockers and there were even lockers in the hallways. Catered to the backpacker, Chillout Guesthouse can’t help but continue to be the sure hit that it is. In fact, they are planning to open a branch in Bohol itself. The invasion of the backpacker is imminent if not already here.

the food lockers

ze phone

a room

For their prices I will just direct you to their website at: www.chilloutguesthouse-manila.com or www.manila-guesthouse.com

Chill-Out Guesthouse

4th Floor, Lucky 888 Building, 1288 Marcelo H. Del Pilar Street, Ermita, Manila, Philippines | Phone Number: +63 (2) 450 8023