Budget Hostel in Makati Near Burgos Street

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Entrance to San Agustin Residences

One of the worst parts about living in the Philippines is that the hotels and condos are too expensive for what you get. A $50/night Philippines hotel room that’d be worth $30 in Thailand, Vietnam or Indonesia. A $500/month Manila condo that’d be $300 in Bangkok. And so on.

However every once in awhile you can find okay value. My old pick for best value hotel was Makati Apartelle which costs 1085 pesos ($22.50) a night.

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Coffee shop by the entrance

It calls itself more of a ‘hostel’ or ‘guesthouse’ because it’s family run, aimed at locals as well as tourists, and you won’t find it on hotel booking sites like Agoda. There’s also no security deposit.

Considering you get a full private room to yourself with a refrigerator this was, and still is, very good value for a hostel.

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Saw some locals playing pool with bottle caps (I think?) on the street outside

The only problem with it is that it isn’t in the nice, business area of Makati. It isn’t in the ghetto, but it is in the ‘locals’ area of Makati. Safety wise it is fine, it is just a bit far away from the action.

The reason it isn’t as good as our new value hotel is because it is kind of out of the way from everything. If you want to go to P. Burgos, Greenbelt, or anywhere really you gotta hop in a cab (or take a jeep.)

New Pick for Cheapest Hotel / Hostel in Makati – San Agustin Residences

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Luckily they’ve opened a new sister branch called San Agustin Residences which is a couple mins walk to Burgos.

Far enough away that you don’t bump into the streetwalkers and ladyboys that hang around Burgos, so it’s safe to bring a FilipinoCupid date home without bumping into the bargirl you were with the night before.

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Studio room at San Agustin

Same owners as Makati Apartelle, same laid-back local feel with no security deposit (1000 – 2000 pesos for the hotels on Burgos Street). Again you won’t find it on Agoda and you won’t see as many tourists there.

It’s a three storey building with not that many rooms on a quiet street.

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Rooms have wifi, air con, hot shower

It’s 1185 pesos/night ($24.50) so only 100 pesos more than Makati Apartelle, and you will make up for that by saving on your taxi / jeepney fare.

You can also walk to to Power Plant Mall in under 10 minutes, and to Cafe Havana and Greenbelt in 10 to 15 minutes. No need to waste your time in Manila traffic when staying here.

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Room balcony view, overlooking San Agustin Street

Of all the cities I have ever been in Manila is definitely one of the ones where you most need to be centrally located. When you can stay in a nice apartment style room for $25 a night that is walking distance from the best girly bars in the city you just have to do it.

One note, finding budget food in this area is not going to be easy. There is a Pizza Hut across from Burgos where you can get a personal pan, soup, and drink for 99 pesos.

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Stairwell

There is also a Mang Inasal nearby with good roasted chicken. Outside of that if you are looking for budget food options you are going to be having local food or fast food.

Still, if you’ve been wondering what is the cheapest hotel in Manila but still liveable and close to the action, this has to be the answer.

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Police station few metres away on San Agustin Street

Manila Hotels vs AirBnb

Note that AirBnb is still much, much better than using a hotel or hostel, you can stay at somewhere like Knightsbridge or Gramercy for $40 a night with a great gym, swimming pool, view of the city etc.

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But if for some reason you don’t like AirBnb (e.g. having to send a photocopy of your ID to the room owner) or if you’re booking last minute (the best AirBnb rooms get booked way in advance) and need a hostel / guesthouse then San Agustin Residences is your best bet.

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15 Responses

  1. -Cam says:

    That Coffee shop girl will do more to sell the place than words ever could lol.

    • Dr. Who says:

      I have to agree I think im going to walk down their when my girlfriend is away for a few days.

    • thibault says:

      the bastard knows her more intimately but wont communicate on their “arrangement”
      well, you cant hypocritically give her taxi money, she lives next door.

    • jspill says:

      I took the pics for this post, Dante wrote the text. I was going to write the story about that girl next post

    • jspill says:

      Actually I’ll just put the story here – so I’m taking pics of the outside of the building and she walks into the pic smiling, saying take a pic of me instead. Pretty quickly asks for my number and Facebook, flirting a lot, says she’s a call centre worker for Metrobank. But it’s her day off so she’s at her Mom & Dad’s coffee shop / stand thing next to the hostel. Introduces me to them, they were all really nice, offered me spring rolls and noodles, while I sat and ordered a few coffees (12 pesos for a small mug). Her grandma came out too, we sat around laughing and chatting and it was all going great. I know Filipinos can be super friendly like this so nothing seemed suspicious. She said we could go out for a drink ‘but only for a drink’ making herself out to be a good girl. Showed me pics of her at work, said she was 28. Didn’t come off as a working girl.

      She wasn’t really my type though, so after hanging out for a while I just went back to my hotel and wasn’t going to try to bang her or anything. Also I was flying back to Thailand the next day anyway, it was my last night in the Philippines. I was debating going to Angeles City for one last degen night. But she texted me asking what I’m doing and if she can join me. Because she was so friendly I felt bad and agreed to meet up. She suggested Kwagos grill nearby to San Agustin. She asked if she could bring 2 friends, her sister and her cousin, I said ok.

      They kept ordering buckets of beers, six bottles per bucket, and would ask me if it’s okay before ordering. That was weird because I wasn’t drinking beers. Then I realised it’s because they expected me to pay for the bill, that was fine with me and I was going to anyway. But it was a bit weird that they’d make sure I was going to, and then order tons of stuff. The girl also said halfway through the night ‘next time you come to the Philippines I’ll treat you, but this time is your treat’. Again I had planned to pay anyway, but it was weird that they’d say that.

      The atmosphere got a bit weird and I said after this I’ll just go home and get some sleep before my flight tomorrow, then the girl started asking if she could come to my hotel. I said I guess so if you want, not showing any real interest. She then asked ‘what is our deal if I go with you’, and I feigned ignorance and asked her what she meant by that. She replied ‘never mind, better you don’t understand’ and we went back and forth for a while, me asking her what she meant. I’d worked out at that point she was after money, but just wanted her to say it. She wouldn’t phrase it clearly though so I said ‘I know what you mean, you want money for sex’ and she started backpedalling, denying that’s what she meant. I’m pretty certain I was spot on though.

      I told her I was a bit annoyed that I’d bought her a huge dinner and beers, plus her 2 friends a huge dinner and beers, and then she still asks for money for sex on top of that, when she’d told me she had a full time job. She apologised and said ‘don’t worry after this I won’t bother you again’.

      I said I’ll pay about 700 of the 1250 bill because that’s fair, I didn’t drink any of the 3 buckets of beers and don’t see why I should pay the whole thing for 4 people. I left the cash on the table and went home, she texted me ‘fuck you!’ and I blocked her on Facebook and checked out of the hotel in case she tried to do something crazy. Got the last bus (1am) to Angeles and banged a lovely hooker there. I prefer my hookers straight up and honest about what they are.

      • thibault says:

        i m so sad it didnt end in sex. i ll regret it forever. my mood just went down.
        several comments:
        – its fun how they can introduce you to their family like you re their future in law, while they intend to hook up.
        – as a last day, its ok to fuck the neighboor/hotel girl. if you intended to stay, t would be problems…
        – its strange you didnt realize immediately that they intended to make you pay .. as soon as they invite ohers, its a red flag. you think dante would have accepted?
        – its rather positive they ask at all…
        – oh god the money thing. talk abput grey area. go for taxi money. 500 pesos and scram. hit or miss.
        – the fact that you think she aint after money because she works full time. actually ,sh is in a call centre. its not a good position, she might as well be unemployed, except she has less free time to hook….
        – you did all that wihut intending to screw the girl…. waste of time?
        – mere fact that you did not want to do her… you re jaded
        – you realize you re outing her fo being a prostitute, with her face clearly showing in the site? most probably laws are against it
        – all of this to go fuck a hooker. take a bus by night… god. she was right next door. you could skip all that paying for friends and give her money. zero chance she refuses.
        – i would really fear something from the boozed up crew…being forced to checkout at midnight… good luck to see any receptionist at this hour. you took risks. another “dont fuck the neighbour daughter until the last day” point

      • Squid says:

        That girl sounds like a scammer.
        Didn’t you have alarm bells going off in your head when she asked if she could bring some friends.
        Then this business about the beer buckets.
        If it was me I would have just said that hey You have a job. Everyone can pay for their own drinks. Fuck em.
        I get really pissed off with people like that…Not genuine at all and just looking to take advantage of other people.

        • jspill says:

          Bringing friends is sometimes ok, didn’t have alarm bells at that point. Sometimes the friends are hotter and you end up banging them ^^

          Definitely did at the beer buckets though, was pretty pissed off.

  2. SouthernAdventurer says:

    So guys WTF is going on with this new Philippines president? He is talking about making us apply for a visa (this 2 days after I book a flight) is that happening immediately is it just talk? Have any of you met any anti-American sentiment or is he just nuts?

    • kick2dante says:

      no real changes as of yet

      • SouthernAdventurer says:

        Craziness I thought I was getting away from Donald Trump, the Philippines have one that actually got elected.

        • thibault says:

          even in cuba before the warming of relationship with the US, americans could go in tourist mode and fuck locals. they just required that you were not from the CIA. if you told them you are here for , well, chicas, it was red carpet for you.
          in fact it was actually back at the US border that you were interrogated if you had a cuba visa on your passport. the cuban customs knew it and did not stamp your passport, so you could still monger like there s no cold war.

          i dont think that they dont like tourism in itself. if the poeple is not hostile, there wil be a way. rvrn vietnam warmed up to US tourists, and, to be honest, they received more bombs that the phils, you cant suspect them of being historically the best friend of the USA as a nation.

          what worries me more is that crusade against immorality. i mean, the guy was able to clear his city from drugs and cigarettes, and quite frankly i wouldnt have bet on him. if h wants to clear angeles of hookers, he is the one that can. and he took position against it.

  3. Mike Wallen says:

    The best US bank account w debit card once again please!

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