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Where to Stay in Antique

Kara Santos

The province of Antique in Western Visayas has a lot to offer for intrepid travelers. With all its natural attractions, the province is really best enjoyed outdoors. Don’t expect to be holing up in luxury hotels with high-speed WiFi during your stay. Most of the accommodation options remain rustic and not suited for finicky travelers. Take the opportunity to slow down and enjoy the simple life away from urban comforts, reconnect with nature and spend quality time with family or friends.

If you’re traveling to Antique anytime soon, here are some of the inns and resorts you can choose from located in the different towns.

Calawag Mountain Resort

Located in the highlands of Tibiao, Calawag Mountain Resort offers rustic rooms that will appeal to nature-lovers and those looking for a place to base for their outdoor eco-adventures. We got to stay two nights in the resort’s unique treehouse accommodation, a two-level hut built around a tree. The guys stayed in riverside huts with wide windows that let in the cool breeze at night.

While the rooms are basic with mattresses on the floor and common restrooms, Calawag Mountain Resort offers a variety of fun activities where guests can enjoy nature at its finest. The main attraction is to take a dip in a kawa (cauldron) bath and soak in different flavors like salt, milk, coffee, wine or beer.

You can also try out their Tibiao fish spa, get a full body massage or coffee scrub by the river, go water tubing and kayaking and dine on Karay-a dishes while soaking your feet in Tibiao River or just hang around in their hammocks when you stay here. Expect to go on a social media detox as there’s no WiFi yet in the area.

Kawa Inn

Kawa Inn in Tibiao offers several air-conditioned rooms and family backpacker rooms decorated with local flair. Themed native rooms showcase the banig (traditional hand-woven sleeping mat), sadok (wide-brimmed hat made of palm leaves) and abaca (a type of textile native to the Philippines). Rooms are good for sharing, with bunk beds and double beds and extra mattresses that can make rooms good for 6 up to 12 people per room.

The inn also has a restaurant, laundry services and free Wifi. It’s located in the same compound as Tibiao Fish Spa, so guests can enjoy a relaxing foot massage with “therafish” at the end of the day. Kawa Inn no longer offers Kawa Baths (since most have been moved to the mountain resort), but the inn also has a small swimming pool at the back of the space suitable for those traveling with younger kids.

Pandan Beach Resort

Pandan Beach Resort is a lovely well-designed beachfront boutique resort
with backpacker, standard & deluxe rooms located in the Pandan Bay Beach area. Pandan is the northernmost town of Antique, relatively near Caticlan and Kalibo, making this resort an ideal option for those coming from Boracay who want to rest and relax by the beach minus the crowds.

Photo from Pandan Beach Resort’s FB page

Pandan Beach Resort has several air-conditioned rooms with private restrooms with hot and cold shower and WiFi. They also have lots of cottages, lounging areas, and hammocks where you can just sit back and relax and an outdoor spa where you can get a massage while listening to the ocean waves.

They also run an in-house restaurant serving delicious food and a bar that serves tropical cocktails and beer. PBR is a good jump-off point to tourist attractions like Malumpati Cold Spring and Naranjo Water Park. Day trips to the private Dioso Mountain Spring Resort (an alternative to Malumpati that offers farm tourism activities) can also be arranged.

Aningalan Highlands Strawberry Garden

Aningalan High-Land Strawberry Garden is a mountain retreat in the highlands of San Remegio, where guests can enjoy natural farm surroundings and cooler weather. The farm, which supplies strawberries to different parts of Western Visayas, runs a small guesthouse with 3 rooms good for up to 12 pax.

They also have an al fresco restaurant that serves native coffee, mushroom burger and fresh salads with some ingredients picked from the farm. The area offers sunrise and sunset views. It’s also a great place to do night photography because of the lack of light pollution. Warning: it can get pretty cold at night!

Enrique de Mararison

Most budget backpackers and solo travelers who stay overnight in Mararison opt to stay in homestays in the community. Larger groups and families who want their own private beach can opt to stay in Enrique de Mararison. This private resort nestled in a cove of the Nablag islet is a popular destination for prenup photo shoots because of the serenity and privacy it offers. Rooms are rustic but airconditioned with their own restrooms.

They are the only resort on the island that offers a sunrise and sunset view. They also offer 24-hour electricity and WiFi and run a restaurant that serves Filipino dishes and seafood.

Alpas Guesthouse

The all-bamboo restaurant Alpas in Tobias Fornier manages a guesthouse (that can fit up to 5 guests) for those who would like to stay overnight. The Consuelo Guesthouse contains 2 Queen Beds & 1 single bed, a private bathroom, fan and ocean breeze cooled, private beach entrance and private patio. Breakfast is included in their restaurant.

Additional accommodations are expected by late 2019/2020. Owners Kim and Ken are in the process of renovating an old function hall in the area to convert into a 2nd guesthouse which they expect to be completed by the end of 2019. Day-use bamboo cottages along the beach will follow by 2020.

Anna Sophie Hostel

For those planning to head to Mararison Island or want to stay overnight in the mainland nearby afterward, Anna Sophie Hostel located in Culasi is a convenient choice. The hostel has basic but comfortable air-conditioned and fan-cooled rooms, hot & cold showers, their own in-house eatery, a small function hall and WiFi.

They also offer scooters for rent, have a mini pool, laundry services and offer catering for all occasions. They can arrange Mararison day tours and overnight stays since they have a hostel branch on the island itself.

Dalaag Camp Site and Resort

Known for having the largest swimming pool in Panay Island, Dalaag Campsite and Resort in Tobias Fornier is one of the most popular destinations for locals for family reunions, large gatherings, and swimming/ karaoke parties.

Photos from Dalaag Camp Site & Resort’s FB Page

The 800-sqm swimming pool complex is located near a powdery black beach under a grove of coconut trees. Aside from air-conditioned rooms, they have several beachside and poolside huts that can be used for overnight stays. Tent pitching on the beach is allowed for minimal fees.

Sira-an Hot Spring and Health Resort

If you want to stay overnight in the town of Anini-y, you can stay in Sira-an Hot Spring and Health Resort in the mainland. This beachfront resort arranges island tours to Nogas Island, which is a 15-20 minute boat ride away.

The resort features sulfuric swimming pools and mini bathtubs built on a rocky coast overlooking the Sulu Sea. Visitors come to soak in the springs because of its healing properties and therapeutic effect on the body which can cure aching muscles, bones and even skin diseases.

Esprutingkle Business Hotel

For those who need a place to base in San Jose de Buenavista near the airport, the newly opened Esprutingkle Business Hotel (established in 2019), located on the second and third floor of a mini-mall along the main highway is a convenient choice.

Photos grabbed from Espurtingkle’s FB page

Don’t let the quirky name turn you off. The hotel (named after a group of companies in Antique) offers rooms that are clean, decent and modern. The hotel also offers free WiFi and breakfast as well as free airport – hotel – airport shuttle service.

For activities, what to do, where to go and where to eat in the province, check out my separate Travel Guide: Antique in the related posts.

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