We enjoyed our time in Iloilo very much!!

A street in Iloilo full of jeepneys

It really isn’t that exciting a place.  I think our enjoyment more came from the fact that we had a comfy hotel room where we all managed more sleep than usual, and the handy location of our hotel made things very easy.  Plus, now we are out of resorts, everything has gone from cheap to ridiculously cheap, and it’s hard not to enjoy that!

Iloilo is an administrative capital.  It has over 400,000 people, so it is a decent size.  The area we are staying in has lots of shopping malls and government departments.  It is also on the coast, close to two other Filipino islands (Guimaras and Negro) and has lots of boat connections.

Things to do in Iloilo?

Not really all that much!  So we did not do much, especially as Josh was struck down by something.

I had a nice walk around our immediate area which is mainly shopping centers.  I couldn’t help but keep getting shocked by how cheap everything is!!

One of many shopping centers

The roads around here are not too bad to walk around and there are lots of pedestrian overpasses to save you from the crazy jeepney-filled streets (jeepneys are the Filipino version of buses – they are like big open air paddy wagons with a roof and a row of seats around the edges).

S received more attention than usual.  The people here definitely do not see red hair very often!!  It was a bit overwhelming at one point and we came back to the hotel room after we drew a crowd in the shopping center downstairs.  I’ve even had a few different people call her a barbie doll, which I find strange as she looks nothing like a barbie!!

Iloilo Museum

Z and I did make it to Iloilo Museum – our first museum of the trip!!

Iloilo Museum

I was surprised by how small it was – just one room, but it was opposite our hotel and interesting enough considering it didn’t really require any effort to get there.  It covered a basic history of the area.

Iloilo Museum

Practical Information
Entry was 25 pesos

We also explored Bacolod during our time in Iloilo

Best Accommodation in Iloilo

We have continued our love of staying above shopping centers with a stay in the Days Hotel (part of the Days Inn chain).

The location is great.  The shopping center is a smaller one, but it has a supermarket, food court  as well as lots of other places to eat, so it works perfectly for us.  It is well located as well.

Outside of Atrium Mall and Days Hotel

The room is a stock standard international hotel room, which we are very happy about, after more basic rooms the rest of our time in the Philippines.  It is nice to have good sheets and a comfy bed again.  There was no outside window, but this is actually great as the room is very dark, and it’s helping us all sleep better.  Strangely, they have a room that our window fronts onto, that is just a room with a light on – seems like a waste of space to me!  Plus the light does shine in around the edge of the curtains.  This would be good if it came on with daybreak, but unfortunately not.  I don’t get it!

Hotel room

Practical Information
We paid 2 x queen bed room including breakfast. Check out the latest prices here.

Eating

There are places to eat everywhere, especially take away/fast food places.  It is cheap and good.  We have been especially enjoying a local chain called Chow King and have been getting into the halo-halo – a mixture of ice, condensed milk, ice cream and many other things (it translates to mix mix).  Very nice!

Getting Around

There are lots of taxis (which will usually use the meter), tricycles and pedicabs.  Jeepneys are everywhere, but we have found no need to work out how to use them.  You can read more about travelling around the Philippines.

Random Stuff

The supermarkets here are packed full of stuff.  We finally found soy milk, but it is sugary, so we are still using formula for Z.  I was happy to find “XXL” nappies which are 14kg+, but they are so small for S that it is a struggle to get her in them!  Like other places, the nappies aren’t much different in price to at home.  Baby food was very limited and just fruit purees.

Prams are not practical here.

Cheap laundry services are everywhere.

Have you been to Iloilo?

You can read all our best Philippines travel guides here as well as about our neighbouring destinations of Bacolod, Roxas City and Boracay.

Disclaimer: This article contains an affiliate link. This means that if you make a booking after clicking on this link, we may receive a small commission at no extra cost to you.