PALAWAN | Best Western Plus The Ivywall Hotel Puerto Princesa Detailed Review
Tuesday, August 04, 2026
We arrived at Best Western Plus The Ivywall Hotel Puerto Princesa, past midnight—exhausted but excited for our family's first trip to Palawan. The vacation also doubled as a surprise birthday celebration for our toddler, Kid A. He arrived straight from school in his uniform, which made for a pretty funny start to the trip! It was also my birthday—but unlike his, mine, obviously, wasn't a surprise.
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| BEST WESTERN PLU THE IVYWALL HOTEL PUERTO PRINCESA’S MODERNIST FACADE |
Having previously stayed at Best Western Plus The Ivywall Resort–Panglao, we were curious to see if the Puerto Princesa property could live up to the excellent experience we had in Bohol. Would The Ivywall's first Best Western Plus franchise in the Philippines deliver the same level of comfort, service, and value? Here's our detailed and honest review after spending four days at the hotel.
| BEST WESTERN PLUS THE IVYWALL HOTEL PUERTO PRINCESA TABLE OF CONTENTS ~ WHAT’S INSIDE? |
GETTING THERE & CHECKING IN
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| MIDNIGHT CHECK-IN AT BW+ THE IVYWALL PPS |
Our trip started with me joining Kid A for his annual school field trip. Without going back to school after their itinerary, we hauled him straight to the airport—as his mom, BG, arrived—without him knowing what was going on. His puzzlement only intensified. Soon, we were boarding a late-night flight to Puerto Princesa—the only time he finally got a clue to where we’re going, lol.
We arrived at the new Puerto Princesa Airport past midnight, and were readily fetched by Best Western Plus The Ivywall Hotel Puerto Princesa’s complimentary hotel transfer van. One of the best-located hotels in Puerto Princesa, Best Western Plus sits just right beside the former airport terminal and only a few minutes from the new airport. In fact, it took us less than five minutes to arrive at the hotel.
With Kid A slumped on one of the rattan lounge seats, fast asleep, we were efficiently assisted at the front desk and were soon heading up to our room on the third floor.
➤ BLISSFULGURO’S VIEW: BEST WESTERN PLUS THE IVYWALL HOTEL PUERTO PRINCESA REVIEW
THE ROOMS
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| THE IVYWALL’S EXPANSIVE LOBBY |
Best Western Plus The Ivywall Hotel Puerto Princesa has a total of 120 guest rooms spread across five floors—well, four floors to be exact since the ground floor area only holds public amenities—and can comfortably accommodate, more or less, 240 overnight guests.
These rooms have five distinct classes tailored for different groups:
Deluxe Rooms: 2 guests, 1 Double Bed or 2 Twin Beds
Premier Rooms: 2 guests, 1 Double Bed or 2 Twin Beds
Accessible Rooms: For handicapped guests, 2 guests, 2 Twin Beds
Family Rooms: 4 guests, 1 Queen Bed + 2 Twin Beds
Suites: 2 to 3 guests, 1 King Bed
All rooms include an en suite toilet and bath with toiletries and linens, complimentary breakfast, a mini-bar, free bottled water, an electronic safe, flat-screen TV, air-conditioning, and free Wi-Fi. Coffee and tea-making facilities are also included in all room types except Deluxe.
Service dogs are allowed, but standard pets are prohibited at the hotel.
➤ CHECK BW+ THE IVYWALL HOTEL PPS DISCOUNTED RATES HERE!
WHERE WE STAYED
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| OUR ROOM FOR FOUR DAYS, BW+ PPS’S PREMIER ROOM |
During our four-day stay, we were billeted in The Ivywall Hotel’s Premier Room on the third floor.
The room layout is typical. To the left of the entrance hall is the toilet; to the right are a closet (also where the electronic safe is located), the mini-bar, and a luggage table. Straight on is the spacious main room—the queen bed on the left, fronted by a flat-screen TV above a wooden console. At the far-left corner is a sitting area and on the far-right, a workstation. It is definitely super spacious for two persons, or even like us, a family of three.
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| KID A AND BG, ENJOYING OUR ROOM |
Guests have a choice of having two single beds, but we chose one queen bed instead. The bed is as comfortable as a bed can be and is flanked on both sides by bedside tables with light switches, a telephone, and charging sockets.
The room is contemporarily decorated—wall-to-wall wavy-heart-stamped printed carpet, contrasting warm and dark wood panels, textural parquet tiles, and Capiz accents with a few metal finishes—on a clean white background. It feels modern without being sparse. This textural design also echoes throughout the whole hotel.
The toilet and bath is large and comfortable. The shower area is separated by a glass wall and is fitted with a rain-type showerhead that sprouts hot and cold water. The vanity is equipped with a hair dryer, and the toilet has a bidet. All bathroom linens and toiletries are provided for.
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| THE VIEW FROM OUR ROOM |
The only thing missing from the room, really, is a balcony. Which would really be quite perfect, given that our window faces a forest of huge century-old acacia trees. We love balconies, and we were actually quite baffled why Best Western Plus Puerto Princesa did not have one on their rooms.
HOTEL AMENITIES
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| BEST WESTERN PLUS PPS’ DETAILED INTERIORS |
Like any four-star hotel worth its salt, Best Western Plus Puerto Princesa has a number of amenities up its sleeve.
Swimming Pool
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| KID A ENJOYING THE POOL, COLD WEATHER NOTWITHSTANDING |
We were able to utilize The Ivywall’s outdoor pool on the second floor on our third and fourth day of our stay—day one being our flight, and day two, doing the Puerto Princesa island-hopping tour.
Their pool is twenty meters in length with a depth of 1.2 meters. It’s long enough for doing laps, although the weather during our stay was quite cold, so we weren’t really able to stay for long.
The water was a bit too deep for our son. Still, Kid A was able to enjoy swimming everywhere since he knows how to swim. For kids who don’t, I advise careful supervision since there really isn’t a physical boundary between the shallow—basically just the stairs leading down—and the deeper parts.
Nevertheless, there are free floaters children can use—and a lifeguard is also present during pool hours, the uber-friendly Kuya Orly. Kid A immediately took a liking to him, kuya, even teaching him a few tips on how to better swim.
Gym / Fitness Center
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| THE HOTEL GYM AT THE SECOND FLOOR |
Located adjacent to the swimming pool, Best Western Plus’ complimentary gym has a recumbent exercise bike, multi-gym weight stack machine, suspension trainer, dual-pulley cable machine, adjustable weight benches, free weights, and stability balls.
Are we able to utilize the gym? Knowing us, of course not.
Spa
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| SPA ROOM BESIDE THE GYM |
As for the spa, which is situated beside the gym, they provide relaxing massages, traditional Filipino hilot, designer nail services, and body & skin treatments. It was quite surprising, given that this is a four-star hotel, that their rates are quite affordable.
Gift Shop
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| THE IVYWALL HOTEL GIFT SHOP ALONG THE GROUND FLOOR HALLWAY |
The hotel has a gift shop along the ground-floor hallway. They specialize in Puerto Princesa products like banig-woven bags and pearl jewelry. Of course, they also have the inevitable fridge magnets, destination t-shirts, and a few travel essentials that you might have forgotten to bring.
MICE Facilities
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| LOVELY PALAWEÑO DECORS AT THE LOBBY |
Best Western Plus PPS also has MICE (Meetings, Incentives, Conferences, and Exhibitions) facilities. They have a designated Business Center, three dedicated Meeting Rooms, and a Grand Ballroom—which includes space for professional catering and AV equipment.
IN-HOUSE DINING
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| OUR FAVORITE SPOT AT THE DINING HALL |
Best Western Plus The Ivywall Hotel has three dining options for their guests; of these, two are available for walk-ins—Anibong and Balayong.
Anibong Restaurant
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| WARM AND COZY DINING AT THE ANIBONG RESTAURANT |
Named after a Philippine wild palm tree (Oncosperma tigillarium), Anibong Restaurant is the hotel’s main dining area. It’s open throughout the day—plated options for lunch and dinner and, more importantly, complimentary buffet breakfast for hotel guests. The buffet is also open for non-guest walk-ins for ₱799.00 per person.
It can seat about a hundred guests, with tables located around a central glassed courtyard. I love how they have booths, which makes public dining a bit more private.
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| BREAKFAST BUFFET AT BEST WESTERN PLUS PPS |
We were unable to try their plated dishes, but we were able to partake of their daily breakfast buffet during our four-day stay. They have the usual frying (eggs, bacon, danggit) station; salad and fruit station; cheese and cold cuts station; pastry station; and last but definitely not the least, the desserts and pancake station.
The main station has pork, chicken, fish, vegetable dishes, pasta or noodles, and a soup of the day. During our stay, we were able to try their Spanish sardines, parmesan fish fillet, Korean fried chicken, sotanghon guisado, menudo, longanisa, and adobo, to name a few. I also love that they served chao long—a Vietnam-Puerto Princesa dish—during one morning.
Daloyon Pool Bar
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| THE HOTEL POOL AND AT THE SIDE, THE DALOYON POOL BAR |
Located on the second floor, Daloyon Pool Bar sits right beside the outdoor pool area. It has a six-seater bar with three sets of tables and chairs for guests. Similar to Anibong, the name is derived from the Cuyonon term for a surging sea. I love how they also have table games like Jenga, chess, Uno, and Connect Four for guests. They mostly serve snacks, pica-pica, and drinks—both alcoholic and non-alcoholic ones.
Balayong Grill & Bar
Best Western Plus PPS’s newest dining hall, Balayong Grill & Bar, stands on a separate parcel of land beside the hotel. They feature Filipino and Asian dishes—plated meals and, on certain days, dinner buffets (₱799.00 per person)—in a very rustic atmosphere, sometimes with acoustic performers. The restaurant only opens from four in the afternoon and is also available for events. Unfortunately, we were unable to try their offerings.
THE LOCATION
One of the best things about Best Western Plus Puerto Princesa is its location. Granted, it’s actually much more prominent before the new airport terminal opened, but it’s still in the middle of the happening places in the city—especially on the culinary side of things.
Popular Puerto Princesa Restaurants
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| STELLAR GROUNDS, OUR FAVORITE HANG-OUT NEAR THE HOTEL |
Surrounded by the big names of Puerto Princesa dining, Best Western Plus is literally a hop away from Kinabuchs Grill & Bar, Kalui Seafood Restaurant, and Stellar Grounds—our usual hangout during the late afternoon up to the evenings.
The Badjao Seafront Restaurant, another PPS pillar, is about twenty minutes away by foot, or five minutes by tricycle.
Chao Long Restaurants
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| CHAO LONG PLUS BANH MI, SOMETHING YOU NEED TO TRY IN PUERTO PRINCESA |
During the US-Vietnam War, Puerto Princesa became a host for Vietnamese refugees, leading to chao long becoming a popular dish in the city. And most of the popular chaolongan houses in the city can be found within the vicinity of The Ivywall Hotel. Rene’s Saigon Restaurant, the OG chaolongan, is four minutes away by tricycle, and the popular Bona’s Chao Long Haus is three minutes away.
If you don’t want to hail a tricycle, there’s BFS Noodle House—a budget-meal-priced chaolongan—that’s a hop away from the hotel. They actually serve a pretty decent bowl of chao long, and it’s especially great for a post-drinking sesh recovery food since they’re open 24 hours.
Nearby Tourist Spots
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| SUNSET AT THE PUERTO PRINCESA BAYWALK PARK |
To be honest, there are not many walkable tourist spots near the Best Western Plus Puerto Princesa hotel. The key here is to hail a tricycle.
Within the vicinity of the hotel are two local beaches off the tourist radar, Canigaran Beach and Pristine Beach.
If you wish to visit the Puerto Princesa Baywalk Park, you can ask the tricycle to drop you off at the Immaculate Concepcion Cathedral first, so you can visit PPS’ gothic cathedral and the nearby Plaza Cuartel—especially for World War II afficionados—before walking to the baywalk park.
Nearby Shops
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| THE WILLOW TREE ART SUPPLY NEAR THE HOTEL |
I just have to especially mention the nearby The Willow Tree Art Supply as a stop for hotel guests. Even if you’re not an artist or an art lover, I suggest visiting the art shop just for the sake of it. Its location—surrounded by huge acacia trees—has a very lovely vibe, and the shop itself is a wonderland for art lovers. In fact, Kid A’s jaw dropped to the floor as we entered.
I was able to have a quick chat with the owner and told him that a complementary café would not be a bad addition to the shop—the vibe just calls for it.
Puerto Princesa Tours
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| DOING THE PUERTO PRINCESA ISLAND HOPPING TOUR |
Puerto Princesa has three basic tours, the Tricycle City Tour (half day), the Puerto Princesa Underground River Tour (full day), and the Puerto Princesa Island Hopping Tour (half day and full day). All of these can be availed at the hotel front desk or can be easily be done DIY.
For the tricycle tour, just hail any tricycle passing along the hotel and negotiate for a city tour. For the island-hopping tour, hail a tricycle and ask to be dropped at the Honda Bay Wharf, then avail of the multitude of island-hopping tour options. The latter is actually hassle-free and very transparent—hats off to PPS tourism for that.
➤ BOOK PPS UNDERGROUND RIVER TOUR HERE!
IMPROVEMENTS & SUGGESTIONS
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| KID A LOOKING OUT AT THE LUSH TREES SURROUNDING THE HOTEL |
To be honest, I can’t think of anything to comment on for improvement. Maybe they can shorten their name, perhaps? I jest, lol. The only thing I can really think of is their lack of balconies, which is kinda hard to remedy now since the hotel is already built.
FINAL THOUGHTS
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| WE HAD A LOVELY TIME AT BEST WESTERN PLUS THE IVYWALL HOTEL PPS |
We have nothing but fond memories during our stay at Best Western Plus The Ivywall Hotel Puerto Princesa. All the staff we met are friendly (special shout-out to Kuya Orly at the pool), the amenities are more than adequate, the food offerings are delicious (I especially like that they serve local food like chao long), the rooms are spacious and comfortable, and the location is superb. It may not be beachfront like their property in Alona Beach, Panglao (and there are actually no beachfront resorts in the city area of Puerto Princesa), but our experience was as good as our previous stay in Bohol—highly recommended.
~ BIG THANKS TO BW+ THE IVYWALL HOTEL PPS FOR HOSTING OUR STAY. VIEWS & OPINIONS ALL MINE
Best Western+ The Ivywall Hotel ►ROOM RATES
Address: Rizal Avenue Extension, Puerto Princesa City, Palawan
Contact Number: +63 (915) 012-7228
Email: reservations@bwplusivywall.com
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