I have to be honest. We usually choose our hotel when we already know what town we are going to stay in for the night. The first step is to search for "Hotels in ___". Then from that, I call each of the hotels that caught my attention.
When we are on the road to Santa Ana, Cagayan, the first hotel that popped up is Country Inn Hotel & Restaurant. I called them and asked for their price. Since they are a little bit pricier, I called other inns, transient or homestays in the area. Some are still close and some are relatively cheap but we have to sacrifice WiFi and hot and cold shower. So, we still ended up choosing this hotel, and boy, were we glad to choose this.
Watch my travel VLOG about Santa Ana and this hotel at The Leisure Life of Jo
Google Map Location: https://goo.gl/maps/JmRvaKvgmPVcZMZm8
This is the first sign that greeted us:
It led us to a rough road. Driving to the hotel, you can see (and hear) that you are almost beside the beach.
Little note: Country Inn Hotel & Restaurant and Country Inn by the Sea is the same hotel. Don't know why they have a different name on the Internet.
The person I called gave us three choices of room. A room from the Blue Coast Beach Hotel (owned by the son of the owner of Country Inn Hotel) which has only one bed, a separate bungalow that is a few steps away from the Country Inn Hotel (sadly, it's on the other side of the road, away from the beach), and a room on the second floor of the main building (which has five beds).
My mom chose the room on the main building because it has more space and it's much closer to the beach.
Our room has five beds (I know, we are only 3 pax. LOL), an aircon, TV, refrigerator, big bathroom, and a hot and cold shower. They also provide toiletries.
The only downside is that their Internet is still not back on due to the pandemic so they gave us this portable Globe-powered Prepaid WiFi.
After settling down, I went downstairs to discover the whole hotel. Country Inn Hotel & Restaurant is a beach-front hotel that has an ample and safe parking lot.
You can partly see Blue Coast Hotel (the one with the blue roof) in the following picture.
Their front entrance and lobby are warm and welcoming. I personally love their quirky sign to obey health protocols.
This is their front desk which doubles as the cashier of their restaurant.
They also have a huge place for dining. Imagine, to have all of this tables full with customers, if not for the pandemic.
My favorite part is the outside dining area. Country Inn Hotel & Restaurant has five kinds of 'kubos' that houses tables to dine on.
I only get to picture the first three from the right because there are always guests on the other two.
The first 'kubo' has a counter that faces the beach. Behind me are more available tables.
The second 'kubo', which is one of the largest, has four tables that has their own nook.
This is how they look like in the evening.
And this is my favorite spot on that kubo. It just feels private and really has a spectacular view of the beach from here.
This is the third 'kubo' and you can have it all to yourselves with all the dainty curtains and private view of the beach.
You can also access the beach directly from the parking lot using these stairs that are scattered between the 'kubos'.
The beach has black sand that turns darker when it gets wet so I'm kind of scared to swim on it. And there's not even a local swimming on it so I just take my cue from them. LOL. Besides, the waves are scary.
They also have an impressive menu considering they're in the northernmost part of the Philippines. Their menu is almost complete to whatever you can crave. They have all kinds of Boodle set, Breakfast boodle set and all the western food.
I was craving for a burger at that time so I ordered their special which is an Aloha Burger, thinking that it is just a little bit bigger than the normal size. Boy, was I wrong. LOL. It was much larger than my face!
They also have other available rooms. I kind of peeked at this room while they are cleaning it and I would have to say that this is a great size for barkadas. It can easily fit 20 people here!
Our room costs around P3040. This is already a discounted rate due to the pandemic so it's better to call the hotel to ask for their current price as hotel rates fluctuate without warning.
Our verdict: Country Inn Hotel & Resort is a great place to stay in Santa Ana as you are right in the heart of the town but also has this amazing view of the beach and the Palaui Island. They have different kinds of rooms that can cater to any kind of traveler. Bit of warning, if you're going to book with them, call ahead and ask for their current price rate and if their WiFi is already set up. The hot and cold shower is working though the drainage in our bathroom kinda omits some foul-smelling aroma so we have to keep the bathroom close always. But, all in all, we did have a relaxing and peaceful stay at this hotel and will definitely recommend it to friends and family.
Google Map Location: https://goo.gl/maps/MUoSrPAZhoPadr9b6
Contact Number: 0917 809 4236; 0926 252 8652
Email: countryinnstana@gmail.com
Here's my VLOG about Santa Ana and Country Inn Hotel & Restaurant:
As always, keep safe and be a responsible traveler!