Anthurium Inn, Mactan Island

Cebu, The Philippines

Having booked an early flight for the following morning, we decided to stay overnight in a cheap motel near the Mactan International Airport in Cebu.  We checked a couple places on Agoda.com and decided on Anthurium Inn for its good reviews and reasonable rates.

When we finally did get to Anthurium Inn, we were glad it was clean and that our booking was handled smoothly.  We grabbed some supper from the little market place down the road and ate it on the roof of the motel which looks down over Mactan airport.  There is WiFi on the roof as well as a few hammocks and chairs where you can relax.

The motel shuttle took us to the airport the following morning after an early breakfast and it only took about 15 minutes, at 95 pesos (for both of us). Anthurium Inn is on TripAdvisor.

Getting there:

When we caught a taxi from Pier 1 (Cebu City) we advised the driver that it was on Mactan airport road and showed him the google maps stills we had prepared to find the motel. We agreed on 250 pesos (a taxi from the airport to Pier 1 is usually about 220 pesos) and set off.

The driver promptly took us to the area just before the airport (instead of behind the airport as agreed) and then asked a few people where to find Anthurium Inn.  When he eventually did figure out where to go, he refused to take us any further unless we paid more money. We argued that we had already agreed on the price and had been very clear about the location to which he had originally agreed. We refused to pay and were told we had better find another taxi then (a play to make us feel guilty and give in to his demands, which unfortunately for him, did not go as he had hoped it might when we got out and found another taxi without paying him).

The next taxi driver charged us 250 pesos to get from just outside the airport (where we were left behind) to Anthurium Inn (about fifteen minutes drive around to the back of the airport). What a nightmare!

Anyway, the owner of Anthurium advised us for next time to tell the taxi to head for Bigfoot (a big white building on the main road) on the Mactan highway road that goes around the back of the airport. Turn right onto the first biggish road after Bigfoot. Anthurium Inn is just a little way along that road.