Bacolod some Bacolod questions

I've been to Bacolod twice before but arrived by road each time and only stayed one night in transit. This time will be coming direct from Europe next month by plane, arriving Manila 11pm, getting the first flight down next morning at about 5am. In these circumstances I'll want to take a direct taxi and not mess about with shared transport. How much is the taxi fare at the moment?

the first few days into a 118 day in the Philippines, I decided I wanted to stay somewhere with a pool, this place looks like good value Circle Inn Circle Inn Bacolod - Official Hotel Website 1080 pesos for an aircon room with cable tv, in a hotel that has a pool. Not bad. I've spoken to them on the phone already and they'll do an early check in on the day I arrive in the week after that big Bacolod festival thing, has finished. Has anyone ever stayed at this place?

is there a decent Chinese restaurant in Bacolod, not in a mall, that anyone could recommend? Any other genuinely good restaurants anybody knows about?

I'll be staying five days before heading on to Cebu, so I might as well get an extension early on. What is the Bacolod BoI office like and how long does it take.

 

The pool seems to have good reviews on TripAdvisor.com. I stayed there a week in 2010 and can't remember anyone using the pool, but TA reviews do mention it.

 

My sister lives in Cadiz City, that is 1hr+ bus ride from Bacolod. When i was living with her we would go to Bacolod for a day trip. Excluding mall restaurants, we only tried Apollo restaurant which is a Chinese restaurant and Imays which is a nice Seafood restaurant. They both serve tasty food so i hope you will like them also. I have provided links below so check them out. Lots of good restaurants there so you wont run out of options. Enjoy the City of Smiles and hope you can visit Dumaguete, the City of Gentle People

Apollo Restaurant | Bacolod | Philippines
Imay’s : Fun dining at a seafood restaurant. | The Culinary Adventures of the Bacolod Food Hunters!

 

Bacolod food scene gets a rave review in the 2012 Lonely Planet guide I noticed, whoever did it said it had the best food scene in the Visayas. Not sure how accurate that is but seeing as I'll have a few days to kill and a bit of cash to spend those first few days in-country, I might check it out a bit.

 

There is a Chinatown section of Bacolod loaded with Chinese restaurants. I can't recall the name of it, but everyone there knows where it is.

I'm not speaking of the shopping store that is filled with cheap stuff from China. It has the number 88 in it.

Mabukal is outside of town and a popular resort. I was told repeatedly that the ocean waters near the city are polluted.

 

When you say Visayas, that will include Cebu and for me Cebu has one of the best food scene around so i dont think Bacolod can compete with them. If Lonely Planet says Negros Island (doesnt include Cebu) then i do think Bacolod is the best. I had been to these two places, sampled their food and its Cebu for me for Visayas and Bacolod in Negros island. This is just my opinion, let me know what you think when you are already in Bacolod. Cheers!!

 

Those LP writers have 7-10 days to cover the whole region. I met a few of them, one had 3 years ago the total of 7 days to cover whole negros oriental plus Siquijor. While Bacolod has some great food outlets, it (as well as Dumaguete) come even close to the food veriety/quality Cebu, Bohol or Boracay.

 

I would recomend the Luxor formally the Bacolod convetion plaza, Good rooms A/c, On suite, Sat TV, restruant & a very Large Chinise restaraunt connected to the side of the hotel , 2 pools set in one of the most imacualte grounds I have seen here.
Oposite the main police station Its were the Askalls stayed when recently in Bacolod.
Price for a room with a double & a single bed P999 all in.have stayed there for years the staff are friendly & helpfull & its a stand alone complex Totaly recommend it.

 

Cebu food scene is appalling and fully deserves the absolute caning it gets in the same LP guide that praises Bacolod. It was always crap though I suppose it has improved slightly in the 10 years I have been visiting Cebu. It's just a lot of overpriced mediocre garbage, one can only assume the customers don't know any better. The only concentration of halfway decent restaurants I have seen anywhere in the Philippines, is in Manila.

 

according to their website http://luxurplacebacolod.com/rooms.aspx cheapest rooms at the Luxur, are 1,500. There probably isn't a single hotel with a pool, in the middle of any city in the Philippines that sells a room for less than 1,000 - the closest I've ever seen to this is Villa Teresita in Talisay in Cebu which has 2 fan rooms selling for 800 on a site that has 5 swimming pools. In the province it's a different story. You can find rooms with use of a pool, for as low as 500-600.