Cris & Mar Homestay

We stayed at Chris and Mara Homestay for the second part of our trip to Siargao. Overall, the bungalow was fine, but we did encounter a few issues. The aircon was extremely noisy (though, to be fair, we’ve found this to be common with the American-style window units in other places we’ve stayed in Siargao and Cebu). We ended up switching to the fan, but it was absolutely filthy—clearly hadn’t been cleaned in years—so we dismantled it ourselves and gave it a proper clean. There was also no toilet seat for the first two days. When we requested one, it felt like we were being difficult or making an unreasonable request, which was a bit uncomfortable. On the positive side, the grounds are well-kept, and there’s a shared kitchen available for guests to use—though we didn’t use it, it’s a nice option to have. There are a few restaurants within walking distance, they provide drinking water, and scooters are available to rent on-site.

Cris@Mar‘s Homestay is a great place to get away from the busy and more crowded General Luna. The shared kitchen is perfect to cook your own meals and connect and spend time with the other guest. We enjoyed our stay here very much and highly recommend it! Thank you for everything :)

Good

Good

The facilities were great, as expected. The little bungalows are all equipped with a mini fridge, a table and a little balcony, making them much more homey than a typical hotel room. The grounds are BEAUTIFUL. There’s fluffy grass, tons of plants and beautiful flowers, all under some twinkling outdoor lights along the path. If you walk a bit further into the property, there’s a whole garden with 10+ tables and benches under palm trees. It’s perfect for children or pets. The location is great, it’s a quick 10 mins walk to Burgos, where you can find restaurants and convenience stores. They rent scooters at the property and also have a gas station, which makes being able to get around so easy. You can drive to the different beaches around Burgos, which are less crowded and more wild and natural than the ones near General Luna. The staff was truly incredible. They were so kind and made sure all of our needs were taken care of. Needed a tuktuk to the airport? They’ll arrange it. Need laundry done? They will fold and deliver your clothes straight to your bungalow. Need to know where to go to print a document? They offered to do it for me by just emailing it to them. I could text them on WhatsApp at any time of the day and night and they would reply quickly and kindly, and answered all my questions and requests. Honestly, I hated the Philippines. I’m autistic and everything was too much, wrong and not what I’m used to. But I stayed over a month at Chris & Mar and finally managed to enjoy the beautiful island by feeling safe and comfortable at the homestay. When I left after my original reservation of 1 week to go explore General Luna, I immediately missed the nature, kind staff and clean and spacious rooms. I came back 3 days later even though I couldn’t get a refund on my (more expensive) General Luna homestay, and I’m a budget backpacker, but that’s how amazing Chris & Mar’s is.

Nothing! In my opinion, it’s a thousand times better than any other accommodation on the island, and for a very reasonable price (coming from a backpacker!)

Out of the main tourist area so it was nice and quiet, though the downside is that it is far from the main area and airport. The room was nice and spacious. We were able to rent a motorbike for 2 days with them and they have their own petrol pump which is super useful. We went all around the island over those 2 days, and we still had 2 bars left! They helped get our laundry done and were fairly helpful when we asked them any questions.

The electricity was very hit and miss, I don't know whether it wasn't reliable or whether it was just very low across the property but it meant we had some issues charging phones, the air-conditioning basically didn't work as it would cool for maybe a minute before dying and we ended up giving up and turning it off which meant the room was unbearably hot even with a fan. One of the nights we didn't have water straight away when we wanted to shower, we had to wait a while and try again before we were able to shower. The whole property whilst pretty was incredibly buggy and they do get in the room. We both got bitten by mosquitoes and another unknown bug which left smaller bites. They host events on the property and there was one on during our stay one morning which meant it was quite noisy and the vans coming in made it difficult for us to get out.

The property was large and the owner was very friendly. They provided laundry and transportation which was helpful. The balcony and in room water dispenser was great.

The room was basic and personally the location was out of the way. There was construction works going on while we stayed starting at 7:30am. The amount paid would stretch further in other locations in the Philippines.

The staff are super friendly specially the receptionist Carl Jane and the housekeeper. This is our second time stay in this place, super affordable accommodation and quite place. 🙂

Away from the main town but was still near enough by scooter. Carl our co host was very helpful.

Noisy air con and on site building work starting at 07.30am. This will continue for 3 months.