Revisiting Iloilo City - Is Iloilo a good city to live in the Philippines?
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 7 ก.พ. 2025
- Why do Expats choose to live in Iloilo? What does it offer apart from a lovely Riverside Walk?
Taking the Ceres bus from Roxas City to Iloilo City is a simple process. From there I took a taxi to my chosen Red Doors Hotel in Iloilo City Proper Downtown which was unfortunately full. So I took another taxi to the Midtown Hotel nearby. Staying in Philippine hotels is hit and miss. In this video I show the 2 hotels that I stayed in were poles apart for a similar price.
I'd already spent a week in Iloilo the previous year so I've explored the majority of what the city offers. The Riverside Walk stretches for 1km on both sides of the Iloilo River in Iloilo City. There are many eateries, cafes, restaurants, a skateboard park, Go-Kart track. Over a couple of days I walked along the wonderful Riverside Walk in Iloilo City. Quiet during the day when the sun is shining, but with plenty of walkers and joggers in the early evening enjoying the riverside ambience.
Since opening on August 18, 2012, the esplanade has become one of the most popular tourist attractions in Iloilo attracting millions of visitors each year from all over the country and the world. In 2018, the linear park was cited as a "Haligi ng Dangal" awardee for the Landscape Architecture category by the National Commission for Culture and the Arts (NCCA) through the National Committee on Architecture and the Allied Arts.
The Philippines should be on everyone’s bucket list with its beautiful white sand beaches, fabulous idyllic islands, turquoise sea and stunning scenery. The Philippines is a traveller’s paradise and regularly included in top ten favorite places to visit in Asia and affordable, favorite world holiday destination.
Many foreigners/expats choose the Philippines as the best country to retire in Asia and live in paradise. The Philippines is one of the cheapest countries to live in the world with its low cost of living and all year sunshine. Retiring in the Philippines is affordable on a budget of less than $1000 per month.
Filipinos are welcome and warm people. Filipinos are often regarded as the most friendliest nation in Asia and nicest people in the world. English is widely spoken throughout the country. The Philippines is included in the top ten English speaking countries in the world. The majority of Filipinos are highly proficient in English, so it is very easy to strike up a conversation and make new friends.
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Thanks!
That's very kind of you! Thanks for your donation. Where are you watching from?
That was a clever move with the trike driver. Put him on the spot with a local, nice.
And he still continued to ask me for 200 pesos!
It was good to see how the trike drivers try that stuff with expats
Skin tax , happens all the time with everything. In UK it would be called racism
Roxas city LGU should give attention to these behavior of tricycle drivers. Take advantage of tourist.
Iloilo city is good ❤❤
Thank you for your vlogs
Nice lady helping you at the start.
Great production quality (as always) Phil.
Thanks for appreciating that my friend. Took me 2 days to edit this one!
Welcome back again sir👍💪🇵🇭
Another quality video keep up the good work
So good they named it twice!
The city is super clean
Looks like a nice city!
Welcome back Sir
Thanks! Stay tuned!
Would You agree that Iloilo is a much better city than many other cities in the ph? Several TH-camr say this.
Iloilo is a good city. The Riverside walk is great. But apart from that, what does it offer?
@@BiggWorldCinema There are lots of museums in the city; try to visit them. Go to a beautiful plaza to chill and relax. Jogging and biking on the diversion road and the esplanade. For a food trip, try famous Ilonggo foods like Kap Ising's Pancit Molo, Alicia's Lapaz Batchoy, Roberto's Queen Siopao, and seafood recommended at Breakthrough Restaurant, including their KBL, a famous Ilonggo dish, Madge cafe , a must visit local coffee shop, etc.
@@BiggWorldCinema I don't know, never been there. But people say its very clean, has a good mix between old and new, is centrally located in the Ph, has a mayor who does improve the city and does positive stuff, has good hospitals, a progessive younger populations, is booming and becoming more popular also for retirees and foreigners? Overall better quality of life than in other cities of the ph?
LoL I live here in Iloilo city. It's horrible here lol. Do not come here =) no more expats!!!! I'm kidding, it's the best city in the Philippines as long as you aren't looking for partying and wild walking street excitement. It's calm and conservative here. The Ilonggo people are amazing.
You should learn how to say senior discount. 3 rd stage age discount
I admire you’re tenacity and drive with traveling around the Philippines 👍
I do go there but most definitely don’t travel around due to the heat and transportation issues 😁
I find travelling anywhere over there a real pain and i don’t have the patience
Thanks for your appreciation! My patience is tested most days I assure you. I get more irritable when I travel nowadays, moving between cities/hotels, but you and I will both be bored pretty quickly with 20 videos of condo life!
@@matrices3987Then don't travel at all.. and don't even DARE to come to Asia.. we also don't have patience to people like you...
The trike driver tried to rip you off for 4x. I wouldn't even give him my business after trying that shit.
It was amusing how he continued saying 200 pesos to the local lady who called him out. Many trike drivers try it on with foreigners.
Never been there either but 20-50 pesos seems to be common.
this particular video of yurs did not address your question..is Iloilo a good place to live..seemed more like a hotel review..
Ahhh, now I remember also taking a bus from the Roxas area to Iloilo after Boracay! Wasn't that bad for me!
Doing the same thing in September. With Roxas and Iloilo see many expats around?
If you have any cramping while running, you need to hydrate more. The quickest way to stop cramping is to use a Gatorade-like product or an alkaline with a pH of 7.5 or higher and electrolyte infused.
If you have “Charlie horses”/ leg cramps in the middle of the night, you’re lacking magnesium or, potassium, or both. It would help if you found a liquefied magnesium (Amazon) to stop the cramping, the fastest cure. Leg cramps are a sign of a bad diet, and you need to change it ASAP. It would help if you were eating leafy greens, etc., a salad.
Thanks for your advice. Since I started getting I've been taking magnesium, B vits and multi vits and eating bananas. You're right leafy greens and salad would be beneficial. Healthy food isn't always available travelling thru the Philippines.
Cramp has stopped, but just a tight calf in right leg when I'm walking now.
You're wasting your money on vitamin pills. The maximum intake is less than 10% unless you buy the plant base($$$), and it's up to 25%. Either eat or find a liquefied vitamin. If you have increased the water amount for a few days and you can’t see any veins sticking out of your forearms, your body is fully hydrated. Your blood pressure will go down also. If you still have leg cramps when walking, get medical attention. I suggest Malaysia or Thailand. Malaysia has the cheapest medical checkups. For the problem with the salads. May I recommend shopping at an expat grocery store. Yes, it is expensive, but more affordable than a medical bill. Kill two birds with one stone. Visit Baguio, with cooler weather and all the vegetables you would need.
Take liquefied calcium for any muscle pain or swelling and muscle knots.
@@BiggWorldCinema a lack of salt causes cramp too. You sweat a lot in the heat and lose salt, not just about hydrating, it's salt level too
Surprised by the quality of housing at the RedDoorz Plus @ Castle Chateau Iloilo for the price of 1280 philippine peso per night. Facilities seem to be very nice overall.
It was great! Red Doorz are hit and miss in the Phils, but I do pay close attention to reviews! You stayed in them?
love the idea of walking down the esplanade. I'm an old sailor, love walking along the shoreline, the smell of the ocean, and just enjoying life in general. the first hotel, the lady didn't seem too friendly at first, but seemed to warm up to you later. the young lady at red doors hotel, very cute and pleasant. I'd stay at that hotel when I visit there next year, I'd like to know if this is a good area for shops, malls, restaurants, entertainment, etc. I may be old, 74, but I'm not dead yet, so I want to enjoy living a good life there. Also, can you ride an electric bike along the esplanade. electric bikes are becoming more popular here in the states. easier for an old salt to get around, even though I like walking. I also want to find a nice condo close to all the niceties there. I don't do bars, or dance, so mainly day and evening things to do.
I'm 78 ..lived in Thailand 2005-2021 ..back to America and I HATE it ....I'm leaving for Philippines end of July before the poltical revolution starts here :)
It's permissible to ride your electric bike along the river esplanade, but not Esplanade 1, where older individuals have used it for jogging, exercising, and Zumba classes.
The Iloilo River Esplanade became the longest linear park in the country with a total of ten phases. It traverses through five of the seven districts of Iloilo City: Molo, Mandurriao, La Paz, Lapuz, the City Proper.
Esplanade is situated near larger malls including the central Robinsons mall, which has three bigger Robinsons malls in Iloilo, and S.M City.
yes
Tell me.. is it a good city???
Not sure. Obviously.
When I come to Philippines I’m gonna print out the law of senior discount
Too bad you couldn’t get the 20% Senior discount for the bus. I wonder why? In theory, you can also get a discount from the tricycles as well. As Long as you don’t get a driver that charges “foreigner tax”. Try using grab instead of taxis. They can only charge the calculated price and their cars are usually more comfortable and reliable than taxis.
Senior discount is for Filipinos only and you need a card.
@@doggy55915 I usually get senior discounts with my American driver’s license.
@dodgy55915 Wrong. Many hotels/travel companies will give senior discount regardless if you are filipino or foreigner.
@rolandmueller7218
I got the senior discount on the bus. The regular price was 260 pesos. Some hotels will give foreigner's senior rate regardless if you're a filipino or not. Metered taxis in Iloilo and Bacolod are cheap. I found Grab taxis often more expensive than metered taxis in Cebu.
@@BiggWorldCinemahe’s not wrong. Some places will give a discount, some will not like local airlines unless you have the senior card
Why I stay at Seda.. yes more $$$ but sleep and live comfy
ilongos are very soft spoken
Your second hotel was a much better deal
I know! It's amazing what you can get for similar prices. The first one should've been half that price!
Love the guy at 24:13 taking a piss in the bushes
Maybe I’m an idiot, but I don’t haggle for cheapest prices. I just pay. If I have to ask how much, I can’t afford it. Especially where everything is so cheap. Just pay and support small businesses. Complaining about paying a few bucks is just ridiculous.
I support small businesses by being there. By saving $5 a day - if you can do the math - that's $1825 that I'm not spending per annum. But you're obviously a richer and wiser man than me.
Lol 200 was right price since youre the only passenger getting the whole trike. Consider the fuel prices he has to take you to your destination out of his route then go back to his route.. He's lucky if he is able to get a passenger on the way back.
Nah. Bro her face said everything...
I would have charged 300 pesos, mans gata eat. @@dominichoward4833
that’s their hotel rules you have to follow!
I realise that Richard.
Dont expect 1080 pesos for good hotel accomodation,if you want something good go to Richmond or other good hotel...dont complaint if that is your budget,sorry for that.
You weren't listening were you? I've stayed in many decent hotels in the Philippines for around 1k pesos. But as I said, if you'd paid closer attention - you're better off spending 1.5k.
Lady in green was a grumpy cow
You do not want to see that mattress under UV light.
Reminded me of Indian hotels with that nasty brown blanket!
@@BiggWorldCinemaKerala seems nice. I may give it a try whenever I manage to get out there.
Iloilo is tiny with little to do but some very cute ladies hiding around :)
never smoked? how about the hippie lettuce?
That doesn't count as "smoking" does it? (winks)
before you pay for rides just ask some the real price so that you will not be scammed.
So sad that the taxi driver in ROXAS CITY wanted to con you. This doesnt hapoen in ILOILO which has decent drivers.
Happens everywhere my friend. Asked a trike driver to take me from Iloilo port to Castle Hotel, less than a km away. He asked for 200 pesos so I took a taxi for 80 pesos. Taxis are often cheaper.
@@BiggWorldCinema Actually taking a trike from the port area to the Castle hotel should not be your norm. It should be a taxicab or Grab. Even here in Manila, taking a trike from a length equal to that from the port to the end if the bridge at Muelle Loney will cost you about 40 to 50pesos. How much more from the area the end of that Muelle Loney bridge to the Castle hotel. A trike is not a taxicab. I think that trike driver was thinking about the fine he had to pay if he was caught driving from the Muelle Loney bridge to Bonifacio Drive where The Castle is located because Bonifacio Drive is off limits to tricycles, but he was giving in to your request which is illegal hahahaha.
I've seen many videos on Iloilo City, and not one video makes me want to go. There's just nothing to the place, bland, boring, it is magnolia
BOILING HOT...and you're wearing a shirt over your tee shirt.???????
It looks clean to me for less than 20bucks where’ve you been man quit da sh___
Vanessa, hello! 😍
Get in the queue John lad.
@@BiggWorldCinema 😆
Maybe I’m an idiot, but I don’t haggle for cheapest prices. I just pay. If I have to ask how much, I can’t afford it. Especially where everything is so cheap. Just pay and support small businesses.
He haggles over everything which is painful to watch.
@@Matt-hm5kq I thought it was just me. Foreigners are seen as "ppl who can afford to pay double". It's a shame to be THAT foreigner who haggles for the cheapest price-- especially when those people are only earning $300/mo if they're lucky. Best way to make friends is to be generous. Why not? We can afford it.
You just feed the greed
Well on the one hand everyone should be made aware that there are a lot of scammers and they try to gouge anyone clearly a foreigner. So it is wise to be aware, or learn, the general pricing for things so you can spot when you are paying WAY too much vs maybe just top dollar. Beyond that though I agree that I would tend to be on the generous side in tipping or payment to private vendors, etc., as a tiny bit more to me equals a big difference to them and their families. I've never been that guy that asks for veteran discounts or such and I likely won't be inquiring about a senior discount either. If they give me a discount, great but if not I'm totally fine with that. I expect to pay the same as any other customer for what I get. If I catch them gouging me they will lose my business though.
Oh I forgot to mention in my first reply that in many places, such as in SEA, there may be no price posted and you are expected to ask and in addition haggling is often expected as well. It's part of the culture in some places. Now it isn't that way in say Japan, but in Mexico it is and as I understand it the Philippines is like that too. So the first price offered by them may be too high and you are expected to negotiate it down. If you don't then they have you pegged as a naive tourist and will over charge on everything after that. So if you mess this up you want to find out and then start offering a fair price from then on. I wouldn't low-ball any of them though. Just offer a fair price to let them know you are aware what things normally cost. Usually if you do this with one thing they won't try it with other products or services.
Too damn hot there - even though it is supposed to be a nice and clean city. -- '''Comfortable''' - is what I 'need' - to live - anywhere ! = The area all around Tagaytay looks very appealing to me - the elevation providing 'comfortable' temps for miles in several directions ! A low cost of living also is desirable. Fresh produce all year. Coffee pineapples strawberries bamboo coconuts...... Easy day trips to Manila - airport - malls - quality medical....... ? Not all that is available most places - including Iloilo ? --- Once your a bit older young man - these things do become more of a priority !!! --?-- 🤗 Considering buying a 3 wheel Bajaj tuk tuk to explore that area with.
boring, rusry and poor city - go to bacolod instead.
Poor city? says someone who is not even rich lol.
@@rosemendez931 Ioilo is poverty stricken with low population growth nakipag compitensya sa bacolod sa tao kasi wala naman taga ibang probinsya titira dyan
@@fashionfgurl18 lol! It seems like you're clueless about the poverty rate in Iloilo. I have families in Iloilo and Bacolod so yeah!
@@fashionfgurl18 iloilo poverty rate is very low even sa iloilo province puros 1st class municipalities na mga town.
@@rosemendez931 PANO NAGING 1ST CLASS eh wala ngnang metro na kadikit cities. Lapu-Lapu city mas mayaman pa kaysa Iloilo katapat nyo other component lang ng metro cebu like Minglanilla or Consolacion, kawawa talaga Iloilo pag may NIR na at wala nang Bacolod, magsilipat na sa Bacolod taga Iloilo.
Why if bathrooms dirty you dont leave get your money back and get a different roo.. thags why there is rooms bevause people like yku accept those dogy accomodations
The dirt was permanently engrained from years of neglect.
I hate and dont need those taxi scammers, total shite