After our not-so-comfortable stay at the Manila Youth Hostel International, I think any hostel would have seemed appealing. When we stepped foot into Our Melting Pot (OMP) in El Nido town, I already was feeling comfortable, welcomed and at home. A sense of relief washed over me. As a traveler, I try and do the best research before selecting places to stay but in Manila, we clearly got it wrong, so Our Melting Pot was the perfect follow-up hostel. Simple, yet did the trick! Keep reading to see what I thought…
Rooms
We had both opted for a single room and since we booked together and I believe there was only one two-bed dorm, we were placed together. Most of the other rooms ranged from 6-9 bed co-ed dorms.
Our room was very tiny for two people and I can’t imagine sharing it with a stranger. There was just enough room for the bunk bed, two tiny lockers and that’s about it. I did meet a girl staying in a dorm room and she said it was also incredibly tiny and a bit awkwardly set up as since the bunks were so close together, the bags all had to go at one side of the room.
The beds were as good as hostel beds could be. There were tiny curtains for some privacy on the below bunks and we had a window but with frosted glass so you couldn’t see out of it or open it. Unfortunately when it rained, water or condensation would lightly drip through this window and at one point, soaked the one side of my bed since it was rainy season. My bed also had some ants living on it. Not the most ideal situation but to be honest, I didn’t let it ruin my stay.
Rooms at Our Melting Pot in El Nido start at around $13 USD.
Bathroom
The bathroom situation upstairs where our room was is basically two showers in their own rooms and one toilet and two sink (one sink outside of the toilet room). I found this to be on the slim side considering the amount of people staying among all the rooms. However, there never seemed to be much of a wait and all were very clean and well maintained despite the amount of people using them.
Common Areas
The main common area is on the second floor and unfortunately directly outside multiple rooms, however, they were pretty good with making sure noise ended around 11-12 each night. The speaker to the stereo was directly outside our bedroom door though so at times it got a bit obnoxious. Beer is available for sale in the hostel and outside alcohol is allowed but has a corkage fee.
The common area has a big communal table and is open air so you can look down to the street. This is also where the complimentary breakfast is served each morning from 6-10am which consists of oatmeal, coffee or Ovaltine, a small banana, bread and jam. On Monday and Thursday’s they will make pancakes and eggs, however, don’t expect this to start right at 6am. The hostel also offers a free spaghetti night once a week.
Staff & Information
The staff at OMP were incredibly helpful. They have a tour company basically built right off the check-in desk so you can book tours directly through them like the popular island hopping tours. They also can help arrange a tricycle and driver for the day, to the airport or anything you are looking to do. We didn’t actually end up using them for our island tour but did for some of the other activities we did.
The hostel also hosts different activities like a daily trip to Nacpan Beach (which will only run of five people sign up) and also different trips throughout the week like overnight island camping, surfing and hiking Taraw Peak.
Overall our stay was pretty good. This definitely is a hostel for backpackers and those looking for a social scene combined with basic accommodations. At times I did feel a bit old/over the whole backpacker scene but having a private room really saved the day. I would definitely recommend this for those looking for low budget accommodations without many expectations.
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