Restreto Inn and Café is my introduction to Dipolog City. After several days on the road, transferring between land and sea crafts innumerable times, we finally arrived at our destination.

Our tricycle roared into the night after our final ferry from Dumaguete City. And after a bit of hunting, we finally located Restreto Inn. I was expecting we’d see the hotel as we pass the road but it was snugly nestled in a corner of a gas station off the edge of town. After a bit of asking around, we finally found the elusive inn.

I love the location of Restreto Inn. I know it’s quite unusual for a lodge to be located on a gas station, but it works perfectly for me. Sitting on the rightmost corner of the station, the boutique inn seems cozier than hotels located right off the road. It must be the walls that hug both its sides that make things snuggier than usual and it somehow looks like a café where you can spend the night in.

Outdoor chairs and tables covered by parasol umbrellas line the patio outside the hotel’s all glass lobby. The hotel is not that large, giving it an intimate atmosphere that contrasts nicely with its sleek modern-white aesthetics.

The rooms are average in size and are similarly designed in minimalist motif; plain white walls, framed artwork, blockish dark-wood furnishings. The beds are thick and comfy and the bathrooms warm, spacious and clean. I don’t like overly ornate decors and Restreto’s design fits well with my taste.

Everything looks so crisp and new you’d hardly believe the prices of the room. The most affordable one is at Php650.00 only, and that’s already good for two. Their suite is at Php1,150.00 and is good for three persons. Restreto’s rooms looks similar to the famous boutique inns in Tagaytay City but at one-fourth the price.
I’m really not into TV’s but those who can’t do without them would love the 36-inch LCD cable TV hung on every room. What I am though is an Internet person. And I love the fact that the hotel has strong wi-fi signal and it’s free too!

I usually spend the night at the tables outside, transferring and editing photos to my laptop and updating Lakad Pilipinas.

The inn also serves food and beverages at their lobby. Guests are given one free breakfast for each room, so if there’s two of you in the room, you have to do rock, papers and scissors to determine who gets the free meal. Or you can also just alternate, but where’s the fun in that right?
They have the regular silogs in the morning (which I unfortunately find to be a bit too small in serving for my appetite), a rotating meal of the day, some chips, sandwiches colas and alcohols and of course, coffee. I just wish that they’d extend the hours of their café as they’re usually already closed by nine in the evening. Too bad for night owls like me.

Weary from the long road trip from Manila to Dipolog City; with nothing but cheap inns, ferries and ports to spend the night in, Restreto Inn and Café was a very welcome respite. And for three days, it became a home for us, a place we actually look forward going back to at the end of our activity-filled days in Dipolog.

Restreto Inn and Cafe
Address: Shell Gasoline Station, National Highway
Brgy. Minaog, Dipolog City
Telephone: (065) 908-2731 | (065) 212-5091
Room Rates (Inclusive of 1 Free Breakfast & Airport Transfers): Standard P650.00 | Superior P850.00
Studio P1,050.00 | Suite P1,150.00 | Extra Bed P200.00
GPS Location: 8.602291,123.348521
View Location on Google Maps: Click Here