I made a quick trip to Cagayan De Oro in the Philippines and decided to stay at Seda Centrio, which is known as a very high-end hotel and has amazing reviews on Agoda. While the price is way outside my normal hotel budget range, I made an exception here and I'm sure glad I did!
Seda Centrio
Seda Centrio is a beautiful 4-star hotel right in the heart of Cagayan De Oro, Philippines. It is a new, modern and extremely nice 4-star hotel with all the luxurious amenities you'd expect from a high-end hotel.
Location
This hotel is located right in the heart of Cagayan De Oro, literally above the nicest mall in the city (Centrio). There are tons of nice restaurants and shopping literally steps away. There is also a huge Gaisano mall across the street for more reasonably priced local shopping and you're only a short jeepney ride away from Limketkai center (another awesome high-end mall). A short ride or 10-15 minute walk and you're downtown CDO near the Divisoria Market. Centrio is really a super convenient location while you're in CDO for any reason.
Getting to CDO
Getting to Cagayan De Oro and Seda Centrio is a snap! While the Laguindingan Airport is a bit far away (over an hour), it is really simple to get to/from as there are shuttle busses leaving right from the Centrio mall and only cost about P200. These are very nice, new, comfortable vans and I found the drivers very friendly and safety conscious. Easy and stress-free! Don't take a taxi! When you arrive at the airport, right outside you'll see ticket booths for several companies. I went with LAX and will happily do so again!
The Room
I loved the "Premier" room I stayed in, which is basically the same as the "Club" room except there is a kitchenette with a sink, microwave, etc. My room had a great desk, chair, TV, amazing bathroom and a huge bed along with an awesome view of the mountains around CDO. Awesome!
If I was to stay here again, I'd go for the cheaper Club Room, which is a bit smaller due to the lack of kitchenette (which I didn't use) and still has access to the Club Lounge (which I DID use!).
Club Lounge
The Club and Premier rooms come with access to a "Club Lounge" on the 11th floor of the building. At first I figured this was just another gimmicky amenity that I wouldn't use, but I found this Club Lounge absolutely great. It had amazing views, all day refreshments and evening cocktails, WiFi, cable TV to watch the news, iMacs, nice seating and very helpful staff (and no extra charge for anything). It was a relaxing, quiet place to get online, eat, drink, relax and just hang out. With limited hotel guests having access to the Club Lounge, I found it a really great perk of Seda Centrio and would absolutely recommend it.
Internet (OH YEAH!)
Seda Centrio had the fastest and most reliable internet I've experienced anywhere in the Philippines. For me it was truly worth the money to stay here for this alone, as I was able to get a lot of work done and really enjoyed the speedy internet. What a pleasant surprise!
Price
The downside to Seda Centrio is the price. Usually I'm a budget traveller and would never stay at a hotel so expensive, but in this case it was worth it. My Premier Room was P3800 (~$90USD) per night.
Conclusion
If I had the budget for it, I would definitely stay at Seda Centrio if visiting Cagayan De Oro. It's probably the nicest place to stay in all of CDO and by far the nicest city hotel I've stayed at in the Philippines.
