About the founder
Hi, I'm Scott
A Filipino sharing my own country — one hotel, one beach, and one island at a time.
A local who actually goes
I'm Scott Taylor, the person behind Hotels Philippines. I'm a Filipino living in Josefina, Zamboanga del Sur, with strong ties to Pagadian City and Cagayan de Oro City — so Mindanao is home base, but the country at large is my playground.
Every destination on this site is somewhere I've actually been on family trips and vacations. That sounds obvious, but most travel content online is written by people who've never set foot in the country they're writing about. I'd rather give you fewer recommendations I can vouch for than padded "Top 50" lists copied from somewhere else.
Why I built this site
I kept watching foreign travel bloggers write about the Philippines and getting things wrong — wrong months for travel, wrong stations in Boracay, oversimplified takes on places like El Nido and Coron. Some of it was harmless. Some of it sent people to crowded spots when quieter ones were nearby. A lot of it skipped the parts of the country I love most: Mindanao, the Cordilleras, the smaller islands.
Hotels Philippines is my answer: a no-nonsense guide to staying anywhere across our 7,641 islands, written by someone who lives here and travels here. No padding. No AI-generated filler. No fake "we visited every hotel" claims when nobody could possibly have done that.
How the site makes money
I want to be upfront about this. Hotels Philippines is an affiliate site. When you book a hotel through one of our interactive maps, we earn a small commission from the booking platform (Booking.com, Agoda, Expedia, Airbnb, etc.) — at no extra cost to you. The price you pay is exactly the same as if you went directly to the booking site.
This is what lets me keep the site free and honest. I have no incentive to push you toward a worse hotel just because it pays more — the commission rates are essentially the same across platforms. My only job is to show you the best options for your trip.
What I cover
Twelve destinations are live so far, covering the most-visited spots and a few personal favorites: Boracay, El Nido, Coron, Siargao, Cebu, Bohol, Manila, Baguio, Vigan, Davao, Batanes, and La Union. Every destination has an interactive hotel map, a guide to the main attractions, and a FAQ covering the questions travelers actually ask before booking.
I add new destinations and update existing ones as I revisit. If there's a place you'd like to see covered next, let me know.
Get in touch
I read every email. If you have a question about a destination, want to suggest a hotel, spot an error, or just say hi — reach out:
Salamat sa pagbisita,
Scott