Pea tours Casa Maria, a new Airbnb in Tacloban City, with its marketing manager Rochelle, covering room types, typical guests, prices, house rules and every detail of the family and couple units. It's a practical look at what mid-range accommodation in Leyte costs and offers for viewers planning a visit, with plenty of Pea's jokes about dried fish, bidets and kettles along the way.
Why she picked this place
- Viewers keep asking where she'd stay in the Philippines; she's done hotel reviews but never an Airbnb
- Calls it a hidden gem in the middle of Tacloban City: new, modern, clean and stylish
- It sits inside a quiet residential neighborhood. She hasn't heard a single barking dog or crowing rooster, which she stresses is rare because "the Philippines is quite a noisy place"
Interview with Rochelle, marketing manager of Casa Maria
- 10 units total: 4 family rooms (sleep 6 to 7 guests) and 6 "matrimonial" rooms meant for couples
- Singles are fine in a matrimonial room, and three people can stay with an extra bed
- Guests are mostly foreigners: Americans, Europeans and Chinese. No Koreans yet. Some Filipinos too
- Rochelle's favorite guests are Americans. Asked if they're fun, she says "sometimes," then explains they're very kind and very generous
- Peak seasons: Christmas, Holy Week and other long holidays, and summer
- Longest stay is a month, and that guest is staying there right now. Pea says she doesn't blame them
- Prices fluctuate by season; guests should check the Airbnb listing for current rates and long-stay discounts
- Family rooms average around 3,000 pesos a night
- Matrimonial rooms average around 1,600 pesos a night
- No crazy guests so far. House rules ban parties and loud gatherings; staff knock and remind guests who get too loud, and violators get fined. Pea: "So you better behave"
- Cooking dried fish or other smelly food isn't a problem because each unit has an exhaust fan
- Pea jokes that she'll cook dried fish later and invite Rochelle over for dinner
The building
- Three stories, no elevator. Pea says using the stairs is healthier anyway
- Well lit with lots of natural light and white walls, which she loves because they make rooms look cleaner, brighter and bigger
- A textured fresco of coconut leaves on the stairwell wall instead of plain white
Room 201, a family unit
- Living room with a very soft rug ("just want to roll over here"), a roughly 50 to 55 inch TV, and internet
- Bathroom: very spacious, minimalist and modern, with a bidet
- She explains Filipinos "love our water and our bottoms" and don't feel clean unless they wash with soap and water, but there's toilet paper too
- "Whoever designed this place, I want to hire" to design her own home
- Master bedroom: comfy bed, smells fresh, a workspace, a mirror "to check if you're still pretty," and a wooden sliding door
- She praises how well curated it is compared with most Airbnbs she's stayed in, where "it's just a door"
- Family-size dining table plus an extra couch
- Second bedroom with two bunk beds, which is how it sleeps 6 to 7. Maybe more, since two Filipinos can somehow fit on one bunk "like little people"
- Kitchen
- Big circular window, statement lights ("let there be light") and a palm plant
- Exhaust fan, electric stoves, utensils, pots and pans; just bring yourself and your clothes
- A huge rice cooker she says feeds 6 to 10 people, to show "how serious we are when we say let's eat"
- Lots of counter space and drawers; the design fuses minimalist, modern and traditional, with woven natural materials found in the Philippines (she thinks it's rattan)
- A small microwave, which she finds funny because Filipinos don't really have microwave meals like the frozen DiGiorno pizzas Americans buy at Walmart or Costco. It's good enough to reheat food
- Small fridge and a fire extinguisher, "in case Rochelle burned the dried fish"
- Under-lit ceiling; she calls it aesthetic and Instagrammable
- Rochelle confirms two guests rented the unit just for their wedding pictorial
- Pea's verdict: you could never find something this nice for around $50
Cultural aside on the way upstairs
- Filipinos walking side by side often go arm in arm or hold hands with friends. "But we're not gay. We're just like that"
Room 301, a matrimonial (couple) unit
- Bathroom to the left on entry; a little smaller than the family unit's but functional
- TV, AC, bright textured white walls; the room feels bigger than typical rooms she's seen
- Around $27 a night depending on season. "A lot of bang for your buck"
- Has an electric kettle rather than a coffee brewer, since Filipinos drink "3-in-1" instant coffee
- Her warning: she's heard reports of women using electric kettles to wash their panties. "Please ladies, do not do that." Your guy might not mind, but it'll affect the taste of the coffee
Wrap-up
- Links to Casa Maria are in the description and pinned comment
- Not a paid ad; she gets no compensation and just promotes things she believes in. The place gets "the Filipina Pea stamp of approval"
Outro skit
- Pea plays a cop pulling over a viewer for "speeding through my video and not paying attention to a word I said"
- Lets him off with a warning to give a thumbs up, subscribe and check her Patreon. When he says he doesn't even want to watch her videos, she orders "a full cavity search, the hard way"
- Closing line to everyone else: "Remember, I can have you in handcuffs anytime I want"
