# hotel near cebu immigration office



## SublationUSAF (May 29, 2014)

My wife and I are going to visit the Cebu immigration office and get my 13A visa. Is there a hotel near the office that is not a dump. I am not looking for 5 star expensive service but also don't want a place where bring bedbugs home. 

Also we will probably stay an extra day for shopping, dining, and entertainment. Does anyone have any suggestions on where to go and where to sleep?


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## Maxx62 (Dec 31, 2013)

The area immediately surrounding the immigration office is a little bit dicey, and I wouldn't recommend staying there with your wife at night. There's a place called the Days Hotel (similar to Holiday Inn) near the Mactan International Airport, (good area) about four kilometers from immigration office. A cab ride from the Days Hotel to the BIR shouldn't cost you more than 300 Php. Also, when you show up at the immigration office, make sure you are wearing long pants and at least a t-shirt, or the guard at the door won't let you in. I don't recommend driving your own car down there, as the immigration office doesn't have it's own parking lot, and there is virtually no place to park along the street.


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## SublationUSAF (May 29, 2014)

I am reading the office is inside a mall?


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## Maxx62 (Dec 31, 2013)

SublationUSAF said:


> I am reading the office is inside a mall?


The Bureau of Immigration has a satellite office located inside Gaisano Mactan Island Mall, which is much closer to the Days Hotel, but I don't know if they process ACR there. (Search Google: Immigration office opens for foreigners in Mactan) 

I went to their Mactan office to ask about renewing my own ACR, and they told me that I'd have to go back to the main office in Cebu (actually located in Mandaue) to have it taken care of. (Not sure, but maybe they told me to go to the Mandaue office, because that is where I first applied for my ACR.) 

Also, I've noticed that there are a few smaller hotels very near the Gaisano Mactan Islan Mall, but they seem to be older places, that are not very well maintained. Probably not a good place if you want to avoid bed bugs.

(I mistakenly referred to the Bureau of Immigration as the BIR. However, the correct abbreviation for the Bureau of Immigration is simply "BI." "BIR" actually stands for Bureau of Internal Revenue. Sorry for the mistake.)


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## SublationUSAF (May 29, 2014)

Sweet thanks for the info. Now I won't be going to the wrong place first.


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## Maxx62 (Dec 31, 2013)

Well, if you can get your ACR taken care of at the Bureau of Immigration satellite office at the Gaisano Mactan Island Mall, that would be great, as that particular office is seldom crowded. If you're going to stay at the Days Hotel, you might consider stopping by the Gaisano Mactan Island Mall to see if they can help you. The Gaisano Mactan Island Mall is almost within walking distance of the Days Hotel, and you'll know within a few minutes of walking in the door if they can help you, or not. If they can't help you at the Gaisano Mactan Island Mall, then you can just continue onto their main office in Mandaue. (Be prepared to be stuck at their Mandaue office for three or four hours.)

Also, the Gaisano Mactan Island Mall isn't really that great of a place for shopping or entertainment. They sell fake DVDs, cheap toys, and fast food there, and that's about it. If you end up going to the immigration office in Mandaue, there is a huge SM Mall not too much farther down Ouanao Ave. Also, there is an Ayala Center Mall a few miles beyond that. Ayala is a nice mall, a great place to watch pretty girls, but the prices are a little steep there. 

There's also Fort San Pedro and Magellan's Cross in the older section of Cebu City (watch out for pick pockets and con artists) and up in the Lahug area (up in the hills) they got a few hotel casinos, and also the Chinese Taoist Temple. The area around the temple is less crowded than Fort San Pedro, or Magellan's Cross, and the people there are friendly enough. 

I'm my opinion, there isn't really that much touristy stuff in Cebu City, but if you have time, you might consider going down south to Oslob, near the southern tip of Cebu Island, to watch the whale-sharks. It's about a two hour drive, and for a few bucks you can ride in a palm boat, and then swim next to a huge whale-shark. (When I went there, the guy driving our boat kept calling them whales, and apparently he didn't know they were actually big sharks.)


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## SublationUSAF (May 29, 2014)

I'm confused. The immigration bureau lists the office in the office on the 2nd level of the jmall as their cebu district office and does not list another location. It claims this office can process every service they offer. I'd believe that based on my experience in SM North but I've found Philippines government websites to be very unreliable in the accuracy of the information contained. 

They did something similar with SM North making the office as powerful as the headquarters in manila. It appears they have discovered it's better for us foreigners to be located in places where we can spend our money rather than in a hot waiting room where we get grumpy and non-compliant.


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## Maxx62 (Dec 31, 2013)

[/ATTACH]Sorry, I didn't realize that they had opened a new office inside the J Mall, and I thought that the only office in Mandaue was there main office in an office building located in the industrial area of Mandaue . Well it will probably be good if you can avoid their main office, but I included a map just in case you get stuck going there.


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## George6020 (Apr 18, 2014)

FYI.....the Cebu BI office is CLOSED for renovation......they estimate RE-opening next year. Temporarily, that message on the website stating the Cebu Office of BI is on 2nd floor at J-mall...is CORRECT. I thought it was G(Gaisano) Mall....but maybe it really is J-Mall. Its located in Banilad, on A.S. Fortuna Street. 

I've never been to the smaller satellite office at Gaisano Mactan Mall, but there are lots of clean hotels near there....I have stayed Bellavista Hotel, and Cesareo Hotel....next to each other in Mactan, and could be walking distance to Mactan Gaisano Mall......500 meters.


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## cream (Jul 2, 2014)

it is not as if Cebu city is large. It is a small city. Unless you are far south in like Talisay, I would say it is not really worth the bother of taking the trouble of relocating to be near where the BoI offices are. Especially as there is not really a good supply of inexpensive hotels around Mandaue. Although Lapu Lapu is better for hotels. If you are happy with wherever you are staying now then just get a taxi to the office from there, it will likely not cost more than about 130 wherever you are to Mandaue. Start early. When it is open, the Mandaue office opens quite late compared to some other offices in the Philippines, which can open up as early as 7am. I think it opens at 8.30 there, maybe 8. One in a mall will I assume open even later than that. 9am or even 10am.


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## shakazula2011 (6 mo ago)

SublationUSAF said:


> My wife and I are going to visit the Cebu immigration office and get my 13A visa. Is there a hotel near the office that is not a dump. I am not looking for 5 star expensive service but also don't want a place where bring bedbugs home.
> 
> Also we will probably stay an extra day for shopping, dining, and entertainment. Does anyone have any suggestions on where to go and where to sleep?


The Toyoko very clean 5 minutes walk to the imagination


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## art1946 (Nov 30, 2017)

stay at the Marco Polo hotel. It is medium priced. I stayed there when I was in Cebu. the service was good and the food was great. We had a buffet style meal. 

art


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