Kalibo hotel rooms for Ati-Atihan fully booked

BY BOY RYAN B. ZABAL

(Akeanon) Mga hotels sa Kalibo , fully booked eon para sa Ati-Atihan festival
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KALIBO, Aklan - All hotels in Kalibo are fully booked if you inquire for a hotel reservation. Finding a hotel room or accommodations for the 798th Kalibo Ati-Atihan festival this time is difficult.

The month of January is the high season where hotels, pension houses and budget rooms in Kalibo are almost fully booked weeks before the annual festival.

La Esperanza Hotel with 33 rooms and Beachcomber Hotel with 17 rooms are fully booked for January 15 to 17 festival while most pension inn and lodging houses in the town said they are still taking bookings this week.

La Esperanza Hotel room rates starting at P18,000 for family rooms, P17,500 (suite), P14,500 (deluxe) and P11,500 for standard rooms for the three-day hotel accommodation for local and foreign tourists. Beachcomber Hotel also offers P13,200 for the three-day room package for visitors.

B & H Travellers Inn in Rizal Street and C9 Travellers Inn in Toting Reyes Street are fully booked and have no vacancies this weekend for January 13 to 17. Aklan Sampaguita Gardens Resort and Spa, about eight kilometers from Kalibo, has been booked solid for the festival.

A front desk staff said local and foreign visitors should contact their hotels for reservation as early November for the Kalibo annual Ati-Atihan.

Kalibo mayor Raymar Rebaldo said like most hotels in Kalibo during the festival, the rates are normally higher when the Ati-Atihan draws near with the influx of foreign and local tourists for the festival.

"As in the past, nearly all of the most popular hotels, pensions and lodging houses in Kalibo increase their room rates due to high demand of hotel accommodations at the height of the festival," he said during the Kapihan sa Aklan.

Tens of thousands of devotees and revelers are expected to join the annual Kalibo Ati-Atihan festival from January 11 to 17 and feature spiritual street dancing, Hala Bira Ati-Atihan nights, Higante Parade and Aklan Festival Showdown, Sadsad Panaad, Ati-Atihan products showcase, Ati-Atihan contest, Barter of Panay reenactment, fireworks display, procession and Kaean-an sa Plaza.