Native Village Inn Uhaj: Sleeping Inside a Native Ifugao Hut

I stumbled upon the website of Native Village Inn when I was searching Agoda and Trip Advisor for a place to stay in Banaue. I've read numerous blogs pointing us to backpacker inns, homestays, and hotels in Banaue but it was the Native Village Inn in Uhaj that caught my attention.

The thing is, we will be travelling to Banaue with Marv's parents and I knew that I needed to find somewhere comfortable and relaxing. Don't get me wrong, Marv and I always make a beeline towards inns and homestays as these are the type of accommodations that fit our budget and we actually enjoying staying in these places. But of course, we wanted to make our trip with the folks a little more special.

Uhaj Native Village Inn offered two things that immediately grabbed my attention: 1) a view of the rice terraces just outside the window and 2) experiencing how it felt like to spend a night inside an Ifugao hut. Plus the fact that it boasts of very good reviews in Trip Advisor.

I instantly contacted the owner, Graham Taylor. I liked that the owner is pretty hands-on when it comes to managing his inn. He is the one in-charge of bookings and hotel inquiries and is very accommodating and professional even if I had so many questions.

I was about to make a booking via Agoda but decided to check out the hotel's official website first. Surprisingly, they offered a 50% discount for reservations during May and offpeak months. They just had one major rule: they required guests to make a 100% down payment because they already had too many no-shows in the past. Usually, I don't like it when hotels ask for down payments, not because I was unsure of my visit, but because I find it a hassle to leave my office to go to a bank. But Graham was too nice to say no to. He even offered free transfers from Banaue downtown to Native Village Inn (which is not in the city and is 9kms from Banaue) and back. But we told him that we'll be bringing a car.

Graham was polite enough to disclose that the road to his inn was currently being fixed and it is terribly hard for small cars to pass. He still offered free transfers even if we assured him that we'll be driving our Strada pick-up. Talk about good customer relations!

So we had to learn the hard way that the road to Uhaj was not passable even for 4x4 vehicles, buses, and jeeps. There had been two landslides the day before we arrived and the road was such a mess. Aside from the ongoing road constructions, there were some backhoes that were still clearing up the path, removing mud and other debris.

We had no choice but to ask help from Graham. Even if Graham was not in Ifugao during that time, he was always a phone call or text message away. He asked us to be contacted by Joel, the inn's tour guide and driver, and within a few minutes Joel was already there to fetch us. 

We had to bring our vehicle back to town, park it there, go back to Uhaj, and cross a mountain of mud (caused by the landslide) just to get to Joel's jeep! I kept on glancing (nervously) at Marv's parents to see if they were okay and surprisingly, they seemed to be enjoying the adventure, whew!

A large chunk of mud that even tricycles have a hard time crossing. Note that Marv's mom & dad are still smiling.

We had to cross a couple more muddy areas before we arrived in Native Village Inn. We were starving and still a bit shaky because of what happened. But when we saw the view and the whole place, we immediately dropped our bags and started taking photos! We were in paradise.

The inn offers an instant view of Hapao Rice Terraces

Native Ifugao hut area

Aside from allowing its guests to have a feel of the Ifugao's lives, the Native Village Inn also provides an instant view of the Hapao Rice Terraces. The Hapao Rice Terraces in Hungduan is one of the five clusters of the Cordillera Rice Terraces that are included in the list of UNESCO World Heritage sites (others can be found in Bangaan, Mayoyao, Nagacadan, and the most famous, Batad). According to Joel, our tour guide, this is where General Yamashita hid during the World War II. Some locals still believe that they can find some of the hidden treasure in these mountains.

We no longer need to ride a car or tricycle and bring us to some viewpoint to have a glimpse of the terraces as we could already enjoy the view right outside our hut. The inn also built tables and chairs near the cliffs to give guests a picturesque view while eating as one can request their food to be served there.

Marv's mama always gets excited when she sees the view, so cute :)

Just woke up and we're seeing this view already! 

This is our official breakfast area & we stay here for hours!

And even until it's already dark

This the inn's other viewpoint and we enjoy our native brewed coffee here

 When it already became too dark and when there are already too many flying insects, we transfer inside to have dinner. They have such a cozy common area and dining area. Wifi connection is only available here and most of the time cannot be accessed when inside the huts.

Dining area

Marv and his dad at our favorite table

They also have a fireplace but they didn't light it up when we were there probably because it wasn't that cold

Awesome wooden chairs

Award from Trip Advisor

I spent hours sitting in the viewdeck taking photos and uploaded these right away when I'm in the common area since there was WiFi connection. They have Smart and Globe signal in the resort and also inside the huts but it was pretty slow; better to stick with their free WiFi.

The huts look pretty small from the outside but once you get in, you'll realize that it has a lot of space. All four of us could fit comfortably inside the hut plus our messy things.

This was how the hut looked inside. I wasn't able to take a photo of ours because it was too cluttered already. Photo from Agoda

The hut was spacious. Photo from Agoda.

This is Marv during siesta. One minute he was there and when I came back from the bathroom, he was already sleeping soundly!

The huts do not have a private bathroom and management never failed in communicating this with their guests before making reservations. All the huts share a common bathroom which was always cleaned! Not one of us found their comfort rooms dirty as there was always a lady cleaning this every hour.

Always clean!!!

Two toilets

Wash area

A cute frog trash can for every hut

Two showers

They also request their guests to help them keep the bathrooms clean by asking them not to use any footwear inside

This is their parking area. Once the roads get fixed, people can already bring their cars all the way to Native Village Inn.

Food

The menu of Native Village Inn is posted on its official website so we pretty much knew the prices already and we found it quite steep (given that this wasn't an expensive hotel). We initially planned to go back to Banaue each time we wanted to eat so we could look for more affordable restaurants and get to try different ones at the same time.

Unfortunately, we did not know that the current road constructions will force us to stay glued to Native Village Inn. We had no means of going to town and asking the inn's private jeepney to take us there will be costly.

So even if we found each order to be expensive, we really had no other choice. We were surprised to discover that each order could already satisfy 2-3 persons; hence, we could share meals (tipid hits always).

Each dish is prepared upon ordering so they advice their guests to pre-order (1-2 hours). We didn't have any problems with this as we had some biscuits with us which we munched on while waiting for our orders. The staff was nice to us even if we brought our baon and ate this in the dining area.

 

Food was okay but nothing special. I like that it was served hot each time since the dishes are always freshly prepared. No out-of-stocks when we were there.

By the way, don't forget to order a pot of their brewed coffee -- one pot is enough for 4 people already.

Marv's mom just woke up from her nap and is waiting for her brewed coffee

Tours

The inn also offers tour around Hapao Rice Terraces. With our tour guides, Joel and Linda, we walked around the rice fields to enjoy the view of the Hapao Rice Terraces. Our final stop was the ice cold Hapao river and Bogyah Hot Spring.

The tour guides will let you choose your preferred length of tour -- it can last from 3-5 hours, including bathing in the river and hot spring. Food and beverage not included though.



My Take on Native Village Inn


There are three things that I like the most about Native Village Inn:

1) Front row seats to an amazing view of the Hapao Rice Terraces. We no longer needed to drive to a certain viewpoint as it is just there beside our hut or right in front of us every time we eat.

2) Experiencing how it feels like to spend a night (or two) inside an Ifugao hut. Yes, it's hot inside during the afternoon or sometimes at night but I would never trade this for a traditional room (in another inn or hotel) that may just look like my room back home. Of course, I want something new.

3) Accommodating owner and staff. Aside from the tourist attractions, most of the time this is the other reason why I go back to certain places. I'm not the type of person that needs to be pampered or is hard to please but I saw genuine hospitality and generosity from Graham and his colleagues.

I was sending text messages with Graham during our trip to the Native Village Inn. He said that he already asked helped from Malacanang so they can provide funds to create stone walls to prevent landslides. I hope they will be able to receive the financial assistance that they are requesting for. The Native Village Inn and Hapao / Hungduan Rice Terraces are such fantastic places which one should not miss. 

Yes, it may not be the #1 option for backpackers because of inaccessibility and price, but for those who are longing for relaxation, instant view, new experience, and hospitable people -- this place is the one for you. Also perfect for couples and family.

Lastly, our trip back to Banaue was also a different story. Joel drove us there and luckily, the whole road (even if there was still ongoing construction) was already passable to vehicles. We still had to endure though a very bumpy ride as we still had to go over mountains of mud.

Yet everything was all worth it. But then again, I'm not really that hard to please.

How to go there



Here are instructions on how to go to Native Village Inn (lifted from their website):

Private Transportation: Head for the Northern Luzon Expressway (NLEX)transfer onto (SCTEX) just near Dau. Stay on the SCTEX till you come to the TIPLEX, then exit the TIPLEX to PURA, head for GUIMBA  then MUNOZ, SAN JOSE, STA FE , SOLANO, LAGAWE, BANAUE. Banaue hotel is half a klm before Banaue town centre on your right side. as you pass Banaue hotel on the right side take the next left now you are on the road going to bontoc and viewpoint. Then take next left again after one and a half klm. you are now on the road to Hapao, Hungduan. Stay on that road for 2 klm, you will then come to a dirt road.Take the dirt road to the left stay on it for 5 klm you will arrive at the village of UHAJ. There’s a school on the left side, we are quarter klm. past the school on the right hand side there’s a driveway that’s us. We are quarter kilometer past the village oh Uhaj on the right side.

Public Transportation: We recommend OHAYAMI TRANS. bus company located at Lacson Avenue corner Fajardo Street.Sampaloc Manila.Fronting Metro Oil Gas Station and near Sampaloc Fire Station

From Banaue, they offer free transportation from Banaue to Native Village Inn and back. Please see details from their website: In the morning we provide free transport from Banaue bus terminal to Native Village Inn Uhaj from 05:30am to 9:00am only. We provide free transport from Native Village Inn Uhaj in the afternoon from 4:30pm to 6pm only. Between 10:30am & 4:30pm there is a charge of P200 for trike and P1,000 for jeepney from Banaue to Uhaj and Uhaj to Banaue.



Contacts


Native Village Inn
Graham Taylor, proprietor
09164056743 / 09088646658
infoatnvi@gmail.com

Joel, tour guide
09056732337