Bodare Pension House

Bodare Pension House: A Cooperative-Run Stay in Dao District

Bodare Pension House occupies a four-floor building on J.A. Clarin Street in Tagbilaran City’s Dao District, the same corridor referenced by the city’s Integrated Bus Terminal — known locally as the Dao terminal — and by Dao Central Public Market, one of the city’s several wet-and-dry markets. This is a downtown city stay built around Tagbilaran’s transport and commerce functions, not a beach property; Panglao Island’s resort coast is a separate destination roughly 20 kilometers to the south.

Ownership and structure

The property is run by BODARE — the Bohol Agrarian Reform Beneficiaries Development and Community Multi-Purpose Cooperative — rather than a private owner-operator, which is a somewhat unusual business structure among Tagbilaran’s pension houses and worth noting on its own terms. Cooperative-run accommodation is a recognized model in the Philippines: agrarian reform and multi-purpose cooperatives sometimes diversify into lodging and function-hall rental as a way to generate income for member-beneficiaries beyond their primary agricultural or cooperative activities, reinvesting profit back into the cooperative rather than a single proprietor’s business. The building itself reflects that dual purpose, combining a function hall for events with nineteen guest rooms across its four floors.

Rooms and rates

Room rates run from roughly PHP 299 per head in shared configurations up to PHP 1,999 per night for larger or higher-capacity rooms, a wide spread that reflects the range of room types on offer — from basic shared-occupancy rooms to units meant for small groups or families. Rooms include Wi-Fi, television, and a private bathroom as standard.

Location and access

The pension house sits within walking distance of Island City Mall, one of Tagbilaran’s shopping centers, giving guests easy access to retail and food options without needing transport. Dao District’s position along J.A. Clarin Street also puts guests close to the terminal where provincial buses depart for Carmen, Loboc, and Baclayon — a genuinely convenient starting point for a countryside day trip, since travelers don’t need a tricycle transfer to reach the terminal from their room.

No published OTA score

No aggregated online-travel-agency rating or review count is currently attached to this listing, which is consistent with a property that operates more through direct cooperative-member and local bookings — arranged by phone at (038) 501-8463 — than through the major booking platforms that generate large review volumes for hotels closer to the boulevard. Travelers relying on OTA review counts as their primary signal of quality should treat the absence of a published score as a gap in available information rather than a negative signal in itself, and can call ahead to confirm current rates and availability directly.

Local context

Dao District’s identity in Tagbilaran is tied to transport and trade rather than tourism: the Dao terminal is where inter-town buses and vans gather before heading toward the Chocolate Hills Complex in Carmen or the river town of Loboc, and Dao Central Public Market handles produce and dry goods for a large share of the city’s households. Staying here means being closer to the practical machinery that keeps Tagbilaran running than to any single sightseeing draw — a trade-off that matters most to travelers planning an early departure inland the next morning.

Who should book here

Bodare Pension House suits budget travelers who want a functional room within a short walk of a major bus terminal and market, and who are comfortable with a lodging business that operates somewhat outside the usual OTA review ecosystem. It’s a reasonable option for groups needing the attached function hall for a local event alongside overnight rooms. It’s a poor fit for anyone expecting resort amenities, a pool, or the marketing polish of a hotel built primarily for international tourists rather than a cooperative serving its regional membership and the traveling public alike.

Practical notes for a Dao District stay

Tricycles remain the standard way to move around this part of the city, generally running PHP 8 to 15 per person on shared routes, which keeps a trip from the pension house into central Tagbilaran or out to the wharf cheap regardless of how the room rate itself works out. Cebuano is the everyday language of the district, consistent with the rest of Tagbilaran, and cooperative staff — many of whom are likely BODARE members themselves rather than hired hospitality staff — tend to communicate in a mix of Bisaya and English depending on the guest.

The cooperative model behind this property also connects to a broader thread in Bohol’s rural economy: agrarian reform cooperatives across the province have diversified income sources since land redistribution programs decades ago, with lodging, function halls, and small retail among the ventures cooperatives use to generate steady revenue for members beyond seasonal agricultural income. A stay here, in a small way, supports that structure rather than a single private owner’s balance sheet — a distinction some travelers specifically look for when choosing where to spend a lodging budget in a provincial city like Tagbilaran.

Getting There & Booking

Bodare Pension House is on J.A. Clarin Street in Dao District, within walking distance of Island City Mall and the Dao bus terminal. Call ahead at (038) 501-8463 to confirm rates and availability, or check Stay22 for current listing information, since no live OTA booking data is published for this property.