Homestay Host Family of Napindan Castle

The Homestay Host Family – Meet Henry and Richard, the proprietors of Napindan Castle:

Richard and Henry live in Toronto, Canada. Henry’s family live in the Manila area and in Bicol province. Napindan Castle is a project that Henry initiated, and with help from many family members, opened as a Bed and Breakfast guest house in 2009. The location of Napindan Castle is in a picturesque and interesting area, but unfortunately far away from the big city shopping malls, which most visitors wish to visit. There is a regular ferry service on the nearby Pasig River, which can take commuters and visitors to Manila Bay in air conditioned comfort. However, as a tourist guest house, Napindan Castle is not as busy as we’d like.

We are now opening Napindan Castle to Homestay guests. In Canada we have worked with some Homestay organizations and have hosted students from Germany, Japan, Brazil, Korea and England.

What is Homestay?

Homestay is a medium to long-term stay in a family home for a young person while they attend an educational or training program in the host country. Or, it could be that a young person wishes to obtain some work experience in the country. It can also be an economical place to stay for a person from a rural community who wishes to move to the city, and so use the homestay location as transitional housing.

Joining the Napindan Castle Family

Staying at Napindan Castle is like joining Henry’s family. “All his sisters and his cousins and his aunts!” (from Gilbert & Sullivan’s HMS Pinafore).

Family at Napindan Castle

A room and meals are provided – breakfast in the morning and dinner at night, are eaten together as a family. Homestay guests help with the chores of preparing food and cleaning up after meals. Rooms have individual room air conditioners, so you have it on or off for your own comfort. There is a television in the main living/dining room. Members of Henry’s family provide cooking and cleaning for the homestay guests and are also present overnight. Another family member oversees the security of the building.

The Top of the Castle

One feature of Napindan Castle provides a magical setting.

Spectacular sunset over Fort Bonifacio

The rooftop patio is ten metres square and provides views over Laguna Lake, the Pasig River, the city to the north and mountains to the east and south. You can even see a volcano cone far across the lake. Sunset over Fort Bonifacio is a sight to behold! There is a barbeque on the roof and a bar that serves refreshments in the evening.

Staying at Napindan Castle Homestay

The minimum Homestay is one month. There is no maximum stay. You can stay for as long as your program runs. When booking a Homestay with Napindan Castle, a deposit is required. You may do this through the Napindan Castle web site, or through one of the Homestay web sites where the Napindan Castle is listed. If you feel more secure using the services of one of our broker web sites, you have the backing of a large organization with documented cancellation policies and the security of knowing that you can report poor service to such an organization, for instance. However, be aware that some of those broker sites charge a fee of about 10% for their services.