Manila Hotels

[Aussiec]

Yes I stayed there in November. Its in the makati entertainment district about 3 blocks from bars (safe walking distance). Its problably the most affordable Hotel in the Makati area at about $50. 00 a night. I thought the rooms to be very comfortable and clean. The only draw back is they do not have room service and the emminities are very limited. However it is safe, girl friendly and in nice location. It is cross the street from Best western. If you like Massage and extra Don Pedro is 5 min walk. LA Cafe is about 20 min taxi ride so pretty far away. LA Cafe is in malati where Millenium Hotel is in Makati. If you want to be in Malati near LA Cafe I suggest Exectutive Plaza which tends to be pricey and if you are on budget I suggest Aloha Hotel on Roxas Blvd which is not far from LA Cafe and Harrison Plaza where you can get some action as well, (see board).

Good Luck

[Cebu Steve]

Anyone stay at the Millennium Plaza Hotel?

How is the place? Recommend?

How far from LA Cafe?

Thanks for any info.

CS

[Member #3428]

They will be there to make sure you don't stray!!

That's for sure, I had a back up ready to taxi over and had to quietly sms her not to come over. :)

[BuleDaddy]

Had a SHORT layover in manila, exited immigration, walked down the walk way, seriously a 3 minute walk, my manila GF was waiting, got the room for about 2600 peso, had about 8 hours of great sex then back to airport and took off. Room was clean, didn't try any food or anything else but did see a lot of food being sent up to the rooms and it looked decent.

Compared to Somerset Apartment, Shangri La, Dusit, from what I was concentrating on for a few hours, the airport hotel definitely fit the bill. For more then a couple hours, nah, not for me, for a quick sex layover, definitely worth it. That was a nice tranist ;)

They will be there to make sure you don't stray!!

[Stand In I]

x man has an interesting list of manila hotels. it is impressive in breadth, covering many hotels. i have stayed at several hotels on his list, and have visited many of them to see if they would be suitable for me especially since i hate to pay more than us$30 for a 3-star hotel room.

there are some minor points about the list and i have a few answers to apparent questions stated on the list, as follows:

- "iseya hotel rooftop bbq: sunday 5-7:30". about a year ago, i tried the bbq when i saw it advertised in front of the hotel. in dec 2007 on a sunday, it was not advertised in front.

- "pan pacific $85". this price might be a corporate rate. but, even when the exchange rate was us$1 = 50 pesos (instead of the current 41 pesos), the lowest room rate for this hotel was closer to us$115.

- hotel rates. i am guessing all the hotel rates cited on the list are at least a year old and are probably older. with the drop of the us dollar value over the past 12 months, the hotel price in pesos would be about 20 percent higher when paid in us dollars.

- "hyatt pasay xxx". that was the hyatt regency hotel located on roxas blvd, about a half block north of edsa road and heritage hotel, in pasay city. it was closed about a year ago. do not confuse this hotel name with the hyatt hotel, located on pedro gil street, between del pilar and mabinit streets.

- "sogo hotel where new rooms". sogo hotels are a chain of short-time hotels located throughout the city, which has many short-time hotels under other names. the sogo hotel in question is located on the side road about 100 feet from the east end of the block that has the copacabana and heritage hotels. or, another way to locate it is come out of the edsa international entertainment center and run for your life dodging the heavy and speeding traffic across edsa road to the side road. some of its rooms might be new, but many rooms were probably re-modeled due to its being situated on the site of another short-term hotel. the room i visited was in an old building behind the front building. room rates increase with the number of hours you want it and vary with the type of room. in the middle of an overnight power outage, like a typhoon, filipino families are waiting in the lobby to rent a room. it is not a bad idea to rent a room in a short-time hotel, when other hotels are full or you need one for a few hours, about us$10, like arriving on a dawn flight.

- "century citadel hotel is walking distance from the strip. $40. via www.asiatravel.com or beelineatkokomos.com, who will pick you up at the international airport on arrival. " several comments. first, beeline travel agency is located in angeles city and its pick up is intended to transport you to angeles city or a few other cities. second, i heard swagman hotel offers a free pick up service from the manila international airport (also known as naia) to its hotel in ermita; but, i also heard that sometimes the hotel forgets the pickup and the hotel is a dump and not worth the price, except to aussies. swagman hotel is convenient for taking the 500-peso fly-the-bus to angeles city. third, i believe that the century citadel hotel is the century citadel inn, which was already listed as citadel inn.

- "gilarmi for about $40. on ayala ave. , across from glorietta ayala mall. " the entrance is located on a back street that runs parallel to ayala ave.

i do not know of a good travel agent for manila hotels, but have had good services with travel agents in angeles city. the latter might be of help with manila hotels.

in general, i view all manila hotels offering a room for $70 or less as over-priced. also, a 3-star hotel in manila is of definite lesser quality that a 3-star hotel in bangkok or pattaya, and have at least one major drawback that makes the 3-star rating questionable. so, i am reluctant to recommend any hotel in manila, other than hotels priced over $100.

thanks, x man, for your list. there were a few names that were new to me, which i will check out.- maybe next summer.

editor's note: i would suggest that the author or another forum member consider posting a link to this report in the reports of distinction thread. please click here for more information.

[Soapy Smith]

I have a room reserved at City Garden Suites. I will put my date up at the Malate Pensionne.

I have no idea what to do during the day except talk, maybe go to the Mall of Asia for the umpteenth time <yawn> and maybe a movie. Bob

T B,

For reasons you already know and others that X Man has suggested, it seems like you're swimming against the current here. But, in the outside chance that you and Jing really hit it off and you want to make an impression on her, here's a suggestion for what to do with her in some of your spare time.

City Garden Suites is about 2 1/2 blocks from Rizal Park. Since this time of year is a little cooler than other times, walking short distances isn't out of the question. Walk with her to the park, and especially to go see three gardens on the North side (toward Intramuros, the opposite side from where your hotel is). There may be a very small admission fee for each of the gardens. The Chinese garden is a relaxing place with small waterfalls and ponds and lots of benches and soft places to rest. I've noticed that Filipino couples seem to go there and find places to sit or lie down to make out. Indulge if you and she are inclined. Remember, sometimes it's about building an appetite.

The Japanese garden is kinda so-so, but the real attraction is the Orchidarium, a lush little tropical garden with lots of exotic flowers and plants, ponds, streams, and a walkway under a waterfall. There's also a natural food restaurant within the garden, if you really want to impress her. This garden is so well kept it's almost out of character for the Philippines, and it's only possible because some Japanese corporate sponsor is on board. The orchidarium is near the Northeast corner of the Park -- if you walk to the park from your hotel, go across the park and then to the right.

[X Man]

Towelboy, I suspect your posts will create a lot of chatter in the next few days. i'm chaffing at the bit to respond, but there's 43kilos of Japanese cuteness in the next room and she needs my attention...badly. No, that's a lie...I need her attention badly. The rice cooker (the machine, not the girl) and we'll have dinner. Good thing she is the quiet type...

Just a quick thing to think about...you need to know about Phil culture, and therefore it's great that you are visiting Phil, but writing a letter saying that you don't want to run all over the Phil meeting women clearly shows them that you expect women to come to you...maybe you are a playboy, maybe you are a girl a day guy - in their mind.

I've heard stories of guys putting an ad in the paper and interviewing prospective brides in his hotel room....and if they didn't get there gear off in the first thirty minutes the interview was over. There are some real a-holes out there...on both sides. If I've heard these stories, you can be sure the girls have.

Back to your letter...You have clearly underestimated the Fil tendency for jealousy. Their emotion is what we both love and hate about them...

Yikes...the rice is ready.

X

[Towelboy2010]

Time for Bob to chime in with a bit more info, budget, expected daytime activities, etc.

X

I got carried away on my last post and missed the mark on Xman's questions.

I have a room reserved at City Garden Suites. I will put my date up at the Malate Pensionne.

I have no idea what to do during the day except talk, maybe go to the Mall of Asia for the umpteenth time <yawn> and maybe a movie. I went to Corregidor Island last March with my date, Michelle - who, by the way, became my fiance last March 24 - but Michelle did not come to the USA, even tho I got her a finace visa. Go figure.

Maybe I should write a book - on how NOT to do it. LOL.

I plan to spend my days and evenings with Jing (Cebu). At evenings end, she can shower at my hotel. I will accompany her in a taxi to Malate Pensionne to make sure she gets there ok, then the taxi can drop me off at the LA Cafe.

That's all she wrote.

Bob

[Towelboy2010]

Time for Bob to chime in with a bit more info, budget, expected daytime activities, etc.

X

Here's the medium version.

I met this girl thru a married Filipina living in California. That is an interesting story in itself. Oh why not. I have been in search of someone interested in a marriage relationship. I have been to the Phils 3 times in the last year to meet Ms. Right but each time ended in not finding Ms. Right. I got frustrated with all the time I was wasting by email & chat so I wrote a lengthy letter (7 pages in Word) I called my "Clarification Paper". In it I was upfront about who I am and what I'm looking for. My intent was to weed out those who were probably not right for me. Well it was hellishly effective because about 90% of the girls who got it either didn; t respond or responded they are not my girl.

There was one girl, Jerlyn, who was so shocked by it that she sent it to her cousin, the married one in CA (Virgie). One day I get an email from Virgie and she explains the situation on how she got ahold of me.

So the long and short of it is she has introduced me to several of her friends and I am going in March to take one last chance that this might actually work.

My one requirement is that they all be able to meet me in Manila because I don't feel like running all over the Philippines to meet everyone. At present I have about 12 names on my "dance card".

One of Virgie's friends lives in Cebu. I know she doesn't have the financial means, so I agreed to buy her a ticket to Manila. She has also been upfront about NO SEX from the very beginning. And I am ok with that. I believe she will stick to it since she has a 5 year old daughter and is scared to death of getting pregnant again. I have "hinted" at birth control, but you know. So she agreed to stay in another room. And that way I can make a trip or 2 or 3 to the LA CAFE that night.

Regarding my budget, my 3 trips there in a year have left me very tight financially. So I told her I would get her a room, but it would not be an expensive one and she doesn't care. The Pensionne room is perfect and very cheap 600 php. It has a shared bath, but I told her she can shower and change at my place before bed and in the morning.

Hope this helps clarify my situation.

For me the help I received here has benn invaluable. Thanks.

Towelboy. Bob

PS. If anyone is in a similar situation, you can have a copy of my paper to scare off the dead weight. LOL.

[X Man]

Strangely, with all the good info here, I'm getting pm about hotels. Sigh.

Copacapana and Heritage Hotel are near the airport and I would recommend them mostly if you need to be near the airport. For example if you have to be at the airport around rush hour or if you have a late arrival / jet lag and want the least possible time between arrival and coitus.

Both have pools and are near Mall of Asia and EDSA Entertainment center.

****

Manila code is 02 /asiahotels.com, and asiarooms.com, asiatravel.com update 8.28.07

Travel agent numbers?
G Point NUMBER???

Pavillion: http://www.manila-hotel-travel.com/holiday_inn.htm
Pan Pacific $85.
Grand Hotel, Roxas, has massage parlor on 8th fl
City Garden Suites, 1800+ 526 0959 cityreservations@citygardenhotels.com
City State Tower Hotel, 400-7351~61 Mabini St, superior dble w/ 2 breakfasts 1,950 but 1,500 through Gpoint bar.
res@citystatetowerhotel.com.ph
Midland Htl, near Robinsons, M. Adriatico St 302-1858 to 61
midland@tri-isys.com http://www.themidlandplaza.com/accommodations.php

Atrium - 2000, it was OK, probably would pass in the future.
Iseya Hotel Rooftop BBQ: Sunday 5-7:30 1241 M.H. del Pilar Street, Ermita iseya04@yahoo.com
523 8166~68 / 091 6975 1728 http://www.angelescity.com/iseya_hotel.html
Best Western La Corona 1166 M.H. del Pilar, Ermita 524 2631 (-38)
www.hotelacorona.com manila@hotelacorona.com Deluxe2600
Tropicana Apartment Hotel 1630 Luis M. Guerrero Street, Malate
525-5555 large room fpr 2400, near the mall, just a few blocks from Taft.

Las Palmas – www.laspalmashotel.com NUMBER??? large rooms, noisy at front. 2000pesos
sales@laspalmashotel.com.ph / www.laspalmashotel.com.ph
Palm Plaza 2500+ www.palmplazahotel.com 522 1000 / 524 7127 reservations@palmplazahotel.com

Executive Plaza Hotel 523 1000 www1.executiveplazahotel.com

Rothman 523 4501 (01to10) info@rothmanhotel.com www.rothmanhotel.com
12.06 double is 1700 /double exe 1800 / twin 1800 / kitchen 3200 / ask for frig
Same owner for: http://www.rivieramansion.com/rates.html

Pearl 525 1000 www.pearlgardenhotel.net / pgarden@info.com.ph deluxe 2600
1700 M. Adriatico, Malate
Hostel 1632 across from Rothman, 522 8888
Hotel Frendy 526 4211 (12) / 092 0901 0472 reservations@hotelfrendy.com
a real dump
Hotel Kimberly, near the uni 770 pedro gil st. Malate 521-1888 2006 Standard (double) 1900
Deluxe 2600 www.hotelkimberly.com reservations@hotelkimberly.com
Paco Park 1900pesos parkhotl@parkhotel.com.ph / 521 2371 (to 75) www.parkhotel.com.ph
1032-34 Belen st., Paco Manila, MM www.parkoasis.com
Room 315 P2600, pink room. Room 316, smaller room, noisier 1900
Garden Plaza is near Paco Park / family rooms with kitchenettes 522 4835/39/ 522 4841/53

Miramar 523 4484 miramarh@i-next.net across from Embassy
Bayview on Roxas has small pool. $83 walk in but $45 thru travel agency
City Garden 536 1451 (which one?) Sundowner 400 7351
Celestive? 525 3347 near Swagman
Rivera Mansion http://www.rivieramansion.com/index.html
Ermita Tourist inn, small but nice rooms, 660pesos.
Malate Pension 523 8304 (-06) P600-1500 no guests info@mpensionne.com www.mpensionne.com.ph
Adriatico Pensionne Inn 404 2300/404 3430 no windows P600 Penthouse 2250
Lotus Garden Hotel http://www.citygardenhotels.com/ 522-1515 $40+
Cherry Blossoms Hotel 5247631 blossoms@i-manila.com. or: blossoms@i-manila.com.ph
2floor suite for 2400?
Copacabana, Pasay $49 reserv. 833 9898 / 831 8711 www.copasuites-manila.com / info@copasuites.com
Heritage www.heritagehotelmanila.com
Hyatt Pasay xxx
Sogo Hotel WHERE new rooms 1695 incl breakfast 522 7646 / 523 0873
Hotel SOGO Rotondo – Short time hotel near Taft and Edsa
Sofitel Philippine Plaza Hotel $60+, CCP complex http://www.hoteltravel.com/philippi...stin_ermita.htm

Trader’s Hotel, south of Harrison Mall on Roxas. NUMBER??? basement bar ISIS?
Also in that area: Century Park (south), Alona, Sogo, Hotel Victoria (all are north of H mall.)
Stargate pensionne at Adriatico street in malate. Deluxe 1100 pesos, guest friendly
Orchid Suites (across street from ANA hotel and 1 block from Harrison Plaza). Has POOL / $40

MAKATI
Dusit Makati, $80+, girl friendly. Pool and buffet breakfast for 2.
Oxford Suites, 6700 333 Burgos, right in the middle of the action. around 2,200 ($90 posted)
http://www.oxfordsuitesmakati.com/ reservations@…

Citadel Inn, Burgos St. 750 8762 reservation@citadel-inn-makati.com www.citadel-inn-makati.com
***same place? Century Citadel Hotel is walking distance from the strip. $40. Via www.asiatravel.com OR beeline@kokomos.com , who will pick you up at the International Airport on arrival.

Great Eastern Hotel (www.greateasternhotelmanila.com) on Makati Ave at Peso 2100 for a Deluxe room.
Lobby is on the fourth floor, so you have to change elevators.
City Garden Makati. 3000-3500P Mkti ave, near Burgos street. Big rooms, Makati avenue. Only two lifts
Gilarmi for about $40. on ayala ave., across from glorietta ayala mall.
Sunnete Tower 632-897-1804 beside City Garden, 2500pesos.
The rooms are big with living room bedroom kitchen and bathroom with tub and shower.
BURGOS
Durban St. Inn.....Tel. (632) 897-1866 to 68 Fax (632) 895-4838
durbanstreetinn@yahoo.com

[X Man]

Great post SK, but there is possibly another reason for avoiding the typical Ermita "monger" Hotels. He doesn't want his Cebu girl to get any ideas about what HE might be up to when she isn't around.

But one thing I don't understand. The girl isn't staying the night, but SHE wants a small cheap room. Where does she stay the night?

Hmmm, I have a feeling SHE WILL be staying the night. My girl in Davao kept giving me the same line every day, but ended up in my bed for three staight nights...bless her heart.

Time for Bob to chime in with a bit more info, budget, expected daytime activities, etc.

X

Bob,

Don't know if you've ever been to any of the so-called monger hotels in Ermita, but they are not grotesque places in which all the customers are dirty old men and skanky women. Executive Plaza, Rothman, Las Palmas, Cherry Blossoms, Boulevard Mansion, and many others, all of which are girl friendly, probably have far more guests who are traveling as families in from the provinces. SNIP>>>>>


Just my $. 03.- reflecting the falling value of the dollar against the peso.

EDITOR'S NOTE: I certainly hope that the author or somebody else will post a link to this report in the Reports of Distinction thread. Please Click Here for more information.

[Member #3428]

Had a SHORT layover in manila, exited immigration, walked down the walk way, seriously a 3 minute walk, my manila GF was waiting, got the room for about 2600 peso, had about 8 hours of great sex then back to airport and took off. Room was clean, didn't try any food or anything else but did see a lot of food being sent up to the rooms and it looked decent.

Compared to Somerset Apartment, Shangri La, Dusit, from what I was concentrating on for a few hours, the airport hotel definitely fit the bill. For more then a couple hours, nah, not for me, for a quick sex layover, definitely worth it. That was a nice tranist ;)

[Soapy Smith]

Thanks for the information, I appreciate it. I'd rather find somewhere even cheaper but I guess I need to be realistic. I am booked into the Rothman Hotel for the first couple of nights. I will see how it is there and I'll be sure to add my reports.

Nothing wrong with the Rothman. About the same price and quality as Executive Plaza, Las Palmas, Boulevard Mansion, and Cherry Blossoms, except no complementary breakfast at Rothmans. No big deal. Rothman is only 3 1/2 blocks to LA Cafe and a block and 1/2 to Robinson's Mall. There's a decent convenience store half a block up at the corner of Pedro Gil, although that corner is plagued with children and disabled pan handlers. View from rooms on one side is overlooking Adriatico. Some street noise, but not bad. View on the other side looks at the back of the Hyatt casino, but these rooms are quieter.

If you haven't yet arrived or are there now, here's a little tip for you. Walk down thru the little covered alley right by the front door of Rothman. It looks like it leads back into a parking area: it does. But once you're back in there, take a right jog, and then a left jog out thru another covered alley. This brings you out next to Executive Plaza on Mabini Street, a block closer to LA Cafe. Then, when you're coming back later with a woman from LA Cafe, bring her back thru here from the other direction. The advantage of this route is that it eliminates over a block of pan handlers and con artists that will always hit you up on Adriatico and Pedro Gil. These alleys are very safe because Rothman's doorman on one end and Executive Plaza on the other maintain oversight on the entrances. Las Palmas and Palm Plaza also keep an eye on the area, because their shared lounge and billiards room opens into this area. I think one of the ladies showed it to me, and then I brought others thru there that didn't know it existed. They were impressed that I knew my away around. Sorta.

[Soapy Smith]

I am flying a date in from Cebu. She is not staying with me at night. Hmmmm, I guess I can visit the LA CAFE. She wants a small room at a cheap motel. Any suggestions other than Monger hotels? Preferably in the Ermita Malate area. Thanks, Bob

Bob,

Don't know if you've ever been to any of the so-called monger hotels in Ermita, but they are not grotesque places in which all the customers are dirty old men and skanky women. Executive Plaza, Rothman, Las Palmas, Cherry Blossoms, Boulevard Mansion, and many others, all of which are girl friendly, probably have far more guests who are traveling as families in from the provinces. The "girl friendly" thing is very discreet: The doorman picks up very quickly on an older Western gent escorting a 20-something Filipina into the hotel and quietly motions the woman to his stand to take down her ID information. Sometimes they also hold the ID until the woman departs. This is to protect the man from a woman stealing stuff as she leaves the room. So most mongers take the ST or LT "date" as quickly as possible through the lobby and into the elevator. If another guest happens to be sitting in the lobby, she'd have to pay close attention to even realize what's happening. So it's not like there's seedy behavior in the lobby that draws attention to the few mongers that happen to have rooms in the hotel.

My point is to argue that you could actually put your Cebu date up in one of these places and not worry that she will get grossed out. In terms of physical layout and location, Cherry Blossoms has a lot to recommend it. Some mongers have reported that the rooms seem a little worn out. True. But on the flip side:

1. Traffic in mongers coming and going is least noticeable compared to other hotels because the area from outside door to the elevators is very constricted. The other places have expansive lobbies and a person sitting in the lobby literally sees everybody coming and going.

2. The actual sitting part of the lobby is off to the side, so that your Cebu date can sit and wait for you there without directly observing the occasional incident, if any, of monger traffic.

3. Clientele seems to be more family-oriented here, perhaps because of the kitchenettes in many of the rooms. If you could get your date into one of the rooms with kitchenetttes, you could almost guarantee that her neighbors will be Philippine families.

4. Cherry Blossoms has a decent, almost romantic, little dining room and all guests get complementary breakfast. The dining room and food is, in my experience, cleaner and better than the other girl friendly places I've mentioned.

5. Cherry Blossoms is immediately adjacent to Robinson's Place Mall. A real plus for a visitor from Cebu.

They are very discreet and low-key with mongers and dates. One time I brought an ST up to my room there and was in such a rush for the action that I absent-mindedly left the key card in the slot on the outside of the door. I was literally in flagrante delicto.- in mid stroke.- when a knock at the door came and a voice said, "security. " Oh s--t, I thought, they're going to bust me for an unpaid guest and this is going to be a bad scene. The knock came again, but nobody busted into the room. After a while we heard no more noise and so got back into our very passionate and enjoyable deed. After we cleaned up I realized I couldn't find the key card. My ST suggested that maybe I'd left it in the outside of the door. She waited in the room while I went sheepishly to the registration desk. I asked if anybody had turned in the key card. "Oh yes, sir, security found it in your door and didn't know if you were inside or not. They knocked but nobody answered, so they brought it back here. " "Thank you very much. " I told this to the ST and she and I both nearly rolled on the floor laughing. My point is that nothing in my communications with hotel staff would have suggested that they had any idea what I was really using the room for, but I guarantee they did. These hotels are just exceptionally low-key and discreet about these girl-friendly activities so that nobody gets offended.

Well, almost nobody. It helps to walk the girl out to the doorman's station, because some of the girls report that the doormen try to extract bribes if they show up alone to get their IDs back.

Just my $. 03.- reflecting the falling value of the dollar against the peso.

EDITOR'S NOTE: I certainly hope that the author or somebody else will post a link to this report in the Reports of Distinction thread. Please Click Here for more information.

[X Man]

I would put her up in Paco Park Hotel. Pink room or Gold room. Malate Pension is also a good site, and better situated. Paco Park has a pool, is close to a wonderful park (Paco Park) and isn't too far from the ermita / malate nightlife.

Now, if I could only find the contact info....

Maybe "Malate Pensionne" near Remedios Circle would be an option!?


Cheers - Hesekiels