Cebu Hotels

[BrainDrain]

This hotel has become my favorite go to hotel now. It's close to Ayala.

The doorman prefer to direct me down the small alley past Mandarin to Ayala. I prefer to walk the main road to Ayala and go under the overpass in two stages. Either way it can be quite an adventure ot cross the roads.

The hotel itself is nice, nice rooms, nice amenities, no shortage of towels and room servicing as requested.

Room service food is OK. Some of the non-professional dating girls prefer to have food in the room so that they are not out being seen with a foreigner twice their age.

The rates I have stayed for rooms in this hotel have ranged from AUD60 - AUD110 (so P1800 - P3800) . It is worthwhile shopping prices for this venue on the web.

BD.

[BrainDrain]

I stayed one night at Mandarin hotel. Location is nice and convenient, cross a few streets and arrive at Ayala.

On checkin I had a girl with me. On the check-in form when they ask her name I just put Sarah Geronimo.

When it came to issuing that breakfast voucher they wanted to see her ID. No problems as the girl and I friends for long time.

Room was nice and big though, shower and amenities quite nice.

The included breakfast was good. It was actually a very busy breakfast buffet.

The check-in ID checking is annoying enough to give this 4 star establishment a 1 star for girlfriendly. There are better options.

BD.

[Dg8787]

I have stayed at Mandarin twice a year for the past three years and never had these problems. Maybe it's because I'm not a late nighter. I usually have my bed partner in bed by 10 PM unless we went to the late movie at Ayala. The worst thing when I was there in March of this year was the WiFi was not working in the rooms so I went to the lobby. QUOTE=PeeMan;1882898 I just checked in to this place and my first impression scared me. The lady at the check-in asked me for the passport of the second guest. Then in the room a notice that says unregistered guests will incur a fee of 2000 peso per night!! Holy cow! I thought this place was guest friendly?

I'm at maxlome ave now just about to begin bar hopping. I'll know by midnight if booking this place was a mistake. But if anyone can quickly assure me before then, that will be a relief!

I have stayed here a few times. It is hit and miss. I book the room for two and get 2 free breakfast coupons. First time they asked for name of second quest before issuing the 2nd coupon. So I didn't get it. But in the morning at the resto reception podium I just gave them my room number and no problem with a guest. The last time there they want copy of guest ID for the breakfast coupon. Wtf!

On my last visit In April the security had really tighten up and asked for ID from almost every guest I had. This was around 2 pm daytime! They had never asked for ID before. The girl did not have her ID with her and they would not let her in, not even into the restaurant. Later that evening around 9 pm I had another girl come visit and the guards just opens the doors and let her walk right in!

[Pcpc1688]

I have stayed at Mandarin twice a year for the past three years and never had these problems. Maybe it's because I'm not a late nighter. I usually have my bed partner in bed by 10 PM unless we went to the late movie at Ayala. The worst thing when I was there in March of this year was the WiFi was not working in the rooms so I went to the lobby. QUOTE=PeeMan;1882898 I just checked in to this place and my first impression scared me. The lady at the check-in asked me for the passport of the second guest. Then in the room a notice that says unregistered guests will incur a fee of 2000 peso per night!! Holy cow! I thought this place was guest friendly?

I'm at maxlome ave now just about to begin bar hopping. I'll know by midnight if booking this place was a mistake. But if anyone can quickly assure me before then, that will be a relief!

As far as I know it's ok. No asking at door and no extra fees.

PC out.

[Wicked Roger]

Last night was a rare night for me in PP without a gal in bed. Partly because my flight was late by an hour which meant I could only begin mongering by 10:30 pm and partly because a heavy downpour meant I had to stay put in a bar with gals I had no intention of barfining for a loong time until past midnight.

P.

Tried to reply to your PM but says your inbox has 200+ PMs so I can send to you so can you do some housekeeping?

[D Cups]

I have stayed at Mandarin twice a year for the past three years and never had these problems. Maybe it's because I'm not a late nighter. I usually have my bed partner in bed by 10 PM unless we went to the late movie at Ayala. The worst thing when I was there in March of this year was the WiFi was not working in the rooms so I went to the lobby. QUOTE=PeeMan;1882898 I just checked in to this place and my first impression scared me. The lady at the check-in asked me for the passport of the second guest. Then in the room a notice that says unregistered guests will incur a fee of 2000 peso per night!! Holy cow! I thought this place was guest friendly?

I'm at maxlome ave now just about to begin bar hopping. I'll know by midnight if booking this place was a mistake. But if anyone can quickly assure me before then, that will be a relief!

[PeeMan]

Last night was a rare night for me in PP without a gal in bed. Partly because my flight was late by an hour which meant I could only begin mongering by 10:30 pm and partly because a heavy downpour meant I had to stay put in a bar with gals I had no intention of barfining for a loong time until past midnight.

Like Sam posted below, - all the bar gals were intimidated by the name of the place. They lost interest or visibly had a problem, the way I read their faces. So I did not peruse the matter with them further. Moreover some of the bargirls were quoting an exorbitant 4 K for ST!! Clearly either they thought I was a moneybag because of the hotel I stayed in or they were looking for a quick lottery.

The girls in Julianns and outside were all slum dwellers who slap on some makeup and sexy clothing but fail miserably to make the grade. Whatever happened to those clean and fresh lollies that decided to make some fast buck on the sly. I was so glad and thrilled when I bumped into a few of those types on my last trips. Maybe the heavy downpour kept them away or maybe they all got picked up before 10.

In any case this morning I found that the toilet did not have a jet spray. I hate drycleaning and demanded to checkout with a 100% refund for the remaining nights due to lack of facilities on their part. They agreed and now I am frantically scanning bo**king or Ag*the for a girl friendly place to check in right now.

P.

[Sammon]

My stay here is very good. For some reason I was upgraded to a suite. These are the rooms closest to the casino. Not the main place where most of Korean students stay. This is a separate wing. I do not know why they upgraded me. Maybe because plenty of Korean young people are here.

At least in my wing there is no security anytime day or night. I can bring in any girls anytime. Nobody asked questions. My stay includes Buffett breakfast for two. Very nice. Only problem here is most are local gamblers. There are some girls hanging around and some gets picked up by Koreans. Normal dating girls are afraid to come here because they say there is security and cameras watching. They do not want to be known as prostitutes. Girls had no qualms coming to Harold's hotel where I stayed last time. I guess for local poor girls glitzy casino hotels intimidates them. However when asked they go ga ga over everything including room.

But for mongering this may not be the right place. For casino action and entertainment this is ok. You never get bored here even if you are alone.

[Wicked Roger]

I just checked in to this place and my first impression scared me. The lady at the check-in asked me for the passport of the second guest. Then in the room a notice that says unregistered guests will incur a fee of 2000 peso per night!! Holy cow! I thought this place was guest friendly?

I'm at maxlome ave now just about to begin bar hopping. I'll know by midnight if booking this place was a mistake. But if anyone can quickly assure me before then, that will be a relief!

A similar story was reported fro the Waterfront but again this is very odd given friends stay there a lot and are never asked. Maybe you don't bring them back at 3 am etc, I tend to have them in the hotel early as why party outside when you can inside.

Maybe Sammon who I think is at the Waterfront can update that one but this trend is a worry IMHO.

[PeeMan]

I just checked in to this place and my first impression scared me. The lady at the check-in asked me for the passport of the second guest. Then in the room a notice that says unregistered guests will incur a fee of 2000 peso per night!! Holy cow! I thought this place was guest friendly?

I'm at maxlome ave now just about to begin bar hopping. I'll know by midnight if booking this place was a mistake. But if anyone can quickly assure me before then, that will be a relief!

[Wicked Roger]

I have stayed at Waterfront several times in recent years where this impost was not enforced so this is most definitely a NEW policy.

It may be due to a change of manager with some upwardly-mobile guy trying to make some mark on his CV. It may also be because there has been some major incident with a "guest" that prompted a change in policy.

I wonder how long it will last?

Odd if true. I have stayed there before and this was never the case, but I usually chose close to Ayala ad all those hotels will never charge, I would stay elsewhere unless there are specific reasons.

[Toronto]

I have booked at waterfront on my trip this time. Main reason is my pretty GF lives near there.

Anyway I have told her that we need to check in together. Not sure if they check name if I need to bring another girl when she is working. I will post my experience.

IMHO it will hurt their business. All casino hotels need to be girl friendly in order to attract high rollers. Maybe they are treated differently.

Last time when I was staying at Harold's I did go to the casino and there were many girls in the common area ready to be picked up. Some are quite pretty. Maybe this is the way to get rid of them.

They had my "primary" girl fill out a form as the second guest in the room. As far as if this was a scam or not, as I wrote previously they were nabbing everyone not just "timid" ones. As someone's else mentioned, this could have been temporary since I was staying there when they had that big Catholic Church conference or whatever it was. When I inquired about SUVs and security out front I was told some politicians were staying for the event.

[Sammon]

I have booked at waterfront on my trip this time. Main reason is my pretty GF lives near there.

Anyway I have told her that we need to check in together. Not sure if they check name if I need to bring another girl when she is working. I will post my experience.

IMHO it will hurt their business. All casino hotels need to be girl friendly in order to attract high rollers. Maybe they are treated differently.

Last time when I was staying at Harold's I did go to the casino and there were many girls in the common area ready to be picked up. Some are quite pretty. Maybe this is the way to get rid of them.

[Red Kilt]

I have stayed at the Waterfront in Lahug (Cebu City) quite frequently over recent years. This guest policy, regardless of having booked a double occupancy room, has been in force for some time.

I have stayed at Waterfront several times in recent years where this impost was not enforced so this is most definitely a NEW policy.

It may be due to a change of manager with some upwardly-mobile guy trying to make some mark on his CV. It may also be because there has been some major incident with a "guest" that prompted a change in policy.

I wonder how long it will last?

[Tman525]

Thanks for posting. This is the first I've heard of this. Have you considered talking to a manager? I don't see how they can justify 1 k for inconveniencing you!

I've stayed at Waterfront and liked the breakfast buffet and the pool, but won't be even slightly tempted to stay there again after reading your post.

I have stayed at the Waterfront in Lahug (Cebu City) quite frequently over recent years. This guest policy, regardless of having booked a double occupancy room, has been in force for some time. As has been reported, the Front Desk will insist on booking in any casual guest after a particular time and charging you. I have been told that this is because the hotel has "visiting hours". It is outrageous and God help anyone wanting to take 2 guests up to your room! I might understand their moral indignation a little bit better if it wasn't for the fact that in the casino and in the lobby you are likely to be approached by some of the ugliest freelancers imaginable offering you a good time.