With great pleasure I will create a Master Thread for this wonderful Courtyard. I bet nobody expected to see the words "wonderful" and "Courtyard" in the same sentence.

This is a full service hotel that opened in the middle of 2018 in a modern business park developed on the site of the city's old airport. The buffet restaurant is called the "Runway Cafe" to commemorate this and the old airport tower is still standing in the undeveloped land in front of the entrance. Talking to the lounge staff, it was intended to be a Marriott brand but they changed to Courtyard because it would target business travellers. This logic didn't really make sense to me but that's what I was told. No matter, it's a full service hotel with all the amenities (outdoor pool + bar, gym, spa, lounge, suites, extensive buffet etc.) that you would expect. If you're used to Courtyards in the US or Europe then this is a different beast.

Platinum treatment was more Marriott than Courtyard with the exception of the 500 rather than 1000 welcome points. I checked in +48 hours on the app and by +24 hours it was already showing me I had been upgraded to a suite. In fact, we were given a suite on the top 15th floor opposite the lounge so it couldn't have been better. Upon checking in at 10pm, we were advised to go to the Runway Cafe for breakfast rather than the lounge so we did. The buffet was extensive with many food stations and main course dishes out at breakfast time. I caught a glimpse of the lounge breakfast and it looked like a few pastries had been put out so they really are directing everyone to the main buffet.

The lounge itself had food (5.30-7.30pm) and alcohol (5.30-9.30pm) every evening. The food included four hot dishes each day and was good enough for a meal. Alcohol included multiple red and white wines plus a large range of branded spirits and we were able to make Negronis. No sparkling wine.

The staff were wonderfully friendly as you'd expect in Philippines making every interaction a pleasure. The concierge guys did have day trips from tour operators to the nearby islands that they could sell but they weren't pushy and explained how easy it was to travel to Guimaras independently for the day saving a lot of money.

We used Grab to get around Iloilo. In this city it calls regular taxis but they charge you through the app so you don't need to pay cash. The hotel is next to the exhibition centre and a large shopping mall and many office blocks. It's a safe, newly developed area. Come out, turn left past the exhibition centre, cross the road and turn right down the side of a large car park and you find a wonderful evening food court/walking street with many food booths on one side and booze booths on the other. It was packed with office workers when we went.

I'll post some pictures of the suite and lounge food later. To recap the platinum benefits: 500 welcome points, breakfast in the extensive buffet, suite upgrade +24 hours in advance, lounge access with 2 hours of proper food and 4 hours of alcohol in the evening. Possibly the best Courtyard you'll go to.