We will check out MNL next weekend flying in from BKK. It will be our first trip to MNL and just for fun and maybe nightlife if there is an existing nightlife.

We are booked at the Hyatt City of Dreams Hotel in Paranaque Luzon 1701. Nobody can tell us if this is a good location or not. For the same price, around 150 US $, there is an IC Hotel on 1 Ayala Avenue. Is this a better location?

In BKK we usually stay at the LM on Suriwong. Which of the two hotels is same, same but different to the LM?

How to get around in MNL? Taxis?

The Hyatt you are staying at is brand new! It is connected to the City of Dreams casino complex, which offers a shuttle to the Mall of Asia which is less than 1 mile away. Of course with traffic that can take up to 1 hour to reach.

The IC is a nice place but older. It is located within walking distance of 2 large malls in Makati.

Taxi's are easy to find and cheap. From IC to Mall of Asia is usually less than 200 pesos ($5) on the meter. From the Hyatt, the shuttle would be best.

Hope that helps a little.

Thanks a lot. We booked the IC while the Hyatt was not able to answer my email.

The Philippines are until now a nightmare.

Terminal 1 of MNL is welcoming like Wladiwostok 1975. The first scam was the money exchange at the PNB The Philippine National Bank at the airport. I changed 100 USD which are appr. 4.400 PHP but received only 3.400 PHP - a loss of 25 %.

The next scam was the fake narcotic investigation officer. Two young guys in uniform written in big letters on their back "narcotic investigator" were walking around with funny small dogs. One of them seemed to be very friendly and was smiling on us. After money changing at the National Bank he was standing at the exit door and smiled again and asked if we need some help. Yes we were looking for a taxi. He was pointing to a woman on the other side of the street and was waving to her. We went to her and she confused us while she wanted to know to which Intercontinental we wanted to drive. In this moment I did not realize that there is only one Intercontinental in Manila. After some talking and some reading of our reservation she said that we are lucky because our IC is nearby. She charged 2.800 PHP and was writing a receipt. The driver dropped us at the IC and of course he forgot to give us the receipt. The hotel told us that a taxi is normally 400 or 500 PHP even the hotel limo would be cheaper.

The drive from the airport is horrible, dirt, shacks and 3rd world conditions I have seen only in Africa.

At the check-in we got an upgrade as valued RA from a deluxe room to club room - with no club access. Club access for RA is 3.000 PHP ++ which is around 80 USD. The first room was on the 6th floor: dark, smelly, dirty spots on the carpet and a real old bath tub. I went back to the reception and the girl found me a junior suite with a tiny bathroom worse then the first room. The vue was horrible. Directly in front of the window were huge, ugly and rusty intake sockets of the building�s ac. Unfortunately I cannot load up pictures here.

Try number 3 - after I contacted the duty manager - is a decent room (1206) they call it a suite but it is just a bigger room with bathroom which is state of the art. Not worth the 170 USD plus 80 USD for the club. Tomorrow we move to the Peninsula.

I haven't been to the IC for a while but as an RA suite plus club has always been the standard offering. I always book a hotel limo, and they have a small airport lounge where they check you in (at T1).

I'm not sure what you expect the hotel to do about the city environment, or how that's relevant to the IC?

It's an older hotel but I've always been given pleasant suites overlooking the pool..I like the staff and the consistency of the service.

I have always been upgraded to suites facing the pool with full club access as a IC RA at IN Manila.

Like Nickolash27 said, it is not the newest hotel but staff are friendly and I have always received RA service.
Manila is what it is and nothing is going to change.
Surprised someone with BKK as their location would change money at airport and not aware of scams or know how to deal with it.

Read carefully: The first "upgrade" was from deluxe to "club" without club access. Club access is 3.000 ++ PHP. The next room was worse. Now I am staying at decent room which they call suite, which is just a little bit bigger then a standard room. A suite consists out of a bedroom and a living room. Room 1206 has a sofa but not an extra living room. Club access is 3.000 PHP.

I did not change money with a panhandler at the airport I changed at the official booth of the national bank. The national bank of this country is part of the fraud system.

I was sent to the overcharging taxi company by a narcotic investigation unit officer in uniform who had access to the security zone of the airport.

I have never seen such shacks like in Manila except in Africa.

Greenbelt shopping malls are impressive with all their Gucci, Prada, Burberry flag ship stores. But has this mall anything to do with the country or the IC?

If all this is the result of 100 years of domination and colonization by the USA I am very glad that Cuba did not have the same fate like the Philippines.

I am bringing to your attention that I, as IC RA gets suite upgrade (minimum Jr suite), club access, welcome gift, daily replenished fruit plate and free minibar beverage. If you were charged for club access I would contact IHG CS.

Airport location is the worse for local currency exchange anywhere, National bank branch or not. They have to make back the "business facilitation fees" that they paid for getting the lease for the location.

SE Asian scams are there because of poverty and/or colonization, American colonization does not make it better or worse. Philippines was a Spanish colony for a lot longer than USA was in existence. Thailand was never colonized and tourist scams are around as well.

^ and why on earth would you expect a "narcotic investigation unit officer" to be able to provide advice on taxis?

MNL is in fact one of the few places in the world where it makes sense to change money at the airport: the rates on offer are as good or even better than you will get elsewhere. All the banks there clearly display the current applicable rates, so I don't understand how the OP could have done so badly.

I can understand your reactions to my post. Probably because I dared to mention in one sentence that the situation here in the Philippines might have something to do with the domination by the USA for more then 100 years.

No one should be offended when I report how the IC is dealing with upgrades at this moment. It might be better next week, next month.

I am still under shock what I saw on my ride from the airport to the IC. I did not see similar living conditions in neighboring Vietnam or Thailand.

Yes, all the rates were on display and the national bank was slightly better (maybe 1 %) then the other money changers.

My next cash I will get without any fees from an atm on the official banking rate. But sometimes it makes sense to have some dollars or pesos in cash. Not everywhere you may pay with credit card.

ATM's in the Philippines are unfortunately a pretty poor deal; most of them limit you to P10,000 per withdrawal, and hit foreign cards with a P200 fee as well. The only exception I know of is HSBC ATM's, which allow P40,000 fee-free per withdrawal. You will do better exchanging cash in most cases.

When it comes to the question Hyatt or Intercontinental in Manila the answer is Peninsula.

We got an interesting impression and learned a lot about Manila and the Philippines and the colonial times which seems not to have ended. The high security standards were surprising, armed security at every entrance to a shopping mall, security with pump guns at the Intercontinental and even a black labrador was sniffing at the hotel guests.

The taxi from Makati to the airport was 145 PSP plus 20 PSP for the toll. It took 15 minutes.

The scammer with the narcotic investigator uniform gives a good picture of the Philippines.

Bye, bye.

It actually sounds like you didn't learn much at all. From your first post, you seem to have decided that you didn't like it, and then showed no intention of trying to understand the country or its people. A pity, you have missed out on a lot.perhaps some research beforehand might have prepared you better.

Thank you for the advice.

I know just a little bit about the Spanish-American War but I know that the Philippines were - together with Puerto Rico, Guam and Cuba - the booty for the USA.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spanish–American_War


And I know a little bit about the importance of the Manila Galleons for the revenue of the Spanish Empire

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manila_galleon

and the role of the Casa de Contratacion in Manila.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Casa_de_Contrataci�n


I just know a little about Bong Bong and Imelda and Ferdinand and the role of the huge embassy complex on Roxas Avenue for the politics of the Philippines in the last 50 years and I know just a little bit of the assassination of Benigno Aquino on the airport of Manila.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Assassi...gno_Aquino,_Jr.

But what I know and what I have seen is enough.