davistev

I have now completed stays at all four IHG hotels in Manila. Pricing is similiar for all four but the hotels are very different indeed.

My Ranking:
1) Crowne Plaza
2) Holiday Inn
2) Holiday Inn Suites Makati
3) Remington Hotel

The Crowne Plaza is my favourite because of the large rooms with beautiful wooden interior fixtures. Upgrades are common here for some unknown reason. The buffet breakfast is good as well.

Right next door to the Crowne Plaza is the Holiday Inn. It is basically a budget version of the Plaza. Again, it has that 90's feel. Both hotels have direct access to a mall.

The Holiday Inn in Makati is disappointing due to the smaller rooms, budget style check in area, inattentive restaurant staff who all seem busy but near impossible to get a coffee (even after asking twice). PAL website has a link from their Mabuhay Miles page for special rate. Ongoing construction during day makes for loud lunch area. Nice roof top pool.

Lastly, the Remington Hotel. I am not sure how IHG wishes to market this hotel. Is is like staying at a "Go Hotel" but with a casino. The rooms are basic with no desk to work from and no chair to sit on. However, it is a suitable hotel if you need to stopover at Manila airport for 1 night.

I really miss the Intercontinental Hotel in Makati. Manila is one of those cities where luxury can be pricey (Conrad, Shangri-la) but the best Filipino service staff all seem to be working outside of the Philippines. For that reason, I often stay at Go Hotels for under $20 as they offer essentially the same as the Remington Hotel for a quarter of the price.

scubaccr

CP upgrades are the norm because the hotel location, time to/from airport/Ermita/makati, especia;y during peak traffic hours, is so much against the CP

So much issues traffic wise, so, that I now stay Marriott when in Manila, even though initially I had zer MR status. HO Ayala in my book is to be avoided on pboth price and management attitude to elites+ elite upgrades

I was an HH-Diamond so looked at new Conrad Oct2016 , but with rooms shower only, stayed Conrad just once and crossed off my list

My advice in Manila is avoid HH/IHG and stay at Marriott. A Hilton in area near Marriott s due next couple of years though.

Gongzuokuang

Yikes. Now you have me worried.

I arrive in Manila late (12:25AM), and leave early the next morning. I just booked at the Holiday Inn & Suites Makati because it seem reasonably close to the airport, and was well ranked on the IHG website.

I need to get back to the airport to get a rental car in the morning. So it's really just going to be a short stay... literally just a few hours.

Did I make a mistake booking there?

scubaccr

You did right thing in booking HI Makati versus the Pasig/Ortigas CP/HI pair which are so much further, and have horrendous traffic weekday 0800-2000, if it is just bed for 5hours, then returning, I'd book the nearer + lesser Remmington hotel option.

At 1am and 7am i don't wait for infrequent hotel shuttles to Marriott but get taxi's. No shuttles to IHG hotels further away.

Traffic NAIA-> HI Makati at 01:00am and 6:30am is negligible, and takes 20minutes. If you return to NAIA at 0800 or worse 0900 onwards could take
60mins (then 75mins) or could be lucky with 35mins. Manila weekday daytime traffic is very heavy.

If never arrived NAIA before, then taxi cost could depend on which terminal you arrive at.

Marriott and Remmington are right across the road from NAIA T2. At 1am whether T2/T3 5 minutes , T1 10minutes.

eg
T3 you get directed to pillar 19 outside arrivals and see the yellow cabs lined up. These won't do meter fare will probably sttefare as 1800php for what wouldbe 300php on a meter taxi.
If I arrive normal 0900-1800 times I walk upstairs to Departures, where officially seting down taxis can't wait for fares, but one can ask newly arriving taxi to take you, getting in whist arriving passenger gets out. Probably not an option at 1am.

T1 you can cross road outside arrivals, walk to extreme right, and get a metered taxi. Taxi driver may want off meter for short trip so you could agree 500php

Gongzuokuang

SCUBACCR... Thank you! This is VERY helpful!

I know we're way off topic... but as long as I have a knowledgeable source I'm going to take advantage of it! :-)

I really hate that kind of off-meter haggling. They do that often when I travel to China, which is why I almost NEVER take taxis there. In China, it's DD (and sometimes uber).

I looked at it appears that Uber operates in Manila. You think that would be safe?

(This flight is HKG to MNL, arriving Terminal 2)

I had already asked the hotel about a shuttle, and they said 1500php. Uber looks to be around 300-400php. Uber seems the way to go, unless you think it's not safe.

I will have a Filipino national meeting me at the airport, but I think no familiarity with Manila.

IAN-UK

Manila's something like Jakarta, in that you might be better selecting location first, then looking for a hotel. It's a big conglomeration of "cities" and traffic can be really horrible.

That said, I'd have taken a hit on location to stay at the Intercontinental. Not so the others in our stable.

tentseller

If you are just over-nighting base on your time requirement I would just stay at Remington near NAIA just for ease of access, also you will get an extra half hour of sleep.

Metro Manila is a place where you stay near where you need to be. In may case it was IC when it was still there for Makati CBD and CP when it is for ADB. They offered walking distance to where I need to be.

Remington you are paying premium for airport location; I use it when I have overnight transit before flying to my final destination.
HI Makati the premium is the Makati location; I can get a better room at CP for the same price and CP has better amenities. However getting to Makati CBD from CP would be a major issue in the traffic.

There are rumours of a re-flagged IC in Makati.

IThink

Oh please let that rumour be true! It is a real down not having an IC there - especially with the revised RA qualification rules as CP and HI spend don't count.

I echo of course all of the views above.
Remington - pokey sweaty little rooms but great for T2 late arrivals and not so bad for T1 with the new road open.
HI Makati - pretty rubbish staff apart from the lounge staff who are good, no upgrades and in my view often overpriced.
CP - Good lounge, better room, competent staff

Good luck with the hire car process - I found it horribly bureaucratic and it took ages.

tentseller

I know the feeling as I am good fro 15-20 nights/yr at IC in Manila.

I had good experience with Uber in Manila. Often it is a taxi that shows up.

Gongzuokuang

I'm just going to Uber... my Amex Platinum gives $20 per month in free rides starting this month. :-)

I'm curious about the "no upgrades"... I'm IHG Platinum (almost to Spire) and I almost always get upgraded 1 level. Not happening here at this hotel?

MrOscarh

Last I heard it was to be the SL next to 6750 Ayala.

Fyd

I agree with the earlier poster that in Manila, you should pick your location first - traffic is horrendous and a trip from Ortigas to Makati during rush hour can take over 1h.
I totally disagree with the ratings of OP - the HI Ortigas is a dump - it's old, hasn't been renovated and is well past the end of its aesthetic life cycle - not even the nicest staff can make up for that. The Crowne Plaza is a better kept and ok - but both of them are attached to the same, equally old mall.
In comparison, the HI Makati is brand new, has very modern rooms and nice pool/amenities and is attached the much more upscale Glorietta/Greenbelt mall - all of which justifies the often much higher prices.
If you are just staying for the night and pick up a car in the morning, I'd stay across the street at the Remington or Marriott - both are fairly new and the Remington is fine for a night. The new pedestrian bridge isn't finished, but a taxi is a few minutes away.
The taxis are now much better organized, depending on Terminal. At T3, there are separate lines for yellow airport taxis (metered, no hassle), white coupon taxis (fixed fare, no hassle) and regular white city taxis (metered, sometimes a hassle to get meter turned on). Ignore any touts that approach you - they are always a rip off. uber is easy, but can take a while to arrive and you need to be specific about your pick up location - check out how it works here. uber does not use taxis in Manila (Grab does), but cars can be very small (ie Kia Picanto!) - uber black are usually mid-size SUV.
Lastly, driving in Manila is a royal pain - traffic is horrendous and takes some getting used to. I would consider hiring a driver - it's a world of difference in comfort and not that much more in terms of price.

Gongzuokuang

Phew, feeling better about the hotel. :-)

I'm not really going to be driving in Manila... just getting the car and driving North up R8. One day of meetings, then fly out of Clark the next day.

But the warnings about the traffic were helpful. I had planned a getting a little sleep and then leaving the hotel around 9:00AM to get the car. Sounds like I should instead leave at 7:30!

Really appreciate all the tips!

davistev

Just a reminder that the Remington has a hotel shuttle from T3 that leaves every 30 minutes 24hrs a day. Just look for the ResortWorld red shuttle bus. It is the same bus for ghe Marriott Hotel.

Just remember that the Remington is really basic but a great location for airport sleeps.

davistev

Diamond Rent a Car has n office in Makati and also in Clark, Perhaps they will consider a one-way rental!!