Manila- Best hotel for business
 

I have been staying at the Shangri La Makati recently in Manila. Any thoughts on the best hotel in Manila?

Pen

The MO closed last year.

You're right. I was thinking Jakarta. My bad.

For good reason, it was not a great MO and in a somewhat less useful location than the Pen or Shangri-La. If you pick Shangri-La, make sure it is club level.

I prefer the Pen to SL in Manila, although both of them are among the weakest offerings within their respective property portfolios.

I don't like the dark and gloomy decor of SL, although it might be a matter of taste. Service at Pen was slightly warmer and more attentive. The SL isn't too shabby in this aspect either.

They're across the street from one another, so location wise, it's a wash.

We've stayed at both, most recently the Peninsula and had some good service. The Pen rooms were renovated in the last few years.

Depending on your budget, the suites / Gold rooms at the Fairmont Raffles complex in Makati may be a good option. (The property just opened 2-3 years ago and was/is managed by one of Fairmont's top GMs who previously managed the Fairmont Pacific Rim in Vancouver).

Raffles - thanks to it's size (32 suites) it's very personal, and I really liked the contemporary huge rooms and bathrooms. And the Raffles Long Bar of course. What it lacks is it's own restaurant, which apparently is in the works. As of now, there's only the large main restaurant which is shared with the Fairmont. But Blackbird (my favorite restaurant in the old Manila Airport building) is just around the corner.

I have stayed at Shangri-La Makati, Peninsula, Fairmont and Raffles.

All in all, I still prefer The Peninsula, even though the suites are well past their use-by date. Great service, lovely leafy pool area and better than average food.

The Fairmont is an efficient hotel, so good for businesss, but with not much soul. Raffles, which is all part of the same complex and even shares GM and F&B, has some beautiful suites, but I am shocked that its restaurant is still not open. Its Lounge is OK, but I did not rate its Long bar - very mediocre food and much too noisy.

Essentially Fairmont and Raffles are one hotel. Although they have separate entrances, they are linked and use the same restaurants. I think it was an experiment by Kingdom about amortizing costs!

Shangri-La used to be the place years ago, but no longer.

Stayed at the Marco Polo Ortigas Manila last January and enjoyed the overall finish, club level, and amenities. I believe I stayed in Room 4205, an executive suite. Here are some pics:

https://farm9.staticflickr.com/8611/...a9c4ff29_b.jpg

https://farm9.staticflickr.com/8743/...952611ea_b.jpg

https://farm9.staticflickr.com/8670/...dbfcd1d7_b.jpg

https://farm9.staticflickr.com/8681/...52eeee02_b.jpg

https://farm9.staticflickr.com/8667/...38da4e00_b.jpg

https://farm9.staticflickr.com/8710/...afc5d884_b.jpg

I have a friend who lives in the Manila area. When i mentioned the Peninsula she said that locals could get a better rate there. My plans for a trip there are a bit in the future so I didn't ask for details.

Local resident rates are not uncommon. It's a form of price discrimination that maximizes revenue for hotels and resorts. Locals who would not necessarily be willing and able to pay published rates can stay at discounted rates subject to availability and at the hotel's discretion. This enables them to maintain high rates for their target markets, but still sell rooms that would otherwise go empty to those who qualify for local resident rates.

Official identification is usually required to prove eligibility, unless one is obviously a local citizen.

These rates are especially common in countries where there is a disparity in the average income level and/or price sensitivity between foreign and domestic markets.

Like Florida:D:D:D