STAYCATION | Astoria Plaza, Ortigas
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| My husband... having an affair with the TV. **Just kidding** ...But he really misses watching TV. |
Happy rainy season to all!
As expected in the greater Manila area, rain showers and thunderstorms are coming in. Classes are suspended. Floods conquer some of the streets. A tornado has also been spotted this month. Yikes!
What better time to book a staycation than a rainy day? And also, our free accommodation voucher is about to expire in a week.
We decided to FINALLY use our voucher to avail of the free accommodation in Astoria Plaza in Ortigas.
Our voucher was for the deluxe room, but it was automatically upgraded to a one-bedroom suite. Here's what it looks like.
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| The living and dining area where my husband was instinctively drawn to the remote controls. |
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| This is just above the TV in the living area. |
Within the unit is a kitchen space which I totally forgot to take a photo of. There's also a closet space and plenty of storage if you're going to stay longer.
I jumped in the bath tub neglecting to take a picture of the bathroom first. *sigh*
Meanwhile, my husband is fixated on TV.
Inclusions:
Wifi connection for two devices.
Complementary shuttle service to nearby malls.
Breakfast buffet.
Since dinner isn't included in the package, we went to the mall via shuttle service. Solo namin yung shuttle. [Going to the mall, we were the only passengers.] The worst part of our time in the mall was waiting for the shuttle to pick us up. Due to heavy traffic within the district, we expected the shuttle to arrive a little late. Sadly, this scenario is common in Metro Manila.
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| View from the 11th floor |
Don't expect the view to be scenic. You just have to find the beauty past the gloomy weather and buildings in various stages of construction or destruction. *At least there's no tornado.*
Astoria Plaza's ambiance is formal, primarily because it's located in a highly commercial district that is Ortigas.
The mattress is comfortable but I found it really hard to sleep. Maybe I just got used to our bed at home.
Only when we got there did we realize there's a dress code in the cafe. I prepared only casual clothes... It turns out casual clothes are fine as long as it's not sleepwear. Actually, the manager of the cafe politely sent some people back to their rooms because they came in the cafe wearing pajamas.
Hubby was wearing beach pants. I wore jogging pants. I don't know if that's acceptable, or maybe the manager didn't see us come in and it's too late to send us back. All the other guests were wearing either formal or semi-formal. We definitely didn't fit in.
Breakfast was good. Their beef salpicao was really good. I would have seconds if I wasn't already full. Again, I forgot to take photos. I just wish they had donuts and more selections for cheese.
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| View of the street from the lobby |
Minor Concerns
The size of the toilet-and-bath is not proportion to the bedroom. It's a very tight space compared to the scale of the bedroom.
There's also a "kulob" smell whenever you enter the bathroom. I wish I brought scented candles. (I don't think there's a direct English translation for "kulob". It's not pungent, but it's not pleasant either.) The smell goes away within a few minutes. Maybe the nose gets used to it pretty quickly. It's not that big of a deal.
Recommendation
I recommend applying for a membership in Astoria Vacation and Leisure Club Inc. - AVLCI. We applied last year. They have options you can choose from according to your budget. Just make sure you maximize the use of your vouchers para hindi sayang [so they won't go to waste]. Sadly, we used only one before the expiration date.
Because of the voucher, we only spent for our dinner and transportation. The accommodation and breakfast were already FREE.
The hotel staff are courteous. The rooms are clean.
Nahiya lang ako [I'm ashamed] because I shed so much hair. Up to the last minute I was still picking hair from the floor and throwing them in the trash bin. Silly, right?
I don't see any reason why we won't have a staycation here again.
It would be better if we get to visit their hotels in Palawan or Bohol. That I'm looking forward to.
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| Done checking out, waiting for the shuttle to take us to the mall |
What I'll do differently next time
- Pack formal clothes (or at a least smart casual attire)
- Have a romantic dinner
- Extend our stay
- Have a movie marathon
- Bring scented candles to fight that "kulob" scent in the bathroom
- Bring a bath bomb
- Hide the remote control where hubby won't find it
Thanks for the suggestion! :) We'll consider that when we visit Mactan. :)
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