My wife, 7-year-old daughter and I stayed at this hotel for 11 nights from 3 to 14 December 2023. Pros This is a very new hotel, having just officially opened in November 2023. Prior to this, it underwent a “soft opening” for a year. Being a Novotel Suites, the hotel room is spacious, complete with a small living room area with a couch and table, along with a small kitchenette with microwave. There is a king-sized bed with a TV. We had a view of the Pasig River, and of Makati City Hall on the other side. Airconditioning was strong and cold, unlike the air-conditioning we’ve experienced in glitzier hotels such as New World Hotel or SEDA Hotel in BGC. The bathroom adopts an open plan, whereby it has no door. There are two sinks and mirrors, and the toilet and shower are in separate cubicles. Being in the Philippines, the toilet thankfully has a bidet. This setup is therefore less than ideal for non-families or non-couples as the bathroom provides no privacy when you step out of the shower or toilet cubicles. The trash can is placed inside the toilet cubicle, but we found it more practical to have it beside the sinks as the only other trash can is under the study table beside the window on the other side of the room. Dental and vanity kits are provided daily, although housekeeping was inconsistent with providing vanity kits. I always search for vanity kits as I need the cotton buds that are part of the kits. I will discuss the housekeeping service later under cons. The hotel is well-located: while technically in Mandaluyong City, it is very close to Rockwell Makati thanks to the new Estrella bridge. The hotel is part of a condominium development by Century in a subdivision-like area named Acqua. When meeting up with people, Power Plant Mall was much more convenient than Ortigas, Mandaluyong malls such as Megamall or Shangri-La Mall. Power Plant is only a 10-minute drive, while the Ortigas malls were around 30 minutes away. The hotel has easy access to EDSA. Non-Filipino tourists, however, should not expect glitzy surroundings similar to hotels in Bonifacio Global City, Makati City hotels along Ayala Avenue, or Ortigas hotels. The approach to the hotel requires driving through small alleyways and a two-lane road along the Pasig River. These streets are nevertheless well-lit, clean and safe, with a police car constantly stationed near the Hulo Ferry Station and people out and about even in the wee hours of the morning. We found the less than chic surroundings to be a positive, as this enables access to cheap yet reliable services that would otherwise not be as easily accessible from the glitzier hotels of the metro. For instance, a laundry service just steps away from the Acqua subdivision was extremely convenient and affordable. For little more than the price of laundering two articles of clothing at Novotel (PHP 125 for up to 8 kilos plus the cost of detergent and fabric softener sachets), we could have 8 kilos of clothes washed and delive
Very Good
158 Reviews