Monday, September 17, 2012

Sheraton Krabi Beach Resort

Abby took charge of booking our hotel for Krabi and through her friend, we got the best deal ever. It took about half an hour for us to get to the hotel from the airport.

Lobby and Hotel Grounds:

The open air lobby is very spacious. We were greeted by their staff upon our arrival and we were led to their check-in area.

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This is the view that you get from the lobby. The beach peeking after a long stretch of greenery is just exciting.

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They initially prepared a honeymoon room for us so we requested to separate beds but unfortunately, the room still needs to be prepared and we were told that it would be ready after an hour and a half. This gave us time to explore the grounds.

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Wifi:

Wifi is free only at The Link (pictured below), the lobby and the bar beside it. It's quite interesting because the restaurant below the lobby has their own wifi but it's not free. The bar, on the other hand, doesn't serve any food. What we did, in order to avail of the free wifi, is to have the restaurant serve our food at the bar upstairs.

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Room:

Our room is adequately sized with an oddly positioned minibar. Bathrobes, a safe and ironing board are all available. As for your charging needs, I noticed that there are only three sockets that you can use, one behind the tv, one in the bathroom and one in the minibar, just not enough.

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The bed was comfortable and their own signature sheets were divine. Really. It had a satin feel to it but it wasn't too cold on the skin. We were glad that our stay didn't come with breakfast so we had an excuse to stay in bed a little later than normal.

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There is a small balcony with a view more greens.

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The bathroom is simple but the bathtub and shower need a little upgrading.

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Beach:

The beach had powdery sand. We had more fun there than the beach in Ao Nang and Rai Lay. It also offered a spectacular sunset view.

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Another cool thing is this shower tree. I didn't even notice the shower the first time I looked at it. My curiosity got piqued when I noticed a switch before realizing that there's a makeshift shower there.

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Pool:

They have an activity pool and the main pool, both with amazing views. There are plenty of lounge chairs for you to relax. Their main pool also has a water curtain which we really liked.

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Their pool bar is actually open where you can have light snacks and cocktails.

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Gym:

We lucked out on the gym as it is directly in front of our room. As a side note, Abby and Eco had a good view of our room while they were on the treadmill and they saw three guests try to get in which scared me when they told me about it. I don't know whether they mistook our room for theirs. Anyway, the gym is well-equipped but there's no shower area. Cold bottled water and gym towels are provided for free.

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Location / Shuttle Service:

There's nowhere to go and nothing to do within the vicinity of the hotel. There's a 7-11 beside it and a small massage parlor right in front. There's a hotel provided shuttle that goes to Ao Nang or Krabi Town but it's not free. A 2-way trip is 200 THB (8 SGD, 268 PHP) per person. I personally think this service should be free for their guests. Go check the schedule because it doesn't leave every hour. Tip: Leave at 11am because the next trip isn't until 2pm which would force you to eat at one of their expensive restaurants for lunch.

Service:

Service was hit and miss. I left my passport and all my money at The Link and I didn't even know about it until I received a call from their staff at 2am in the morning when someone found it. It was returned to me with everything intact. This left a generally good impression on the kind of people that they employ.

I personally would have preferred some of their staff to be a bit more friendly, in particular, their waitstaff. We were assisted during our first lunch there by a very stern looking lady. Our food took forever to be prepared and we were only offered their bread basket after we followed-up on our orders after almost a 45-minute wait. The waitstaff by the pool were the same save for one who were preparing our drinks. We even joked that they might've put something on the mayonnaise cause the guy didn't seem happy when we pointed out that the fries we ordered were supposed to come with it.

Similarly, we were given our welcome drinks only after we asked. We were asked to wait for an hour and a half before our rooms were ready so we walked their grounds and we came back parched.

Wednesday, August 29, 2012

Trader's Hotel Manila

Despite spending almost 4 years of my college life in Manila, I never formed an affinity for it cause I always felt it to be a bit too chaotic. I did find myself in the heart of Manila at the Trader's Hotel when we learned that our vacation in Boracay earned us enough points to stay there for four nights for free.

Lobby:

They have a very spacious lobby but just a small sitting area. I've always felt that the hotel would look and smell old but it does not. Their scent brand, which is very welcoming, is obvious the moment you step in.

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Room:

I was, again, also surprised at the size of the room. I wasn't expecting it to be also very spacious.

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The bed, pillows and sheets are heavenly.

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It's very modern and I found the luggage rack below to be particularly nice.

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Do note that some rooms haven't been completely updated yet. The TV, luggage rack and even the phone below are all a bit dated.

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The best feature of the room for me would be the free WiFi. All hotels should really follow suit.

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Toilet:

The toilet is basic but well maintained. The tiles are all white and not a grime in sight.

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You get a good view of the CCP and Roxas Blvd from your room, sadly, I wasn't able to take a nice photo of it.

Service:

Service is, as usual, top notch. Everyone is always smiling, even their guards. They have turn down service and they sent a fruit platter upon our arrival.

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My only complaint, though not the hotel's fault cause I forgot to hang the "Do not disturb" sign, is I was woken up two days in a row by loud knocking to check if we have clothes we need laundered and another just to check up on us...at least I think that's the reason why. I couldn't be sure cause I was in my half-sleep groggy state.

Gym and Pool:

Their spa is currently being renovated so I guess the gym and pool area would follow next. Upon entering the gym and pool floor, it felt totally disconnected from the hotel. I won't say much, just that they are in bad need of updating.

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Breakfast:

Our stay didn't come with free breakfast so we ended up paying for it which I felt was not worth it as the spread is pretty limited.

Location:

The hotel's location is very convenient. It's just across the Cultural Center of the Philippines, the fast developing Harbour Square right beside it giving you plenty of options to eat at. Wensha, the 24-hour spa is also just a couple of blocks away. Walking distance to the hotel, there's a convenience store and SM Hypermart.

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SM Mall of Asia and Robinson's Place are also very near, about 60-80 pesos cab ride away.

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Cabs are also very to easy to come by so there's no need to worry about transportation.

If you're ever wanting to stay in Manila, do consider staying here. Contact information below:

Address 3001 Roxas Boulevard, Pasay City, 1305, Philippines
Tel (63 2) 708 4888
Fax (63 2) 708 9850