Stories of Mrs. S: Staycation

Sunday, July 7, 2013

Staycation at Richmonde Hotel

We checked in at Richmonde Hotel, Ortigas to celebrate Father’s day this year. I bought a voucher from Ensogo a couple of months back to have a staycation for summer. I was finally going to reserve a room in May but was told that the pool will be out of commission for three months due to renovations so I opted to just wait for Father’s day in June to use it. The voucher was for a superior room for two. We brought the baby with us and the yaya. We just brought a sleeping bag for yaya because I didn’t want to pay Php 1500 for an extra bed.

The room was small so it was a bit cramped with the sleeping bag on one end. Since there was no pool, we decided to use the sauna/steam room at the health club at the 4^th floor. We decided to have an early dinner before we went for sauna. There are a lot of restaurants near the area. We decided to walk along Pearl drive and chose to eat at Pancake house. When we got back to the hotel it was 7 PM and we got lazy so we decided to just prepare for bed and play with Datu.

The lobby

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The queen sized bed

No complimentary coffee/tea

Bathroom sink with toiletries

I know I really should practice more on taking better pictures. The bathroom here is rather small but there is a tub. My problem is that if you lifted the mat on the tub (the one placed to prevent slipping), it was grimy and gross. I appreciate the placement of that mat but if you wanted to use the tub for a bubble bath, you can't because of the grime stuck there.

The next day, we were up early, as with most people who have kids. We decided to go to the restaurant to have breakfast. The voucher I got included free buffet breakfast for two. The choices was better than Astoria. Yes, they had bacon! But it was not crispy…so I’m a bit sad but that’s alright, who says no to bacon :)

I liked the pansit they served. There was tapa, tocino, hasbrown, sauteed beans. There were a few others that they had but I really just concentrated on the bacon :)

Cold drinks

They will serve the hot beverage at the table. There's coffee, tea and hot chocolate to choose from.

Bread station

Omelette/pancake/french toast station

I loved that zuchinni was a selection as an omelette ingredient. I had mine made with everything on it. They used mozzarella cheese. I would have liked to use cheddar but the omelette was really good even without it. It was slightly sweet because of the ham they used. I was pleasantly surprised by the unexpected sweet taste. I loved it!

Dessert station

There's puto, ube rolled in shredded coconut and leche flan for dessert. The flan was not smooth so that was a fail.

After breakfast, we went back to our room to prepare for checkout. Overall, I'd rate our stay as average. The service was good, the staff were nice and accommodating. It has a convenient location at the heart of Ortigas center, very near malls and BPO centers. Will I stay at the hotel again though, probably not for a staycation with my family. I'd recommend it if you need a cheaper hotel in the area to stay for balikbayans or even for wedding preps.

Richmonde Hotel, Ortigas
21 San Miguel Avenue,
Ortigas Center, Pasig City
Metro Manila, Philippines
Tel: (632) 638-7777
Fax: (632) 638-8567
Email: rho@richmondehotel.com.ph

Monday, July 1, 2013

A Day at Astoria Plaza

Last May, a few people at work decided to have a get together for summer. Due to logistics and planning challenges, we just decided to stay in the city. We booked a two-bedroom suite at Astoria Plaza in Ortigas for an overnight stay.

I was tasked to book the room. I did it through their website. You will be asked to pre-pay 10% of the room charge to confirm your reservation. Note that this amount is non-refundable and if you decide to cancel, you must do it three days before your arrival date or else you will incur additional charges. The suite is good for four persons with free buffet breakfast.

We were planning to go for a swim with the baby but Mr. S got there late due to car troubles. We just hanged out with the officemates for a few hours and left for the night.

I took a few photos of the place. The rooms were just right for four persons. But if you will use it for a team building activity or other parties (bridal shower, stag party, baby shower, despedida), you could probably fit about 10 people there, of course the others would have to sleep in the couch or bring sleeping bags. Technically, you are not supposed to hold parties but as long as you don't damage anything, you should be good.

Two single beds in the smaller bedroom

Still two single beds in the master's bedroom

The Master's bedroom is a bit more spacious that the other room and has it's own bathroom. I did not get very good pictures of the bathrooms. They were both clean but were a bit small. The bathroom at the bigger room had a bath tub. I can't remember if toiletries apart from soap was provided. The suite we got had single beds in the master's bedroom too. Usually, they'd have a king sized bed. This would work for people who want to maintain their personal space especially if you are using the place for team buildings/parties instead of family use.

Living and dining area

The living/area is spacious too but the actual dining table is a bit small. You can use that desk provided to put your food ala buffet style dining. There is also a kitchen but no pots and pans provided. The last time I stayed here I think was four years back, they provided those too. I am not sure if they will provide it if you requested for it. We did not have plans to cook so we didn't bother asking. There were only four sets of plates, spoon, fork, knives and glasses so if you have a bigger party, you need to prepare to bring these items.

Kitchen area

Apparently, most of our officemates left early the next day since it was mother's day too. Nobody was left to use the free breakfast. We live near by so we went back there to use our breakfast vouchers. There wasn't a lot of selection but for the price we paid for the room (Php 6500), I'm not going to complain. The only thing I'm sad about is that there was no bacon. I liked that they had arrozcaldo though. They also had chicken tocino, tapa and fish. Not a lot of variety but enough choices for everybody.