Hotel H2O on Easter Sunday

I saw the Ensogo deal last January 18 and the moment I caught sight of it, I sent a message to Boots and asked for his approval (we were talking about H2O Hotel since August of last year). Initially, he declined but due to a very insistent me, he eventually agreed. The deal consisted of an overnight accommodation in aqua room, set breakfast  for 2 at Makan Makan Asian Food Village, choice of Zenyu Eco Spa treatment or tickets to musical fountain show for 2, welcome amenities, access to local calls and high-speed internet access, complimentary use of swimming pool and fitness gym. We bought the voucher at P5,850, a 61% savings from its original price of P14,830.

The voucher's validity is on Sunday to Friday. According to what was stated on the deal, Saturday reservation was subject to availability. The deal said that you must book 5 days in advance, and since we had the luxury of time to make a reservation (validity was from January 25 to April 15, 2012), upon getting the voucher, I asked for availability on Saturdays of February but according to them, all Saturdays were fully booked already. I was eager to enjoy the deal without needing to take another leave from work but I was tired of taking chances at availability for other Saturdays so an idea popped into my mind (about the long weekend and April 9 being a holiday) so I immediately had April 8-9 reserved. Upon booking, we were already asked what we wanted to avail, the spa treatment or the tickets to the musical fountain show, and Boots wanted the spa treatment so we decided to avail it. By January 20, our reservation was confirmed (talk about excited).

April 8, 2012, Easter Sunday - the long wait was finally over. We met 12:30 pm near their house and took a cab and we were able to reach H2O Hotel at 1:30 pm. We presented the voucher and checked in (we were allowed to check in though it was still 30 minutes before 2:00 pm, the check-in time). I just have to mention that I was amazed because one of the front desk receptionists was my high school classmate's younger sister and she recognized me, talk about coincidence.

at the hotel lobby before deciding to approach the front desk since it was not yet the check-in time

We went straight to our room (Room 3106) even if it was not yet 2:00 pm and this was the first thing that caught my attention, even before the aquarium wall:

mini-bar with welcome amenities

The welcome amenities consist of 2 pieces bottled water, 2 softdrinks in can (Coke and Sprite), a small pack of Lay's and a pack of Grower's peanuts. Boots immediately placed our drinks at the mini-refrigerator located below.

Boots was busy fixing my laptop there (good thing they provide a high-speed internet access) and I busied myself with taking photos of the fish in the aquarium wall. This aquarium wall makes H2O Hotel distinct from all the other hotels in the world. Unfortunately, it was difficult to take decent photos of the fish. Here's one, though.

a school of fish in the aquarium wall

According to their book, there are 3,000 pieces of fish in 35 different species in their aquarium wall, and there are also 800 pieces of jellyfish in their North wing. Sad that there were no jellyfish in our room.

Since our package did not include dinner, we dined at Gerry's Grill at the ground floor. I ordered sizzling tokwa con carne, sizzling beef spare ribs, plain rice and ripe mango shake (but they had none so I ended up with melon shake), while boots ordered fish fingers, calamares, plain rice and sweet corn shake. Talk about a very hearty meal.

All mine! No sharing!

We did not plan on any activity on our first day but to spend the day relaxing. We planned to do swimming and avail of the spa on our second day.

April 9, 2012, Araw ng Kagitingan - Woke up at around 8:00 am and availed of our set breakfast for 2 at Makan Makan Asian Food Village (included in the package). The set breakfast in the package did not actually provide much options, you are to order Filipino breakfast and the only choice you have is what you want to fill in ____silog with. The two of us both decided to order tapa. Apparently, it is the most costly in their menu, valued at P400 pesos while the others are valued at P350. The tapsilog comes with atchara, choice of hot choco or coffee, orange juice (unlimited), and unlimited plate of fruits (watermelon, melon and pineapple). It was the most expensive tapsilog we had in our entire lives, but if I were to judge if it was worth it...uhm...no. Nothing was special about it and the table cloth was even unkempt.

the most expensive tapsilog I ever tasted

After our breakfast, we explored the place. There was a part at the 2nd floor (near White Moon Bar) that offered a good view of Manila Bay. There were also some displays that I decided to have a photo of me taken on.

Yes, it's in the Philippines, and it's in Manila.

Have props, will take photos.

After exploring the place, we decided to take a dip in the swimming pool. The swimming pool was actually not inside the hotel but within the complex (in Acquatica where the Musical Fountain Show was staged at night, thus the pool is open only from 8:00 am to 5:00 pm). Everyone, even non-guests, can access it via P200 entrance fee. As hotel guests, we had to request for swimming pass at the front desk and it was free of charge. Actually, there had been three mishaps before we were able to proceed. 1) We did not have a swimming pass so we had to go back to the hotel's front desk to request, 2) We did not bring our towels with us but then saw from other guests that it was ok to take it there so Boots had to go back to get our towels, 3) We did not bring money with us but the locker required a fee of P50 so Boots had to go back up again. At 10:00 am, we were finally able to take our dip into the pool. Come 10:30 am, we went off because we have yet to avail the hotbed treatment from Zenyu Eco Spa before checking out.

Boots and me at the swimming pool

It was my first time to get any type of a spa service. This one was a hotbed treatment, wherein we lied down on a floor for 30 minutes in an enclosed, hot room. According to the staff, the room was filled with negative ions which help to rejuvenate the body and fight certain illnesses such as allergies, colds, and constipation (these were the only three that I remembered from the book). Well, according to the book, the whole H2O Hotel is a negative ion hotel, and negative ions are only found in clean environments such as mountains (oh I miss the mountains!).

Boots and me after the hotbed treatment. Loved it.

There was even a fish spa in the locker room of Zenyu Eco Spa but we were in a lack of time so I was not able to experience it. We finished the hotbed treatment at 11:45 am, only with 15 minutes to spare in arranging and packing our things for check out.

We loved our stay. As a known spendthrift and budget traveler, it was my first time to stay in a luxury hotel and it had been memorable. Thanks to the Ensogo deal, or else this would have been a dream up to who knows when.