Travel Manila: Search for the Best Budget Hotel for Wedding Preps

Last Tuesday, me and my mom roamed around Manila to search for the best budget hotel for wedding preps. Just like how I look for accommodations in my trips, the first thing I do is to set the budget limit, and search for those within the budget that would satisfy my minimum requirements. In this case...

• The budget is P 10,000 for 2 nights accommodation.
• Must be a spacious suite.
• No restrictions on outside food
• No restrictions on guests (for the preparation proper)
• Picturesque background (floor-length curtains and a nice staircase is a minimum requirement)
• Friendly staff

Based on the budget, and guided by internet research and Google Maps, our choices were trimmed down to seven before we set off.

1. White Knight Hotel
2. Lotus Garden Hotel
3. City Garden Suites
4. Citystate Tower Hotel
5. Garden Plaza Hotel
6. Oasis Paco Park Hotel
7. Casa Nicarosa Hotel

Here are the pros and cons:

1. White Knight Hotel
Location: Intramuros
pros: friendly staff, unique vintage theme (with red carpet on the stairs), no restrictions on outside food and guests, very affordable, right across San Agustin Church (convenient if you're getting married there)
cons: suites are quite small and you have to pass by narrow pathways to get to the hotel. We even had to ask someone to verify that the glass door we're heading to is the hotel entrance.

2. Lotus Garden Hotel
Location: 1227 A. Mabini Street corner

               Padre Faura Street
               Ermita, Manila, Philippines
pros: None since the staff wasn't keen on entertaining us and directly pointed us to City Garden Suites instead.
cons: The staff's lack of interest. He didn't bother showing us the rooms, telling us that it is being tidied up. The other hotels showed their rooms even if the staff were tidying it up.

3. City Garden Suites
Location: 1158 A. Mabini Street

               Ermita, Manila, Philippines
pros: friendly staff, no restrictions on outside food and guests, free mannequin for the wedding gown, spacious suite for its price and has floor-length curtains, has a staircase

cons: It must be a challenge to find a parking space but we didn't have a firsthand experience since we arrived on foot.

4. Citystate Tower Hotel

Location: 1315 A. Mabini St.,

              Ermita, Manila, Philippines

pros: the grandest staircase of them all (plus an elegant chandelier), outside food is allowed

cons: suite is not that spacious, limited to 5 guests at a time

5. Garden Plaza Hotel and Suites

Location: 1030 Belen Street,
               Paco, Manila, Philippines

pros: no restriction on food and guests, very accessible if you're getting married on St. Pancratius Chapel in Paco Park

cons: badly needs to be refurbished

6. Oasis Park Hotel

Location: 1032-34 Belen Street

               Paco, Metro Manila Philippines

pros: friendly staff, no restrictions on outside food and guests, vacation ambiance with swimming pool and stairs, very accessible if you're getting married on St. Pancratius Chapel in Paco Park

cons: no suites (but rooms are spacious and has connecting doors), quite pricier than the others

7. Casa Nicarosa Hotel

Location: 2116 Madre Ignacia Street

               Malate, Manila, Philippines

pros: very nice picturesque theme, a quite isolated atmosphere, has rooms with connecting doors, outside food is allowed, very accessible if you're getting married on Malate Church

cons: I find their published rates useless. Though they publish that a suite's rate is at 3,000+ pesos/night, they won't accommodate you if you don't book a minimum of 6,000 pesos/night. What's the logic behind that? Only 3 guests at a time are allowed, that is, if the staff that entertained us knew what she was saying, which leads to the greatest downfall: Instead of answering our queries right away, she gave us a calling card and asked us to communicate to the manager which was not there at the moment. The staff should be well-aware of hotel policies, right? Though the staff was courteous, it really seemed unprofessional.

To summarize,

cheapest: White Knight Hotel

most spacious: Oasis Park Hotel

friendliest: City Garden Suites

grandest staircase: Citystate Tower Hotel

most picturesque: Casa Nicarosa Hotel

Note that everything written here is based on the result of our ocular inspection and interview with the staff last January 15, 2013. Right now I'm nursing calluses on my feet due to that intense roaming around Manila, and sharing what I found out is my way to ease the pain. You might want to check out the various hotels' websites to have an idea of how everything looks like, but I strongly recommend doing an ocular visit to see it for yourself, and to get firsthand information, too. In my experience, there are things I found out on site which contradict some of the feedback I've read on the internet...so...it's still best to see for yourself. Moreover, I am not in the position to answer further queries. Happy preps!