MANILA HOTEL STAYCATION (PART ONE)

THE YAPPY BUNCH are going to MANILA HOTEL and it's a weekend I'm very excited about because I've been wanting to stay in this historical landmark for so long!!!!

Like, since I-was-old-enough long!

Would you believe that the reason why we had a staycation in MANILA HOTEL is because of Andrei?

Yup!!!!

Like I said, I've been curious to have a staycation in MANILA HOTEL for as long as I could remember. It is after all the most grand and posh hotel I have first encountered as a kid. But, lazy old me as usual would always put it off thinking that this big relic would always be there as it had always been.  As a result, tumaba at nagkaasawa na ako't lahat, I still haven't tried out the place.

Enter Andrei.

When Andrei won the Best In Talent in the Mr. Bosconian contest 2018, he had only one wish for his reward -- an overnight stay at MANILA HOTEL. Of course, I was overjoyed with his choice (great minds think alike nga naman!) but I wondered why of all the rewards he could get or all of the hotels that we could stay in, he chose MANILA HOTEL?

"Mommy because it's the hotel where The Beatles stayed in the only time they were here in the Philippines."

Awwwwww! My little Ringo!

So yay!!!! With that, I immediately booked a room for my little family. Even if it was actually my birthday week, our staycation in MANILA HOTEL would be all because of Andrei. He IS actually the reason why we're there.

Yes. My darling bunsoy helped me make one of my dreams come true. We may be here because of his idol Ringo but really, we are all celebrating our love for dear Andrei and how he is a blessing to us in every way.

:)

Wohoo!

We're going on a trip in our favorite rocket ship!

There it is!

THE MANILA HOTEL!

Bunsoy Andrei was so enchanted that it was built in 1912.

There may be other more modern hotels but nothing impresses me like the lobby of MANILA HOTEL.

Checking in!

Our Front Desk Officer was pretty and very accommodating. I'm glad she's still all smiles even after attending to several people before us.

Woah!!!!!

After checking in, we excited ran up to our room!

Wohoo!!! We're here in the room!

Noiiiice!!!!!

Yes!!!

Others may find the decors to be outdated but I liked it. The old Filipino feel just added more to the charm of it.

Twin bed with chair!!

When you check in at MANILA HOTEL, you may want to double check the bed. When I laid down I noticed that they didn't change one of the pillow covers. I just requested for a new one.

Our refreshments station!

Our view!

The little lords loved it!

Our TV set...

...in an aparador. He he he he he!

And a reminder that when it comes to hotels, MANILA HOTEL is the BOSS!!!!!

Our work station!

Our bathroom!

MY toiletries.

He he he he!

The little lords were such in a good mood that they asked to have a picture by the bathtub!

Wohoo! Our MANILA STAYCATION officially starts NOW!

First agenda in this vacation...

Muni muni!

He he he he he!

And to relax.

After we have settled everything, we dressed up for swimming!

It was quite a long walk going to the pool area but it's okay. It just made us more excited to swim!

MANILA HOTEL pool area!

I'm not sure if I just got jaded by other hotels but the size of MANILA HOTEL pool was just ordinary. 

Even though the MANILA HOTEL pool reminded us more of a clubhouse facility, we still loved it. 

The water was so inviting that the little lords cannot wait to jump in!

Syempre, when the kiddies are happy, the Yub and I are 10x happi-ER!

The water was perfect! Not too cold and not too hot!

They were enjoying themselves so much that they want to keep on swimming and swimming!

I stayed behind to take some pictures first!

But the way the Yub and Andrei were lying on the shallow part of the pool made me rush out to them.

Ahhhh.... Lying in the cold shallow waters in a sunny afternoon with one of Manila's iconic establishments towering over me.

What bliss!

After doing a lot of swimming, it's time to have our usual poolside snacks:

French Fries with Mayonnaise and Ketchup!

Mango Shake for me!!!

Wohoo!!!!

They also gave us some ranch dressing which was so perfect with the fries too!

Super fun time swimming!

(Yup. I didn't wet my hair. Makita nyo pa laki ng noo ko).

After swimming to our heart's content, we went up to the room to rest a bit.

Will you look at that beautiful sunset?

Aba aba! Cellphone ng cellphone!

While I was taking a bath, my guys played with my phone. He he he he he he!

We dressed up for dinner. But before going out to eat, we went to concierge for our appointment.

Yup! We're going on a mini-heritage tour!

There's no charge for this but you have to set up your time when you can. We did it upon checking in.

Our pretty guide took us to the museum of MANILA HOTEL.

There, we saw a model of the hotel.

Wait...

IS THIS A MODEL FOR ANTS???!!!!!

Tee Hee!

We entered MANILA HOTEL's museum where it kept special memorabilia from their former guests.

We all loved looking at the famous personalities who visited MANILA HOTEL.

Bad news for Andrei though because since THE BEATLES made a bad impression in their last visit, all of their pictures and souvenirs  were destroyed. He he he he!

Sayang! He wore his BEATLES shirt pa naman. 

Gen. Macarthur's chair!

More pictures!

A beautiful portrait of the former first lady, Imelda Marcos.

It was an interesting tour that even the Yub listened to every word of our guide.

Check out a portion of THE MANILA HOTEL during the last World War.

After checking out their museum, we got a new found respect for MANILA HOTEL because of the history behind it. I'm sure that not all hotels in the metro could boast of THAT. 

Now time to check out the MACARTHUR SUITE!!

Here's a bit of info about this top suite in MANILA HOTEL. Would you guys believe that an overnight stay here costs about P400,000.00???

The hallway leading to the living room and the guest bedroom displayed some interesting photos of the general. 

The guest bedroom!

Check out the space!!!!

The Master's Bedroom!

It's a bit bigger than the master bedroom.

The dining room!

I love how they posted the pictures on their wall.

The living room!

Yup! Space... space everywhere.

The style of the Macarthur suite is very minimalist.

Of course, thou shalt not forget to have portraits of the general everywhere. He he he he he he!

The front view!

Check out the Yub's shirt. It's what we wore during Andrei's competition to show our support. I guess since  we ARE here because of Andrei, he's acknowledging him. 

Check out the work station!

O di ba? Not just an ordinary table.

Time to go!

Don't forget to ring the bell for luck.

Though I think we should've done that when we entered. He he he he he he!

The Macarthur suite was about 300 square meters in size and used the top of line facilities for their guests. I've heard of some famous personalities who were willing to pay the P400,000.00 a night agoda fee (he he he he he) and enjoyed their stay. I'm not sure though if I would do the same thing if I had that money, BUT, if somebody want to take me, then YAY!!!!!

If you think we were done for the night in MANILA HOTEL, oh you are SO wrong! 

We were able to fulfill Andrei's dreams... 

Saw a table that was implanted a hundred years ago... 

Met the legendary disappearing lady... 

Got SO embarrassed by two foreigners.... 

Stepped into a place the BEATLES was in!!!

And THAT was just the first night!!!!!

You'll see that (AND more) in the next post!

He he he he he!

BELAT.

THE MANILA HOTEL

Bonifacio Dr, Ermita, Manila, 

0913 Metro Manila

(02) 527 0011

ANDREI'S WISH CAME TRUE!
MANILA HOTEL STAYCATION (PART TWO)

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ILYD