HOTEL H20 | A BIRTHDAY STAYCATION

It's been a regular tradition for me to be somewhere else anytime during my birthday month. As much as possible, I wanted to celebrate it in new places, mostly out of town. But I also make sure to check hotel/attractions near me so when I saw Hotel H20 in the web, I told myself, "why not?!", it will be a good birthday staycation place for me and my family. Hotel H20 is part of Manila Ocean Park that is located at Rizal Park, Behind Quirino Grandstand, Luneta, Manila, Philippines. It is such a convenience staying here for those who wanted to explore the Ocean Park and avoiding the worry to rush home after. Booking is usually from Manila Ocean Park website but there were also offers from the like of Metrodeal and others. What good in this kind of deals are those inclusions that mostly not offered when you directly book at their website. We book the hotel from Metrodeal. The one night stay includes some ocean park attractions. Will blog it separately. This blog will be for the Hotel H20 alone. AMENITIES L o b b y From the entrance of Manila Ocean Park, Hotel H20 is located on its left side. There will be an elevator that will bring you on the 3rd floor where the hotel lobby is located. Once you exited the elevator, you will find the Concierge right away. The lobby was huge and has cozy couches. The Hotel Spa is also located on the side of the main lobby which is names as Zenyu Eco Spa . C l u b L o u n g e V i g n e t t e Sometimes when the lobby is full, this lounge also serves as waiting area because it is just a few meters away from the concierge. It looks so fine that seems too intimidating to sit in. A q u a R o o m I booked for an Aqua Room, which is good for 2 person. I don't usually take rooms in a hotels without a window because it feels suffocating and I always want a view especially on a high rise level. But if the window was absent because it was replaced by a big aquarium full of different species of fish, well that will be a different story. I personally picked the Aqua room because we were joined by our 3 year old son and it will be a nice experience to him. The aquarium was not just a window size, it fully covered the whole width of the wall on the side of the bed. Wow! This is our view. The lights were mostly opened so if you don't like to sleep with it, you can choose to put down the shade to cover the aquarium. It was not always this many fishes, it just happened that a food was served during this time. I loved the size of the bed. It was huge and child-friendly. Also comfortable and full of pillows. :) Hallway to the rooms was clean and nice and I liked the glossy cladded walls. DINING EXPERIENCE M a k a n M a k a n We took our dinner at Makan Makan. Menu were mostly Asian food and we tried their famous Thai Green Curry Chicken (didn't took a photo) and it was good. The place was a little busy during lunch and dinner. The glass partition to the kitchen gives you the chance to witness the movement of the chefs while waiting for your order. W h i t e M o o n B a r Our booking didn't include breakfast meal. The location of white moon bar was not yet on set up at that time of the day. They are opened at late noon until the whole night but we got a chance to go out and see the place. I definitely had an enjoyable stay on my birthday at Hotel H20. It was a unique location for a staycation because of the room style and you won't run out of activities because it is just a walk from Manila Ocean Park. Good for family with kids. The only concern I got was their service. I always prefer a boutique style hotel because they are more personalize and the service are intimate and warm. With Hotel H20 since the set up was big and the lobby was mostly crowded and busy, hospitality was not felt. The people working at the lobby were stiff and a little intimidating. Maybe because we came at peak hour of check-in and check out so they were all occupied. But on a second thought, we used to come across the lobby every time we go in and out and no one really greets their guests. So yah, I hope they can train on how to be warm with their guests. The required deposit was also a little high. They were asking me to provide a 6k deposit (3k for each room) which was didn't mention on my booking so I came unprepared. At the end they allowed me to just provide one room deposit only since they were both under my name. And to mention the good side of their service, I appreciated that they surprised me with a complimentary birthday cake in our room even if they misspelled my name. Thank you Hotel H20! :) x o x o Faith