Orion Hotel, Metro Manila ~ January 2014

Date visited: 25 January 2014
Location: Tutuban Primeblock, Metro Manila

The little girl has been begging to go to Divi since practically forever. When I heard about this hotel, I figured it would be less exhausting to have a place we could rest & leave our bags during the day so we could shop to our hearts’ content in relative comfort 😀

There’s a discount deal on Groupon for a very good price, but I only had one free weekend for January and didn’t want to risk not having my preferred room available. So I booked directly through Agoda. We got an early bird discount, yay! Not as big a discount as with the Groupon voucher, but it was still a pretty good deal 🙂 We got the Junior Suite for Php3000 including an extra bed. If you’re flexible about your preferred date, though, the Groupon voucher is a better choice, so you can use the extra money saved for more shopping 😀

How to get there: (From Cubao) We took the LRT1 from Munoz (Php20/each) to Doroteo Jose station. Then we took a jeep with a signboard “Divisoria/999 mall/168 mall” since I wasn’t sure if all Divi jeeps will pass by Tutuban Primeblock. (The directions on Orion Hotel’s website say to get off at Abad Santos then walk to the mall.) Primeblock is the mall in front of 999.

Orion Hotel is on the 3rd floor. You can use the main entrance, on the right side of the mall. We opted for the entrance inside the mall, though it’s a bit harder to find as there are no signs Upon entering Tutuban Primeblock, go up to the 3rd floor, and go in the direction where there are a lot of Orion Hotel tarps. Go straight ahead until you reach a large function room entrance. Turn right, go past a utility room, and there’s a small frosted glass door 🙂 Go straight down the corridor to the reception area.

We arrived around 20 minutes before 2pm, so we were asked to wait till 2pm to check in. We sat on the couch and rested for a bit, while watching a wedding party rush around with their last minute preps. Unfortunately, one of the rooms they were using was our room, so obviously they only started cleaning it a few minutes before 2pm 😐 I only found out because 5minutes past 2pm we were still not checked in and the reception staff were making no motions in that direction either. So, curious, I walked down the corridor, trying to figure out which room was ours. I saw the cleaners in the last room, near the hotel’s mall entrance, and peeked in. Sure enough, it was our room (they only have one Junior Suite). It was the same room we walked past earlier with several members of the wedding party rushing around.

I know it wasn’t their fault, but I would’ve appreciated being informed, so we could have gone out to eat first. As it was, we were so tired, hungry (and excited to go shopping LOL) that I barely managed to take photos of the room before going back out.

The room was clean, smelled nice, and the air-conditioning was arctic cold, the way I like it XD The extra mattress was on the floor near the TV, with 2 fluffy pillows, blanket & towel. Toiletries were provided: shampoo/bath gel/shower gel (not sure since it wasn’t labeled, but we used it as such hehe), 2 toothbrush kits w/ toothpaste & 2 soaps. Also 2 drinking glasses, toilet tissue, 2 paper slippers, several good quality hangers in the closet 🙂

On the desk were complimentary water (2), an electric water kettle, 2 mugs, and reasonably priced snacks 🙂 Even the drinks in the mini bar are affordable, so no need to purchase your own if you’re too tired to go out 🙂

Overall, this hotel had everything we needed, and more. Aside from the minor glitch during check-in, we were very happy with our stay :))) It was soooooo nice to be able to shop (and shop and shop and shop…LOL) then go back up to the hotel when our bags were full, rest a bit & leave our purchases, then go back down for more shopping 😀 It was a relief to not have to worry about getting mugged or pickpocketed in the streets. We shopped within 3 malls (TP, 168 & 999) and were happy with the experience 🙂 Honestly, I didn’t even haggle, everything was priced so low! Most of the stalls were on sale, and some gave us discounts even without our asking. The little girl was able to buy A TON of school clothes, and we got some great finds, really unique 🙂

Seriously, it was fun 😀 And at the end of the day, we didn’t have to worry about getting home with all our bags, the traffic, etc. We just had dinner at BonChon, then went back to the hotel, and took turns soaking in the tub :)))

The next day, after breakfast we went out for more shopping. The complimentary breakfast was delivered to our room, ordered the night before. We had mami, siopao & the tapsilog meal. Everything was so good! And the soup servings were so large, we could only finish half the bowl each. Next time, I’ll probably order the silog meals 🙂

After checkout, the reception desk agreed to keep our bags for us so we could continue shopping 😀 We came back around 4pm, and they were nice enough to call a cab for us. So we were able to get home without any hassle. Honestly, this is the best hotel experience I’ve ever had, aside from the check-in incident.

Will we go back? YES 😀

Orion Hotel
http://www.orionhotel.com.ph/

3rd Floor Primeblock Building, Tutuban Center, CM Recto Avenue, Manila, Philippines
Phone: (632) 450 3007 to 09
E-mail: reservations@orionhotel.com.ph