I’ve tended to have a long run of good luck with hotels in Manila, such as Selah Garden and Manila Lotus Hotel! Well that run has been broken with a failed trip to the ever popular Savoy Hotel in Manila.
Why did I pick here? Mainly due to proximity to the airport, it being further away from the bars and so I could get some much needed work done. The only right point was the airport bit.
What the Savoy Hotel Manila?
Its basically an airport hotel in that it is quite literally opposite terminal 3, one of the better terminals in Manila – although it is no Singapore….
This proximity makes it both popular and a bit expensive, with the tiny rooms coming out $50-70 a night. I found out the hard way that paying extra for a “run of the house” room meant playing roulette. Basically it means you pay and get whats available, which was the cheapest room. A great sneaky scam if you can get away with it.
Facilities at the Savoy Hotel
There’s a pool which is OK, a gym and a few sub par restaurants. Breakfast is included, which means this busy hotel is a shit show of a morning. And the breakfast is not all that great.
Thankfully there are other things around the hotel, such as a McDonalds which I took full advantage of. Of course there is no McDonalds in Cambodia.
Around the Savoy Hotel
So, obviously there is the airport, which is the prime reason for this places existence, but there are also malls and the obligatory fast food joint5s, such as KFC and McDonalds, both of which I had. One day KFC Philippines will get its own article, but it is by far the best KFC in Asia and not just because of the gravy station.
Aside from the posh bits there is also a slightly more grimy Filipino style where one can get everything from Balut to company for the evening.
I also spotted a restaurant called Fuk Restaurant, which amused me no end.
What makes the Manila Savoy Hotel suck balls so much?
Too busy, shit tiny rooms, but the attitude that they are a 5 star hotel, which they are not. The hotel even has a airport security type bag check, which really is not needed here.
Overall quite simply not worth the money fro the very small bonus of saving $5 on a taxi when you could just stay Ermita.