CamSur

Tuesday, January 27, 2015

Midas Hotel: A Pot of Gold on Midas Touch

Midas Hotel 
A Pot of Gold on Midas Touch 

We have already stayed in this hotel in the past
as it used to be  the historic Hyatt Hotel Manila 
but this was our first time to stay here after it
was renovated and re- branded as Midas Hotel.


We were one our way to the US and we have a
nine hour lay over in Manila from Naga City 
and since we did want to get trapped in one of the
world’s worst airport, we checked  in this hotel.


The hotel shuttle picked us up from the airport,
and we immediately felt at home as the young
driver was a fellow Bicolano from Albay. 


It is of  no wonder why there are quite a number of Bicolanos 
in Midas Hotel as it is owned by a Bicolano tycoon who
also operates several posh hotels in Legazpi City, Albay. 


Midas Hotel had a very beautiful modern lobby bathed on
vibrant  shades or orange and gold. The kids being  familiar 
 with the  tale  of King Midas whose touch turned everything  
to gold-  we were looking for that touch of gold in this hotel. 


We found a pot of gold here though, 
but I will discuss about it later in this blog.


The newly renovated lobby bears not a single resemblance
to the old historic Hyatt Hotel which was designed by 
Leadro Locsin, a celebrated national artist for architecture,


…except for a section of the old brick wall
which was enclosed in glass to remind guests
that this was once a treasured historical site. 



The hotel lobby had a lot of multi- layered 
shelves with filled with hundreds of orange
colored boxes of  different shapes and sizes,



What was in them? Nobody really knows
I guess they were there just for decorative
purposes so the shelves would not look bare. 

 

The hotel lobby reminded me as a dainty version of 
Hotel Indigo in Alexanderplatz, Berlin, whose lobby also 
had those multi- layered book shelves but  appropriately 
had hundreds of books, toys and even bottled of wine on it.


^^^Hotel Indigo, Berlin


^^^Hotel Indigo, Berlin


^^^Hotel Indigo, Berlin

The similarty between the two hotels was striking. 
The check in was fast and easy,


…and we were on our way to our suite room
passing thru a lovely nature inspired corridor,



…lighted with charming bird cage lamps.



Stay


Our room, a De Luxe 1 Bedroom Suite 
 was  located right at the end of the corridor,



…and we were awed on how  beautiful
and very spacious the living room was.


Huge, comfortable sofa that
could double as an extra bed,


…massive handsome couches that
could cuddle you to deep slumber.


The mini bar was located at the foyer,


...and had an adequate selection of alcoholic 
drinks, various snacks and even multi- vitamins.


It also had a well stocked refrigerator
and a coffee maker by the TV console.


The living room had study table,
and a huge LCD TV.


There was a rather long corridor
that leads to the main bedroom,



…but we were surprised and a little disappointed
to see two medium sized  beds, which is neither a
solo bed nor a queen sized bed, and definitely not
proportionate for a massive suite room this standard.


This type of room deserves a huge king sized bed.
They also added an extra bed for us,


…but these small beds really doesn’t matter as we
will not be staying overnight in the room anyway,
as we checked in to while away the long lay over at
the airport and we have a flight to catch in the evening.


The room had a huge,
well organized  closet,


…a wide screen LCD TV,


…and my wife lamented that there was no 
vanity  area for a hotel suite this big.


The bathroom looked plain and simple,


…had rather regular amenities, while their webpage  
says they  have Evelyn and Crabtree toiletries,
and unfortunately, they have none of those.



Otherwise, the toilet bowl was something else.
This is one of the most modern toilet bowls I’ve
seen in any hotel in the Philippines, as I have seen
a similar one in Marriot Hotel in Tokyo and in
my sister’s dorm in Yokohama two decades ago.



This toilet bowl has a fully automated bidet
that sprays, washes and dries your bottom in
a touch of a finger convenience. Hands free.


Both the room and living room had wall 
to ceiling glass panel doors,


... that open to spacious balconies with a 
rather regular a view of Roxas Boulevard.





Connectivity is not a problem as it has
a free fast Wi Fi internet service,


…there were two land line  phones, one in the bedside,


…and another on the working table.


For a room this size I was expecting at least four or five telephones,  with  
the third one living room, the fourth  the toilet and maybe a fifth at the foyer.

Stray 

Midas Hotel is located in Roxas Boulevard and
there really nothing to visit on its neighborhood,



…and the Mall of Asia is located several blocks from
the hotel and about a 15 to 20 minutes taxi ride away.

Play 

Aside from the casino, there is no
other leisure area in Midas Hotel. 


…and I was disappointed to learn that
they do not have a swimming pool.


So for non-gamblers like us, there is really nothing
much to do here except to laze in the hotel room.

Feast 

Midas Cafe

Midas Café is the hotel's a multi- awarded
restaurant that serves all day buffet,


…with a massive spread of
local and international dishes.


The food is good and
the service was superb.


For this wonderful restaurant alone, it is
worthwhile to stay or visit Midas  Hotel . 



Room Service 

We were able to order a room service
before we checked out  of out room
to catch our evening fight to the US.


The food was also delicious as it is being
catered by the award winning Midas Café.

-0-0-0-0-0- 

Midas Hotel offers one of the most spacious hotel suites 
that we have ever stayed in the past. The room was well 
designed, and the spacious  living room was awesome.


The beds were rather small for a room, no vanity area and it
 lacks in telephone units,  for a suite huge room this standard. 


It is surprising that they do not have a swimming pool.
The hotel is beautiful- yes, but they might have
built it just with gamblers as the targeted guests,

Photo Source: Expedia.com

The hotel is not meant for leisure and for
those family traveling with small children. 

 

Aside from the awesome toilet bowls, that works with King Midas’- like touch of a  
finger,  though I believe, figuratively, is operated just with a gentle touch, but it does 
not turn to a pot(ty) of gold,  I’m willing to spend a lot of gold to have one at home, 



…there is no major reason to rave about this hotel as one can find 
a similar accommodation with better amenities in most hotels 
in Manila at the same price- with a swimming pool to boot.



3 comments:

  1. Our boss from Kuala Lumpur is staying in this hotel and we're waiting for her bec. we're going to an event yesterday, August 18, 2016, Thursday, between 7 PM to 8 PM. I went to the Reception Area to ask where the restrooms are. This lady (though she didn't act like one) receptionist is talking to someone in the phone so I waited for her to finish. Then, she told me it's in the 2nd floor. I proceed on going to the direction of the elevator when my colleague (who will also come with me to the restroom) saw this lady receptionist smiling first at me then when I turned back at her, my colleague saw her rolling her eyes on me and making faces.

    IT'S VERY DISAPPOINTING LIKE SERIOUSLY YOU'RE IN THE HOSPITALITY INDUSTRY!! Why get mad when someone asks you for information?? It's your job!! Considering that every visiting boss of our company who are from abroad stays in this hotel!!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Considered as one of the most premium hotels in Manila, Solaire Resort & Casino enjoys a prime location at the heart of Entertainment City, boasting panoramic views of the iconic Manila Bay premium hotels in manila

    ReplyDelete

  3. This is a nice hotels having awesome facilites, It is good place to stay.
    zenrooms discount code

    ReplyDelete