ALL RATES QUOTED ARE FOR STANDARD DOUBLES, ROOM ONLY, UNLESS OTHERWISE STATED. IMAGES: ALAMY; ADMIRAL HOTEL MANILA — MGALLERY; HENRY HOTEL MANILA
SMART TRAVELLER
Hotel Okura A bridge takes guests from the international airport straight to Okura’s local outpost. New as of 2022, Hotel Okura has all the features you’d expect from the Tokyo-based brand, including Hinoki wood tubs. Not all rooms face outdoors, but the atrium-front options still have an interesting outlook: the space is a glass-panelled marvel, with rain-inspired chandeliers and tree sculptures. From 12,700PHP (£229).
hotelokuramanila.com
Henry Hotel Manila With its garden pool and clapboard cladding, ‘The Henry’ has the hallmarks of a suburban escape — except it’s in Pasay City, a 10-minute drive from the SM Mall of Asia. Grab a book from the library, relax outdoors on wrought- iron chairs or try a classic Filipino breakfast: longganisa sausages or milkfish with fried eggs and garlic rice. From 7,500PHP, B&B (£99).
manila.thehenryhotel.com
WHE RE TO STAY Manila
DESIGN-LED SPACES ARE REDEFINING THE FILIPINO CAPITAL’S HOTEL SCENE
Admiral Hotel Manila – MGallery Manila’s hotels are throwing off the architectural shackles of their Spanish colonists, replacing the florid with the fashionable — and the Filipino. Chief among them is the revamped Admiral Hotel, which reopened in July 2022 as the first MGallery property in the country and pays homage to the local culture and customs. This can be seen in the atrium, dominated by a ceiling
fresco of bayanihan, the Filipino practice of bringing the community together to move a house from one plot to another, and folk dances such as the tinikling. Here, you’ll also find El Atrio, a cafe where patissier Kevin Ong doesn’t disappoint. His bonbons burst with local flavours, such as purple yam and Mount Matutum coffee. The rooms, meanwhile, are more typical of MGallery’s
signature art deco style, with hard angles and brass fixtures in abundance. Executive ones come with views of Manila Bay, but for the best panorama, head upstairs to Admiral Club. At this rooftop restaurant, a stepped table doubles as a catwalk for events, while overhead projectors beam images of swimming koi as you dine. The heat on the adjacent open-air deck is ferocious:
counter it with a dip in the pool or a Don Papa rum punch from the Coconut Grove bar. If it all gets too much, head downstairs to the not-so-secret basement speakeasy Ruby Wong’s for more cocktails and Filipino- Chinese cuisine. It’s the ideal warm-up for a night of boulevard bar-hopping or — dare we say it — karaoke. From 7,600PHP, B&B (£137).
admiralhotelmanila.com
From top: The skyline of Manila Bay; Superior Room at Admiral Hotel
Manila – MGallery; a suite at Henry Hotel Manila
JUNE 2023 25
Shangri-La at The Fort It’s all glitz and glamour at the Shangri-La, with marble-lashed corridors, lifts with chandeliers and a mall’s worth of in-room lights. Yet, it all fades in comparison to what’s outside: the hotel’s 576 guest rooms occupy floors 18-40 of a 755ft-high skyscraper, giving visitors an unobstructed view over the Bonifacio Global City district. From 15,500PHP (£270).
shangri-la.com SARAH GILLESPIE
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