Swiss-Belhotel Blulane Binondo, Manila

The room is spacious, the air conditioning is comfortable, and it's clean and tidy! The service is so-so; they actually asked for a PHP 2000 deposit for check-in, which is a bit much, isn't it? It's located near Chinatown, a bit far from the airport. The area around the hotel is quite messy. The water pressure in the bathroom is too low, making a normal shower very difficult, and there isn't enough hot water. It took me two or three times longer than usual to shower – this is really bad! The hallway on the floor has a damp and stale smell – very unpleasant 😷

This place is a bit hard to get to by car because it's in an alleyway, and it's near the busy Chinatown, so my Grab rides kept getting canceled. Chinatown seems to close quite early at night, which was a bit disappointing. It's about a 15-minute walk to the mall. The hotel provides basic amenities like toothbrushes, toothpaste, and hand soap. Filtered water can be refilled in the common area on each floor. However, there are no cotton swabs, shower caps, tissue boxes, or coffee/tea. Another thing to note is that if you shower after 4 PM, it takes a very long time for the hot water to come on. On the positive side, the staff are friendly and the breakfast is delicious.