First of Summer City Getaway (Location: Luxent Hotel)

(YES, THIS IS GOING TO BE A HOTEL REVIEW)

Holy Week normally marks the beginning of summer for me. Probably because there’s a long vacation that goes with it.  This year, we planned a May trip so there’s really nothing in the calendar late March, early April except a trip back to my hometown.  And as it has been particularly warm – no, sweltering, the past few days, we decided to pack our bags and spend the last half day of work and last day in Manila in a hotel. Hotels in Manila are quite cheap during this season because all city-people are planning out-of-city trips.

With two boys in tow – my son Pao and his cousin, Joman who is vacationing with us – friend, co-worker and condo-kapitbahay, Pam and I checked in new Quezon City Hotel – Luxent Hotel, which I think would be rated as a 3 Star Hotel.

I dropped off Pam to check in and went straight to work.  A few minutes after, I got this text saying: Room XX Perfect Beds. Kasya tayong apat. And true enough, the room was surprisingly spacious with two medium –sized beds.

The two boys made much ado about lounging out in the poolside. We called them teenagers na luma-lifestyle.  Pao said the pool looks really good.  Ditto the gym where he tried all equipment. 

Of course I never got to see both as I originally planned because – well, the bed inside the airconditioned room just looks (and feels) so much better.

Then there was the buffet breakfast. I was pretty excited about it. I have been on a strict calorie-counting diet for the past six weeks and a cheat day is something I’ve been really looking forward to. The buffet looked exciting enough and plentiful enough for me to call Pao (who was still snoozing in our room) four times to go down and join us for breakfast pronto.

I started with a cheese-topped roll, bacon, ham, pork and beans and coffee. The roll, and later on all the pastry stuff, turned out to be really good, with the crispiness of freshly-baked goodies on the outside and that soft, warm, fluffiness inside. The ham was the first disappointment . It was tough and really salty. And can I just say first that Pao loved two breakfast items  the most: bacon and pancake. So he saved those two for last and he went – “Blah, so disappointing.” The bacon was tasteless he said and the pancake could have used more eggs  (as in, to make it lighter) and the bottom was burnt too.  

On the upside, I ate the best tasting corned beef – ever. And I must repeat, all the pastries I tasted were worth every single calorie. And the coffee… I could drink that coffee without sugar or cream the whole day.

On the upper up side, although you can feel the bit of lack of confidence that usually comes with the ‘newness’ of everything, the staff were really nice and friendly.

Over-all rating   :               3.5/5

Value for money:             4.5/5

Will I check-in again? Definitely. Next time, I might even try out the pool and the gym. As for the breakfast – I can always get my money’s worth eating pastries, sipping gallons of coffee and having nothing else but corned beef for ulam.

(** Photo credits for hotel facilities: www.luxenthotel-quezoncity)