Alvinology goes to Resorts World Manila – Day 1 of 4

Thanks to the folks from Genting Hong Kong Limited (formerly known as Star Cruises Limited), I visited their first foray into in a land-based attraction, Resorts World Manila for a 4D3N trip.

Resorts World Manila (RWM) is one of the premier leisure brands under the Genting Group. It is one of the group’s flagship integrated leisure and entertainment complex featuring three hotels including a six star all-suite Maxims Hotel, an iconic shopping mall, 4 high-end cinemas and a multi-purpose performing arts theatre.

This is my first trip to the Philippines and Manila city. Two other bloggers, Camemberu and Sheila Mandy were hosted together. Both of them were also visiting the Philippines for the first time.

We flew by Philippine Airlines and arrived at Manila at around 3pm (there’s no difference difference between Singapore and Manila). Resort World Manila is located very near to the airport and it took just around 10 minutes to reach there, depending on the traffic condition.

For the first two nights, we checked into Remington Hotel, a budget hotel targeted at transient travelers and those who prefer save on travel accommodation.

Standard rooms at Remington Hotel cost Php3,900++ (S$115) a night while service apartment rooms cost Php4,900++ (S$144) a night.*

The main differences between the service apartment and standard room are the absence of cooking facilities, a microwave oven and refrigerator in the latter. We were hosted in the service apartment rooms though there really wasn’t a need to utilise the cooking facilities with so much good food available 24-7, within RWM itself.

Room booking comes with FREE shuttle bus transfers including roundtrip transfer between the airport and the hotel; city shuttle service to-and-fro Binondo, Ermita, Quezon City, Makati, Taguig, San Juan Pasay and Psasig. These are good savings on transportation and save the hassles of haggling over fares with dishonest taxi drivers.

My room at Remington was simple and no-frills. Pretty much what I would expect for a budget hotel. The room was very clean and the housekeeping staff friendly and on-the-ball. I believe just cleanliness and service standards would satisfy most guests.

After checking in, we had dinner at Mercado Buffet Restaurant, situated on the ground floor, within the RWM Casino. Buffet prices range from Php299++ (S$9) for weekday breakfast to Php699++ (S$21) for weekend dinners.*

Mercado serves Filipino cuisines and have a seating capacity of over 200 pax. I had a great dinner at the restaurant, but am unable to post any photos as it is situated within the casino, a strictly no photography zone.

The buffet at Mercado includes a rich spread of Filipino favorites ranging from staples like Adobo and Pancit (stir-fry noodles) to delicacies like Sisig (chopped pig’s head and liver) and Kare-kare (Oxtail and vegetables in peanut sauce).

Right after dinner, we were treated to a spectacular musical performance of The Sound of Music at the Newport Performing Arts Theater:

[youtube url=”http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZQvDSVSdtDQ&”]

The Newport Performing Arts Theater was designed and built to host a wide variety of events from stage productions, concerts and award shows to parties and other functions. It can seat up to 1,500 pax and has a vestibule for 300 people.

Equipped with stage-of-the-art facilities like big onstage LED walls for dynamic backdrops and tip-top audio and visual controls, these added much to the enjoyment of the musical to the fullest.

I love the musical. Filipinos are very talented in entertainment and this production which boasts of an entirely Filipino cast and ensemble bears testament. Hearing old favourites from The Sound of Music like “Do-Re-Me” and “So Long, Farewell” makes me want to learn them again to sing to my son Asher, together with my wife. Sweet. 🙂

Ticket prices range from Php1000 (S$30) for balcony seats to Php2000 (S$60) for VIP seats.* I find this quite worthwhile and would recommend visitors to RWM to sit through a performance, especially if it is a full Filipino production.

After the musical, I returned early to my room to tuck myself in for the night, conserving my energy for the long day ahead the next day. Stay tuned for my next blog post on my stay at RWM.

* Information are accurate as of blog entry publish date; please check RWM’s website for latest rates.