Staycation Chronicles: Crowne Plaza Galleria

Living in Manila could be very toxic. The insane city traffic, never ending heat and busy lifestyle could easily drive one nuts! I myself have been on the edge these past days due to tight deadlines, shoots and upcoming trip that needs a detailed itinerary. And a staycation at Crowne Plaza Galleria was just what I needed to de-stress. 

Hello, Crowne Plaza Galleria. 

Managed by the prestigious Intercontinental Hotels Group (IHG), Crowne Plaza Galleria is the hotel of choice of several business travelers. Its premiere location of being at the heart of Ortigas and right beside Robinsons Galleria gives it a strong advantage against its competitors in the area. 

We stayed at a Deluxe Room (PHP4,400) and it is equipped with king size bed, lounge chair, work desk, cable TV, mini fridge, safe, and en suite bathroom with bathtub. 

We decided to do some work as soon as we got to the room but had difficulty connecting to Crowne Plaza's internet. We had to call front desk to reset our connection. Thankfully, it was quickly resolved after the call.

Housekeeping was also fast and attended to our needs within 10 minutes. However, I noticed that the pillows and even the mattress have stains on it. Everything else though was clean and well-maintained despite the fact that the hotel is over 14 years old.

After sending a few emails, we checked out the pool on the 5th floor but was disappointed with its small size. I'm not sure if there was an event or party but the pool area was packed with young boys. 

We opted to cross to Robinsons Galleria for dinner and simply crossed through the 3rd floor which connects Holiday Inn and the mall. 

Security back to the hotel from the mall seemed very lax as no one checked our bags of purchases. No access card is also needed to get to the guest floors making it easy for any mall goer to go to any floor of the hotel.

Tired from running a handful of errands, we unwound by watching a movie or two with the busy Ortigas street as our view. 

I headed down to Seven Corners the following morning for breakfast and was a bit underwhelmed by the selection of food. 

Though there are classics like bacon, all sorts of eggs and sausages, most, if not all, fall under mediocre in terms of taste. The best one I had was chicken inasal. It had that delightful tangy flavor but the chicken itself was on the dry side. 

Breakfast was saved though by taho.

Oh glorious taho!

I usually ask for a hotel/room tour too to know the establishment's different amenities and offering to have a more informative feature. However, I was told to email the Director of Sales which I found rather odd and a bit too extreme for a mere tour. The front desk personnel assured me though that I will get a reply in a couple of minutes. I complied and sent an email only to find out that the email address given to me was the generic inquiry email of the hotel. I guess Crowne Plaza Galleria, being one of the early players in the industry still holds a very bureaucratic system. 

Don't get me wrong, the stay was pleasant. The bed and pillows were comfortable despite knowing it has stains. The bathroom was spacious and clean. And I love that there's a mini fridge to keep our drinks cold. I just hope that the hotel would have been more flexible with simple requests or could have just mentioned upfront that they can't do so.  

Crowne Plaza is located at Ortigas Avenue corner Asian Development Bank Avenue, Ortigas Center, Quezon City.

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