Lucky Chinatown Binondo Hotel

The room itself was okay, with good air conditioning, wifi, and a working hot shower. Breakfast was a buffet, but I spotted another cockroach wandering over the salad tomatoes. There were lots of OJTs, with at least 10 people behind the front office counter. I hope the hotel puts their help to use dealing with the roaches. I’d read the reviews the night before and was horrified by all the complaints, especially about cockroaches, but my booking was already non-refundable. I’d booked a twin room with breakfast and requested a queen bed instead of the two twins. They said it wasn’t available and that an upgrade would cost another 1500, which I turned down. As soon as I got in, I looked for roaches and quickly found one by the bathroom door. I covered it with a towel because I was afraid of having to chase it.

Our room was decent, with a working hot shower, mini fridge, and good air conditioning, and the location is great. Still, I wouldn’t come back unless the facilities and security improve. The building could use renovation: there are cracks inside the elevator walls, and the hallway windows on the 6th floor were stained. Parking was awful. The area is also used for garbage pickup, so it smells bad, and there are huge rats that might even chew car cables. There’s no elevator access to the lobby either, so guests have to walk up the same ramp cars use. The first day, reception gave another guest a copy of our room key. Someone unexpectedly opened our door while we were inside, which was a serious privacy and security concern. Thankfully, we were still in the room when it happened.

After waiting two and a half hours, they finally moved us to the room next door, where the shower was hot. Why didn’t they switch us right away when I asked? I couldn’t enjoy the night because of this, and the customer service was crazy and dumb. Their staff are all over our room even though there’s no heater in it. Around 9pm I called to report that our shower was freezing cold and asked if we could move rooms. They said an engineer was fixing it, but at about 11:30pm it was still freezing. I needed to shower before meeting friends, and the vacation was kind of ruined. Their compensation for the hassle was an extra 2 hours on checkout, which is funny. This was unacceptable service, and I’ll never stay here again. There are lots of better hotels. Let this be a lesson to everyone not to check in here. Please everyone DO NOT CHECK IN HERE.

We spent two nights here and wouldn’t come back. The towels weren’t clean, reception wasn’t very welcoming, the refrigerator didn’t work, and the TV was small and very blurry. Parking is very limited too. If another car needs to leave, they ask you to move yours, which is a hassle. For this kind of hotel, the price is expensive compared with others.