The Malayan Plaza

The hotel is conveniently located near Starbucks and several restaurants, with The Podium mall just across the road. Staff were helpful and accommodating, including the Maintenance guy who helped with the remote and smells from the kitchen sink. My second room was better than the first, which was on the 10th floor and had a terrible sewage smell. I appreciated being moved, but there was no shampoo or iron board at first. They brought some on the second day. The room was spacious and had a walk-in wardrobe, small kitchenette, kettle, and office table, but it felt dated and more worn than the online photos. The kitchenette was incomplete, with no dishwasher for the plates. The microwave looked very old, the curtains were noticeably dirty, and the toilet cabinet was unclean. The rain shower turned cold after about two minutes, no matter how I adjusted it, and never stayed even warm. I wouldn’t recommend this hotel if you’re fussy about cleanliness, though it may suit someone on a budget.

The room was spacious, but the rest of my stay was disappointing. The linens looked used, and there was visible hair on the bed. The bathroom had mildew and felt unhygienic, so we decided to move to another hotel. They also refused a refund.

The room felt below what I expected for about PHP 3,500 a night. The bathroom, especially the bidet, didn’t look properly cleaned, and the air conditioner was really loud. We got in very late, so I didn’t ask reception to sort it out then. We’d had a parking problem at first and nearly canceled, but reception fixed it, so we went ahead with the stay. Still, I couldn’t shake the feeling that we got a subpar room after bringing up parking. I won’t stay at this hotel again.

I book 3-5 rooms a year as a unit owner and regular guest, so these parking problems are getting frustrating. Recently we were refused use of two paid tandem slots for our two cars, which makes no sense to me when other floors are handled differently. The guard was also disrespectful when I tried to sort it out. We know hotel guests get complimentary parking, and when we were told it was first come, first served, we didn’t demand a spot. But denying paid tandem parking and having security communicate so poorly is really disappointing, given how much business we bring.