Coconut Palace — Attraction in Manila

Very nice place to visit!! The Coconut Palace is built entirely from indigenous materials such as narra and molave hardwoods, coconut wood and husks. The palace was built to host Pope John Paul II during his 1981 visit. You can ogle at guest rooms such as the Visayas Room, showcasing thousands of shells; the Mountain Province Room, executed in the bold red and black colors of the highland people; and the Ilocos Room, with its priceless mother-of-pearl furniture. Directly south of the Coconut Palace is the Sofitel Philippine Plaza (formerly the Westin), with comfortable restaurants in the lobby atrium - a welcome escape from the city bustle...

Coconut Palace was commissioned in 1978 by First Lady Imelda Marcos to serve as a government guest house. It is made of several types of hardwood, coconut shells, and specially engineered coconut lumber. It cost 37 million PHP to build. It was offered to Pope John Paul II during his papal visit to the Philippines in 1981, but the Pope refused to stay there because it was too opulent given the level of poverty in the...

This place has very interesting story, as it was made simply to impress the Pope who unfortunately did not feel that way. However, for me it was a very underwhelming experience as I made it to the gate, but then was not allowed to proceed as "pemit" needed, no way to buy tickets at gate.

Also, you do not even get very good photo opportunity...