Hop Inn Hotel Makati Avenue Manila — Hotel in Makati

So, when I stayed at the Hop Inn Hotel in 2022, it was such a great experience (see my 2022 review at their website) that I only desired to book there again the following year in 2023. Well, 2023 was a horrible experience with several issues ranging from water leaks in the room, having to be moved to a different room for different problems 3 times, the front desk staff basically not knowing what to do with complaints (other than move you to another room, which is not really solving the problem), unruly guests yelling and running up and down the halls, mentally ill guests screaming from the top of their lungs throughout the day and night, and the worst of all...smokers smoking in the rooms even though Hop Inn is supposed to be a 'smoke-free' hotel (see full review of my 2023 stay at the Hop Inn website).||Me and my fiancee were not planning to ever come back to the Hop Inn Hotel again, but someone from their management team commented on my post (probably the same lame comment they give every guest that complains) and asked us to give them another try. So, we did this year (July - August 2024). ||I came again to the Philippines to visit my fiancee and we gave the Hop Inn Hotel another try. This time we will not come back (at least until a very serious problem is fixed and really fixed). I will start with the good: 1. From the complaints we had last year, there was still a problem with the water coming into the room after a heavy rain (my guess is because the building is just cheaply constructed), but it happened only once, as the staff came and checked it out and it did not happen again. 2. The rooms are quite clean, cozy, and budget-friendly, although I would not be surprised if after 5 to 10 years the hotel is run-down, roach, and rat-infested like many of those cheap 'hook-up' hotels over on P. Burgos and surrounding areas. I say this because there are already signs of wear and tear on the hotel, like worn tiles in the rooms and hallways, the existing water problem in the rooms after heavy rains, etc. And, I believe most of the time the management are very slow to get on top of these things to keep the property up-to-date; being more unactive than proactive (kind of like many of them are with dealing with serious guest complaints). 3. The staff in 2022 were great...so great that my fiancee and I brought them all 2 large pizzas to show our appreciation. In 2023 and this year (2024), they seem to have new front desk staff that don't really know how to take care of problems when they arise, but the good thing to highlight is that they remain pleasant and friendly. 4. The location of the hotel is near to many places to eat and do things, and is not that far from downtown Makati and all the malls and shops (about a 15 minute cab ride).||Now, with most of our complaints from 2023 at least addressed, the main reason my fiancee and I choose not to come back is because of the smoking issue. Last year we were moved to 3 different rooms on three different floors and each of the floors reeked with cigarette smoke!. This year we were able to stay on 1 floor during our entire stay (15 days), but had to deal with disgusting and nauseating cigarette smoke during our entire stay. At times it was so strong that it made my head heart and made my fiancee nauseated and also made her head hurt as well as affected her breathing! Of course we reported this each time to the front desk and each and every time their solution to the problem was to put a fragrant-scented humidifier in the hallway, which does not help and does not solve the problem! Last year, they just put a regular humidifier in the hallway, which also did not work. Instead of dealing with the problem directly, confronting the perpetrators, holding them accountable for breaking the rules of no smoking (something they have you sign and agree to - that you will not smoke in the rooms or building - before you complete your checkin, and kicking their inconsiderate behinds out, they (management) figure putting a humidifier in the hallways where these guests are basically saying 'F-you, Hop Inn, we will smoke when we want to and where we want to, even if we choose to do so in your hotel,' and giving them a fine (if they really do even fine them - that's what they told my fiancee they do). ||Just a FYI, Hop Inn Hotel...putting a humidifier (even a scent-infused one) in the hallways to deal with the smoke smell does not help and it does not take the cigarette / marijuana / vape / cigar smells away; and fining rule violators is something most, if not all, of them probably don't give a damn about because they will pay whatever the measly fine is to continue enjoying violating the rules of your property. The answer is to stick to your rules and enforce them, even if it means losing a few guests / customers, because by doing so, you will gain more guests / customers who will follow the rules and not smoke in your hotel. ||Because of their (hotel management) failure to enforce their rules of being a smoke-free hotel, my fiancee and I cannot return there and will be seeking other accommodations when we return to the Philippines.||Bottom line: If you are seeking a budget-friendly, clean hotel in a good location with friendly staff (although mostly unequipped to deal with problems that arise), and you don't care about people smoking in their, then by all means, book you a room. But, if you are like me, my fiancee, and others who have complained about this issue, and you don't like or can't even tolerate some from cigarettes, vapes, marijuana, cigars, and the like, then this is not the hotel for you, because Hop Inn IS NOT a...

The Hop Inn Makati is modern and the rooms are a good size for what you pay and they are very clean.

There is an average sized TV with a reasonable selection of English speaking channels.

This is a bare bones basic budget hotel and they provide two bottles of free water and that is it, there are no dental kits, no tea & coffee making facilities, no slippers or anything else.

The bathroom is a good size and there is a hair dryer provided. The shower water pressure is mediocre and the temperature is poor as it only ever gets to warm at best.

There is no fridge or kettle in the rooms, no tea or coffee, no dental kits or slippers.

The policies in this hotel are not customer orientated and rules are enforced for what appears to be no other reason than just to be stubborn and seem to have no focus on customer experience.

The staff here are insensitive and unfriendly and when I arrived I was walking with a backpack a bag and a suitcase and as I approached the entry the security walks up to me before I even got near the front door and says i want to see your vaccination certificate. Strange as this has not occurred it any other hotel I stayed at in Asia and I told him I had it and again he demanded to see it and I said can't you see I have no free hands but I will go inside put my bags down and show you. A very unfriendly and unwelcoming way to be treated.

You check in then go through the normal procedures which is done relatively smoothly the staff point at their watches saying check in time is 2 p.m. which is correct, they then ask you to take a seat while they prepare the room which state has perfectly normal.

I arrived at 12:20 lunchtime and I speak to others sitting waiting who also told me the staff dont care and just insist you sit and wait till 2 p.m. even though there are rooms that are ready. One person told me he have been sitting in the in the foyer waiting for nearly five hours.  Everybody understands that check in time is 2:00 p.m. but if rooms are ready, why not show some good will and send the customer to relax in the room instead of making congestion in the lobby and making people wait for no reason other than to stick exactly to the rules? This is a very poor policy and numerous customers were sitting complaining about it. I have since read a number of reviews and found others complain of the same thing.

Then after asking a couple of times and waiting for well over 90.minutes they finally sent me to my room. Housekeeping appears to be very slow as they dont ever makeup your room until between 2 and 4 p.m. each day.

The hotel is cheap and clean and within walking distance of food outlets, the red light district and a shopping mall and it's ok for a couple of nights stay but there are better...

To begin on a good note, the room is really clean and seemed very affordable and worth the price. They accommodated my request for pescetarian-based meals, as well. I slept long after a 20+ hour flight and airport waiting. But after 1 night, I already felt the smallness of the room. I know they probably indicated the room size on their website but when you’re spending your whole day, 10 days in this space, it starts to be pretty minuscule. I had a hard time sleeping and began having anxiety. I expressed this to their management which is thru Viber messaging. I asked if I could walk down or get something from the pharmacy to help me get to sleep. They said they don’t allow it. I completely understand this as this goes against their protocol. I asked if one of their staff can buy me meds, but said they cannot do that either. They don’t allow any form of external contact, so they said all these are regrettably forbidden. They allowed me though to grab-deliver medicine, already paid for, and only needed to be delivered to the room. I had an allergic reaction, too. And I requested medicine as advised by my doctor. And they said they didn’t have any antihistamine. A hotel this big should have at least the basic medical kit. Especially if you’re providing in-house food. I started hyperventilating, too. And when I do, I open my door to breathe in the fresh air from the window beside my room. Because, although there is a big window in the room, you can’t open it, and the only vent with fresh air is the tiny exhaust by the shower. I find the positioning of the lights inside the room not conducive for sleeping as well. The only natural light that goes through the room is by the window, but it is greatly blocked by a big Sampaloc tree. And on my last full day, they had construction in the next room. I told them about it, and they asked the contractor to stop immediately. But the contractor didn’t stop the hammering, although the drilling ceased. They seem to have good customer service, but they don’t give space for concerns which I think are getting more and more common with quarantining guests. Anxiety, stress, and depression are common symptoms of people in an enclosed space and they don’t seem to be understanding of all of this. The staff should be trained in managing guests who experience this. Overall, I had a terrible experience, maybe it's the whole quarantine process, but the hotel logistics and minimal service certainly...