Hotel H2O — Hotel in Manila

Aside from the booking blunder we had with Agoda for our reservation here, there's a couple of reason why I'll give this place a 2 star rating... I may be harsh for wanting to give out a 0 satisfaction rating because of the following factors:

The entrance - I'm not sure why they've placed the concierge which has it's own drop off/pick up point next to the hotel and park's main entrance drop off and pick up area, but this does not make any sense to me. For a 4-star hotel, I expected that someone would assist opening doors since they don't have the automated ones, but there's no hotel staff in sight so good luck with them heavy doors if you have a lot of bags.

The front office - While they try to be polite, most staff here failed to help us check in faster with the correct room. My wife had a stressful, unpleasant and emotional interaction with about 3 receptionist who kept asking for 2 valid IDs when my wife can only produce 1. This is like a slap to their guest's face if they are not aware of the hotel's policy, we know that it's their S.O.P. but they could have provided other options or asked for my ID, instead of having the situation escalate to the point where they have to get the hotel manager involved. Kudos to the manager, the staff was able to process our booking; thumbsdown to the staff who did not review the details of the reservation and downgraded our room to Park view room which was supposed to be an Aqua room. To their defense, this is not entirely the staff's fault as Agoda sent them the wrong information, but the error could have been easily avoided if they have verified the details on our confirmation email. For the inconvenience, it's a good thing that they upgraded our room from what was originally booked (giving them a parts of the 2 star rating for this).

The hotel - Upon entering the hotel area I expected to see the front office right away, but I got confused since the only people inside are also guests, then I wondered if we're at the right place. We just followed some guests who are carrying bags and took the elevator only to find out that the front office is actually located on the 3rd floor. Here are some of the other things I noticed: The common areas are poorly air conditioned. The desktop internet kiosk for guest are not working. Under staffed hotel bar/lounge (giving points for the cigar room which is accessible 24/7 on the same floor as our room, but this should be kept properly closed at all times since there are children who sometimes play outside). Multiple under utilized area. It will also take ages before you can get to your room if you're unlucky enough to be assigned a room that is at the end of a hallway. One hallway in particular has a view of the sea outside but it's difficult to stay at the area and wait for the sunset because of the poor air conditioning. The driftwood, other debris and trash floating about the water are a sight for sore eyes. The breakfast buffet, while it is not too shabby the options could have been better or more dishes should be added (no matter how bad my experience could have been, I will instantly give a 5 star rating if unlimited crispy bacon was offered). The only way to get your food for delivery if you ordered outide the hotel. is to go to the drop off/pick up point. Even though the elevator could fit about 10 or 15 people, it can easily be crowded by just 5 people.

The room - The room we're on is not that bad. Except it's missing some key items for the guests and those listed on their room set up info (slippers, cotton swabs and iron to name a few). There were also dead and torn jellies that's bothers me. The toilet is a bit high. We also saw a small cockroach crawling on the writing table. Over all, it's...

This piece of crud isn't even worth having 4 stars. The room size was great, but the room itself wasn't. Also, the service sucks. We had our stay from yesterday and checked out earlier today, and guess what? The check-in was too long. The location of the receiving area was bull since you can just skip that and go to the main entrance, which is the same as the Ocean Park entrance, and then check-in at the 3rd floor. The service was slow despite not having enough people checked in. Imagine, we ordered an extra bed sheet and blanket, and the attendant said, "we will look for an available sheet." Dude! How long can you look for one considering you don't even have many guests?? Furthermore, the MakanMakan is unresponsive when you call them to order, so room service isn't much of a room service when you have to order from the restaurant directly face to face. Even the spa doesn't have any attendants to answer the phone! Talk about unprofessionalism! The guest services line doesn't have anyone available when you call them as well. I don't even like the fact that the pool area is not very exclusive anymore as you have to enter via the Ocean Adventure much like any other guest that aren't even hotel guests. There is no process either. On day 1, if you are a hotel guest, the attendant there will give you a stamp, but on day 2, they will give you a paper bracelet/tag which can easily break off! There are also many uneducated and undisciplined people inside the pool area. The foot spa isn't even private since people can see you from the outside! It's in front of a mini skate park. lol! The restaurants available are not even good. They are just overpriced! *Calling taste of Italy! Even Angel's Pizza tastes better than your pizza with less the price! * There's also a sudden interruption with the flow of water inside the bathroom, so you can't even use the flush nor wash your hands. The ceiling shower doesn't even work! If you pull the switch, it won't work, but it will just break off. The sofa bed feels bad and unstable. It's also freakin' dirty! It looks to me that the caretaker doesn't even clean the place up after check-out. The bed pillows aren't even uniformed. Some are soft, and some are really hard! The aircon was nice, though. However, for a premium suite? Jeezus! It only has one bed?? MY GOD! You will have to order a smaller bed to fit my kids. Lastly, out of 2 card keys they provide, only one works, and the other doesn't. Only people with no class will appreciate such poor service. The female staff in MakanMakan told my wife we should pay an incident fee of 1500 pesos in order to pay for my kids, but actually, we were told we don't have to pay. The food selection is a little, and the water taste like tap water with soap. The iced tea and lemon juice are too sweet even. And for the check-out? Yeah, not a very nice experience as well. When the staff asked if I want my bag to be kept inside the staff room, and I agreed, he didn't even do it and instead put it together with other people's bags in the storage area. Like why did you even ask?? For a premium bay view room, it didn't offer much except the trash from Manila Bay. IO can't even enjoy the Wi-Fi as it's slow like sloth. The only thing that entertained us was my video game consoles that I brought inside....

The room was clean, but for the price, which is similar to the rate, I would pay at a 4-5 star Hotel, I would have expected more amenities (there was even no shower gel).

When we booked, we are aware that the rate was high, as in Manila you can get a similar room (without the fishes) for 20% of this price. We stayed already 7 years ago at this place, but while the rate rised, everything else dropped. As the setting was different and more quality-assured, we were therefore disappointed.

When we arrived, the taxi driver did not want to bring us to the Hotel, because of the preparations of the Black Nazarene. We arrived at midnight and were not very amused about this issue, as walking on a not suitable way for a luggage of 70 kg is not really appealing. He made it anyway, but at the next day, we dealt with more serious problems, while we never got informed about this so far. When we finally came back by walking a distance of approximately 3 km (roads were locked completely) with shopping items, we were really exhausted. We left at noon, but we found the Hotel notice about this festival as leaflet passed under the door. Too late - but early enough to realize, that the next day will be worse and we cannot leave the hotel at all.

Thinking, this would be the day for me to work on my open tasks in holiday, we were not happy, but that was the plan, until we did discover another thing: All Cell Phone connections were shut down (which is normal regarding a guard at this festival) and the Wifi was so slow, that it was not possible to open a simple website continuously - impossible to work in brief.

That was enough for us and we called the reception. We also mentioned, a second time, that the window of the beautiful aquarium was not cleaned again. In my opinion, the cleaners should see that and double check this every day. I am talking about a nearly one meter in diameter big stain and more scattered small stains on the whole Aquarium wall. Impossible to miss! As we addressed our concerns, there was no reaction, no apology or anything else.

Additionally, for guests, who book also inclusive breakfast, they should know, that also at the opening of the buffet at 6 am, as we were two times the first guests, everything, except the soup was already cold. That means: Eggs, Sausages, Bacon, French Toast and the changing Filipino dishes. They looked yummy, but were always cold. If it would not have been included, we would not go at all to the breakfast anymore.

In the room, the aircon could not regulated and was set at a temperature for fridge (too cold). We talked with the reception, who mostly was not reachable over the phone, but when walking there, two staff members were talking, while ignoring the phone. As I asked them, why they do not pick up the phone, there was no reaction at all. The technician came quickly in most of the times, but could solve the problem at the last night of our stay, while most of the nights were already over.

I am very sorry for this rating, but it is important to tell that, in my opinion. My recommendation is a total no go for H2O in the current condition and with this very low level of service. To mention is, that the team is always smiling and nice, but is not reacting quickly and mostly not reacting at all about...