Mansion Garden Hotel — Hotel in Olongapo

I booked two rooms for our trip - one King Suite and one Standard Deluxe. While I was not expecting both rooms to be at par with each other, the differences are not enjoyable and the lack of facilities for the Standard Deluxe room was bad.||To start, I asked to check in early, which was a request and I understand that it cannot be granted all the time. So when we came at 1:30 and the room was not ready, I understood. They did inform us that the Standard room is ready so we checked in and was told that they would call us when our room would be ready at 2 pm. When we arrived at the room, it was scorching hot. It was not ready. The aircon was not working. We gave them another chance and tried to call but alas, the phone was not working either. What a great way to start. ||I went down to the front desk to tell them the situation and asked if we can be transferred since the room was too small. They offered the Apartelle, which was too pricey, especially given what I have seen. Another option that they offered was a rollaway bed at an additional cost and that they will send someone to fix the aircon. I agreed to this, hoping that this is just a minor mishap. We did have an event on the hotel so it was convenient for us to stay here, despite all the bad things I have been hearing about the hotel facilities.||So at 2 pm, I came down to get my keycard, which was discussed with the frontdesk that I will only need to ask for my keycard and not go through the check in process again. Unfortunately, this was not the case. I was asked to fill out the form again, asked for an ID again, and the keycard was not yet ready. Bad start, again. I did not fillout the form. I told the frontdesk that I already did the whole check in process and I only need to get the keycard for the King Suite. Since it was not ready, we had to wait, again.||When we finally got our keycard and moved to our room, it was on the other side of the building, which is fine since it gives us privacy. The aircon was not yet open, so the room was also hot. But this is fine, since it only took 30 minutes for the room to be at room temperature. Mind you, this is in April, when Philippine temperatures could reach extreme levels. ||By 10 pm, when our event was over, I asked my family members if their room is already cold, to which they replied that it was not. So I asked that they be transferred and I was ready to be angry since I know that they could only offer an Apartelle room (as was stated by the front desk personnel earlier that day). But, they were offered another Standard deluxe room which was apparently available. So the front desk personnel lied to me, just to make a quick buck and get us to book the higher room rate. ||The checkout process was also not reliable. You would have to wait at the front desk for quite a while and they will not tell you when the room is cleared, you have to ask them every now and then. Here, I asked my family if their new room was better. They said that it was indeed colder but there was no water supply and they had to wash themselves in another family member's room or when water became available, they used the bidet since the pressure was not reaching the showers. This was bad given that they had a baby with them and there was LITTLE TO NO WATER on the room.||At this point, I already gave up on this hotel. I can forgive the lack of good customer service at the front desk because the housekeeping staff was very kind and attentive. I can forgive the misgivings and inconveniences but I cannot forgive the subpar facilities and the lack of water in our room. ||If you are going to SBMA, try out the other hotels or book their higher end rooms such as the King Suite, Apartelle, or Double Deluxe located on the other building. Their Standard Deluxe rooms are cheap but it...

I'll give a 5 since there is no 4.5 here and the only driver is location and amenities.

Let's start with the best they can offer: Location!! Location: 10/10 Mansion Garden is situated to our fave food places, near park, bayview walkway, chapel, and if you will consider 850m as walkable (well we do) Harbor point. They also have great amenities, and affordable good food in their Garden Cafe. Situated near affordable but great food resto/cafe, Mansion Garden has the best location in SBFZ for food lovers (like us?). It's situated adjacent to Veranda by Cocolime, and asian fusion restaurant, also near Meat plus Cafe, an affordable restaurant with the best affordable steaks, and few steps to Xtremely Xpresso, our favourite restaurant in Subic. There are still lot of café and resto near the hotel that we haven't explored (sorry!), But what I listed below are what we consider a must when you book here. Mansion Garden is also 850m away from Harbor point, so if you want to consider taking a stroll going to mall.

Standard room: 7/10 We're here for their location and amenities, but rooms shouldn't be sacrificed. The room is a bit cramped (well it's standard), lights are not too bright, but not too dim also (the dim adjuster in our room is not working) The desk in the tv had the Cignal provider covered, so it's additional effort if we want to change the channel but we don't watch tv anyways. What we like is the strong water current in their faucent and shower, and how quick the temperature can change. It's really relaxing to just stand and feel the strong but soft current drop at their rain shower. Aircon had a leak, and issue with the flush during our 2 nights stay, so they doesn't really monitor the maintenance of their room, but ensure that the room is clean in terms of house keeping.

Staffs: 6/10 Staffs are, well, a mix of mostly accomodating and not but hospitality industry must be hospitable at least, I mean isn't that's their fundamental existence?? We're not greeted with warm reception on our day 1, maybe due to high number of guest checked in (and there's a wedding scheduled a day after), but of course, that's what they can't compromise, welcoming presence for the guests. The receptionist even dropped the phone on me when it's hard to call them and when they answered, just 2 quick hellos (just in time when I finally reached the phone and answer), dropped it, and I need to call again 😅. Their facial expressions even though wearing face mask, is obviously dry, with tired or unwilling expression (this is more obvious with the staff that delivered the pasta I ordered from their cafe for room service). 2nd day is a bit different as staffs in their buffet breakfast is more accomodating. Then came again Poolman in the pool that make us feel its dragging for him to be of service for us. We got the towel on our own, and then he sits to be the lifeguard (no big deal actually, we simply brush it off) Other staffs on our stay are friendly, the housekeeping team, some staffs that open the doors for us when they see we're coming and some also greeted us with joyful expressions (yup, that became an achievement, instead of bare minimum 😅)

Food: I only ordered beef sauce pasta, and it's delicious! From what I remember (since this is our 2nd time here) the Garden Cafe offers great food.

Amenities: Pool: their pool is just 4-5 ft, chlorine mix is just alright, not muh sting in the eyes (compared to iCove that really hurts the eyes 😅) They also have a gym, which we haven't tried, And lobby area per floor that is neat...

I recently had the pleasure of staying at this hotel and overall, it was a positive experience. Here's a breakdown of my stay:

Positives:

Pool Delight: The highlight of my stay was the wonderful pool. It was clean, well-maintained, and provided a relaxing environment for a refreshing swim.

Delicious Breakfast: The breakfast served was a delightful assortment of choices, ensuring a good start to the day. The food was fresh, and the variety was impressive.

Clean and Comfortable Room: The room I stayed in was spotlessly clean, and the housekeeping team did an excellent job of maintaining it throughout my stay. The bed was comfortable, and the room had all the amenities I needed.

Wi-Fi Convenience: Having access to reliable Wi-Fi was a definite plus, especially for business travelers or those who need to stay connected during their stay.

Areas for Improvement:

Soundproofing Needs Attention: Unfortunately, the one downside of my stay was the poor soundproofing. I could hear noises from neighboring rooms, including furniture movements and even the flushing of toilets. This made it a bit challenging to get a peaceful night's sleep.

In conclusion, this hotel offers many great features, including a fantastic pool, delicious breakfast, and comfortable rooms with Wi-Fi. However, the issue with soundproofing was a drawback that affected my overall experience. If you're a light sleeper or sensitive to noise, this might be something to consider when booking...