Holiday Inn & Suites Manila Galleria by IHG — Hotel in Pasig

Where do I start? Touted as a four star hotel - let me tell you that my experience was anything but. Stayed for 3 days at a Premium Queen Room and also had a Standard twin room for family. June 1-3. The hotel was fully booked. Conveniently above the Robinson's Galleria - access to the mall was perfect. My first day at the hotel though, they had an A/C problem on my floor. Guests came in droves at the front desk complaining about the lack of air conditioning. Let me tell you that the staff were not properly trained to handle this. All they could say was sorry. After placating the guests saying - "we are handling the situation", air conditioning will work in 30 minutes (it did not), we will call you in the room etc. We eventually found out that they started moving guests to the nearby Crown Plaza late in the night. By the time the crowd had lessened, it was already midnight and some family members had already fallen asleep in the other room - it was pointless to wake them up and move everyone to another hotel. The point is, from the get go, they should be prepared for an eventuality like this. The first sign that things won't be fixed/repaired by days end - within the hour - they should have started carting people to the next hotel. but they came up with various excuses to send them away from the desk. Oh, and the phone in the Premium Queen room was not working. This is not how a 4 star hotel should operate and Holiday Inn at that - you've got a reputation to uphold! Especially since competition is even harder these days with newer chains popping up, Airbnb, Apartelles, smaller sized hotels that have far better service and a lot newer in the same area! Buffet breakfast was served in the 4th floor. Great selection of traditional filipino food that balikbayans like me would love - everything you missed is available there as well as continental breakfasts for foreigners and a separate buffet area for vegetarians. Please note that as I was at the buffet one day, I had to alert the staff as there was a small cockroach running around the buffet. The place though was sorry looking - half of which was under renovation. Chairs were old and as i sat on it, i sank. They need to be re-upholstered. The only thing going for it is the staff. My room steward Rowell was hard at work everyday and visible for anything extra i needed like shower caps which were not standard in the toilet in my room or extra towels. Staff at the buffet breakfast were warm and accommodating no matter how close you arrived to the end of breakfast service (6am-10am). See, here's the thing: If you work in a hotel, you are inadvertently part of what makes or breaks my holiday. As a guest, I know the front desk staff are not responsible for the A/C breaking down or any other problem that arises during my stay BUT the way you handle things will affect how this holiday/stay in your hotel goes. That's just a fact that you have to accept. You're in the service industry, so yes, it's my holiday and I DO expect for it to go well. in the end, it's how you respond to situations like this that will affect how we see your hotel. As I checked out, they were still charging me for the room service I had ordered. I made it clear that since i had already paid for both rooms upfront - in cash, during the chaos of that failed A/C incident, i chose not to add to the throng of guests, most had small children that insisted to be transferred to another hotel. The LEAST they could have done was to at least take out those charges as compensation for the horrible night without an A/C, right? Does it really have to be said? Do i really have to demand that I be compensated? I should have been re-imbursed! So NO. You will be better off staying at Discovery Suites, Marco Polo or even Citadines - all of which have far better service and in the same area...

Excellent and Exceptional Service!

We had the good fortune of being long-staying guests at the Holiday Inn & Suites Manila Galleria. Our home was undergoing a major renovation and we needed somewhere to stay for a month and a half.

We stayed in a two bedroom suite. It had comfortable living/dining areas, sizable enough to entertain several guests. It had an adequately sized refrigerator, a microwave, a kitchen sink, with cutlery and plates and glassware for all of us.

We were happy that the two bedroom suite had two toilets and two showers, as well. The master bedroom even had a Jacuzzi.

The master bedroom had a King size bed, with fluffy comforters, clean and crisp linens, and our choice of pillow firmness. The cabinets were very neat and there was enough space for all our clothes for the length of our stay.

The second bedroom for my sons was also very large. Again, the comforters were fluffy, linens were crisp and clean, and they had their choice of pillow firmness too.

I had to mention all that because all the appointments, cutlery, plates, glasses, linens, pillows and towels were very neat, clean and quite new. But that is not what I want to highlight here.

I would really like to highlight the Excellent and Exceptional Service at the Holiday Inn & Suites Manila Galleria.

Being long-staying guests for over a month and a half, we are able to say with much authority that the good service, the eagerness to help, the good vibes from the staff was palpable and consistent. We felt this from the day we checked in until the day we eventually said goodbye. And I say this about all the staff: from the service staff up at the penthouse Club Lounge, to housekeeping, to the efficient front desk, to the resident managers, and even to the security guards in the basement parking areas. Literally from top to bottom, we felt everyday that they were happy to see us, that they were eager to help us in every way they can, and then doing so always with a pleasant smile and happy demeanor.

In only a few days did they already take note of our preferences: Where we preferred to park the car, how I wanted my breakfast eggs cooked, my preferred TV news channel to watch over my morning coffee, which linens to replace sooner than the others, the first drink I usually pour during Happy Hour. They are all absolutely amazing. We felt seen, we felt heard, and we definitely felt appreciated.

It is quite disorienting to move out of your house, but I will admit that the Holiday Inn & Suites Manila Galleria staff made it so much easier.

I highly recommend staying there! I say that out loud.

PS. But realistically there is still an Area for Improvement. Due to our length of stay, I also had to “work from home“ on several days when I was there. I will be honest to mention that Internet connection leaves much to be desired when working remotely from there. Even with my pocket Wi-Fi to augment the connection, my signal was inconsistent and always interrupted. Perhaps management can help with boosters or repeaters or some other way to improve the internet signal. That is surely not a deal breaker but an area for...

I usually don’t write reviews but I cannot stomach my bad experience with this hotel. I wish I had booked elsewhere that would have given me better value and service, especially during the holiday season. This hotel falls short of the IHG level of service that I’m familiar with and is a very big disappointment . The only thing going for them is their accessibility because they are linked directly to a mall.

TLDR: bad service ( inattentive front desk / concierge— phone line ringing FOREVER and someone answering would be a miracle )

faulty rooms ( things not working, management didn’t check but still gave us the room and didn’t inform us until we found out)

very poor issue resolution ( no sense of urgency, ownership and responsibility. I need to keep making follow ups otherwise, no updates and no actions despite the staff providing commitments. I feel that they are also not transparent about the real situation until pressed, which is frustrating because for hospitality, the expectation is people are forthcoming on things.

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The service of front desk / concierge is not good at all. When we got our room, we noticed that the television reception wasn’t working. Cable is dead so no TV and the television is not a SMART TV. Granted that there was YouTube, but only a general account (not signed in/ not premium).

I raised this issue with concierge and the front desk multiple times on the first day we arrived. I had to call 3 multiple times over the course of an hour just to follow up the status because we were stuck waiting in our room for a supposed solution that they gave but never had any follow through on. Only after the 3rd call when I was starting to get angry when they did give something more definitive and started giving me status updates. It made me feel that if there was no emotion or force involved in resolving this issue, then there would be nothing done and no sense or urgency.

Of course , our issue was not resolved yet as we STILL had to lodge multiple follow ups the next day. Only until I was firm in my position that I wanted a resolution when I finally got the actual picture that the television access to cable is really broken and will not be fixed in our stay and there was no other alternative solution for us. I was questioning the front desk as to why they assign rooms to guests with something broken. I was not given an explanation, nor was I given a satisfactory alternative.

Salt on top of this wound is the fact that it takes forever to get someone to answer the phone from concierge / front desk. To be fair, housekeeping is very good in service and prompt to answer the phone.

In another topic, tried to get work done at the desk in the room but this hotel just keeps on giving. The table which has a supposed slot for plugs has nothing. (Photo below)....