The Remington Hotel at Resort World Manila, near the airport, is a convenient budget hotel for a short stop over. You get a clean, modern (if small) room, friendly service and an included breakfast. The casino & mall are just across the street for food and entertainment. And since the Remington joined Intercontinental Hotel Group (IHG) recently, you can even earn some IHG Rewards points – beware the fine print though!
Location: The Remington Hotel is part of the Resort World Manila Casino & Entertainment complex at Manila’s NAIA airport. The hotel offers an hourly shuttle to the airport or you could walk in about 15 minutes from NAIA Terminal 3. A taxi should take about 5-10 minutes from T3 and 15-20 minutes from T1, 2 and 4. The casino, shopping mall, restaurants, bars and movie theaters are just across the street, giving you plenty to do nearby.
Service & Rewards: The front desk appeared overwhelmed at check-in and was handing out numbers for people to sit down and wait until they could check in. As an IHG Rewards Club Platinum elite member, I was given priority and only waited a few minutes. Staff was very friendly and attentive, completing the check-in and providing additional information about the hotel, breakfast and shuttle services.
They were a little unsure about the IHG rules, but honored an upgrade request after checking with management. The confirmed that the Remington will be re-branded as a Holiday Inn Express and will be renovated. IHG Rewards Club members beware though; IHG sells the Remington as a Holiday Inn Express already, but does not recognize it as one with regards to point earning or promotions – selling something that you have no intention of delivering is a bit of a scam…
Room: The standard rooms at the Remington all have two queen beds. I had requested a single, king-size bed, and we were upgraded to a premium room. On entry, there is an open sitting area, with a sofa-bed, a small table with drums as stools and a mini-kitchenette with a mini-fridge and tea/coffee facilities.
The single, queen bed is separated with a partial divider. The room is pretty small with little room around the bed. The bed is an Asian-size queen bed, which is about 5in (12.5cm) shorter. The furniture was basic, but functional and the fridge, TV and kettle were all in good working order. The air conditioning is centrally controlled and was set to very cold. We called housekeeping because the provided remote control didn’t seem to do anything – and they confirmed it’s not meant to do anything – ok!
The bathroom is also very small, with a toilet on the right, a small sink-in-countertop in the center and a narrow shower on the left. It has a short glass partition with a curtain covering the rest of the opening. Basic towels and bath amenities were provided.
Restaurant & Amenities: The hotel has a food court with different food offerings as well as a bar at the lobby bar. The bar is not the most inviting, but you can have a night cap there before bed. They also serve the (free) breakfast there, but it didn’t look very inviting and we opted for the alternative, Cafe Maxim in the casino complex.
It’s a 10 minute walk, but well worth it. It offers a nicer setting and a selection of made-to-order breakfast with coffee, tea or juice. I picked eggs & sausage with a croissant & toast. The quality was good and the portion was ok. If you are hungry, be prepared to pay up for more food or drink!
The hotel doesn’t have a pool or gym, but there is (paid) parking underneath.
Bottomline: We booked the room during a promotion and paid $50/night. That’s good value for a small, modern room in a central location including breakfast. Given it’s location, the Remington is ideal for a short airport stop-over on a budget. You can get dinner, a movie and a good night’s sleep minutes away from the airport before your next flight.