Family Staycation: Our Hotel H2O and Manila Ocean Park Experience (Part 1)
Our wedding anniversary falls on April 30, the day before Labor day, so it's a good reason to go on a family vacation. This year, the date fell on a Thursday, so it meant a long weekend for us.
We would always look forward to taking staycations with the family. Last year, we went to Crosswinds in Tagaytay. You can read bout that here.
This year, we spent our anniversary at Hotel H2O and also to visit Manila Ocean Park (MOP). As if purposely hitting two birds with one stone, we chose to go there for a staycation as well as to have our family field trip, since the hotel is conveniently located at Manila Ocean Park.
HOTEL H2O
We left early morning, because we plan to go around MOP in the afternoon. We got there at around 11:30AM, and even though the standard check-in is 2PM and checkout is at 12noon, we were given a room after just about 15 minutes of waiting.We didn't mind the wait, after all we were too early. We looked around a bit, and the lobby and lounge were spacious and very classy. You'd feel relaxed already.
This is the view of the Manila Ocean Park area from the hotel window.
The view of the lounge in the morning...
The view of the lounge and meeting room at night.
We booked an Aqua Room, the hotel's signature room - unique to the hotel in the country.
We booked for a room with tickets, so our stay didn't include the buffet breakfast. You can choose to get MOP tickets when you book for your stay at the hotel. It's about 30 pesos less than buying at the ticket booth, and it saves you time too.
Room Features:
- Queen-size bed with cotton linens
- Cabinet with safe
- Chiller
- 37-inch LCD television
- Work desk with high-speed Internet access
- Marble bath
- And the best feature yet: A life-sized aquarium of various fish, running the length and breadth of the 25-square-metre room's main wall (hotelh2o.com)
Here are images of our room.
Complimentary goodies...
The kids love the aquarium window :)
Hotel Amenities:
- Club Lounge
- Gym/Fitness Center (My husband loved the Gym!)
- Spa
- Meeting Room
- Swimming Pool (near the Sharks and Rays Encounter at MOP, which we unfortunately did not get to try because we were tired already)
After we've put down our luggage in the room, we went out to lunch at North Park just below the hotel.
Other food establishments nearby include: Green Bean Coffee, Pancake House, Gerry's Grill, Makan Makan Asian Food Village (where the buffet breakfast is held), Quix food court, White Moon bar, Pinoy Delights among many others (see the list of food choices here)
Beautiful view of Manila Bay in the early morning :)
The following morning, my little girl and I took a little stroll around the premises while we waited for our McDonalds breakfast delivery...
This is a nice view of the corridor near the bay...
Picture by the Jeepney display :)
Beautiful view of Manila Bay in the early morning :)
Other helpful information:
- Published rates are much higher than current rates. If you try booking online, the Aqua Room is about 5,000++ nett, while published rates on the website states that it's about 10,000++. So inquire first via call or email.
- Additional adult (more than 2), requires an additional mattress, which costs 1000php.
- If buffet breakfast is not included in your booking, you can still opt to get this separately at about 600php per person. But if that's too costly for you, you can order for delivery, like what we did, haha!
- The nearby food establishments do not open until 10AM.
MANILA OCEAN PARK
We spent the afternoon at Manila Ocean Park. We had Deep Sea Rush tickets which included 6 MOP attractions (a ticket costs 580php if you buy at the ticket booth, but only 550php when you book at the hotel):
- Oceanarium
- Back of the House
- Jellies Exhibit
- Sea Lion Show
- Sharks and Rays Dry Encounter
- Symphony Evening Show
You can read PART 2 of our experience (all about Manila Ocean Park) HERE.
I made another post about our MOP trip because I want to document lots of pictures :) You'll love them too...
I made another post about our MOP trip because I want to document lots of pictures :) You'll love them too...
Overall, we enjoyed our stay there, it was a one-of-a-kind experience and the kids loved it too. My son wouldn't want to leave the next morning when I told him we had to go home, he insisted that was his house now with the fish!
Interested in spending your staycation and family field trip here too?
For booking information and ticket purchases:
Address: Luneta, Manila, Philippines 1000 (Behind the Quirino Grandstand)
HOTEL H2O
Website: https://www.hotelh2o.com/
Tel. #: (02) 238 6100
Reservation: reservation@hotelh2o.com
Hotel Inquiry: inquiry@hotelh2o.com
Like on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/HotelH2OPH
MANILA OCEAN PARK
Website: https://www.manilaoceanpark.com/
Tel. #: (02) 567 7777
Email: inquiry@manilaoceanpark.com
Like on Facebook: Manila Ocean Park (Official)
11 comments
I think the little ones would love this talaga. And the aquarium in the room is an awesome feature. :) Hope to bring my son here one day. :)
ReplyDeleteOh wow! My sons would love the aquarium in the room for sure! Looks like a great place for a staycation. I sure hope we can book a room too next time. :)
ReplyDeleteNice your room has a big aquarium!(: For sure my boys will that too! Do all the rooms have that?
ReplyDeleteWe booked the Aqua room, where they have the aquarium window. They have other rooms, like a view of manila bay :)
DeleteI remember the time I went there first it was for a field trip at hindi pa open noon ang hotel hehehe... I'd love to save up for this and give my pichi a honeymoon staycation hehehe...
ReplyDeleteive always wanted to check in here and now i want to even more! haha
ReplyDeleteGanda ng room with aquarium. I think my daughter would love that experience!
ReplyDeletexoxo
MrsMartinez
I've heard bad reviews about this hotel, but upon looking at your photos and reading your experience it seems it isn't that bad after all. I hope you also shared your MOP experience too. I'd love to hear about it because we've never been there. Thanks!
ReplyDeleteI did Ruth! You can read our MOP experience in the next post :)
DeleteMy daughter will surely love aquarium inside the hotel room!
ReplyDeleteThe aquarium window is definitely the favorite part of the kids. The room looks neat and clean.
ReplyDelete