City Staycation at AurumOne Makati Hotel
The observation of holy week in the Philippines this 2015 fell on the first week of April. Aside from the usual customs and traditions, it’s the time of the year when most urban dwellers in Metro Manila go back to their provinces or goes on a far away vacation with their families and friends.
It’s also the best time to stay in the city for some quiet time since there’s no traffic and the city roads are almost empty. Seats For Two took this chance to have some city “staycation” at AurumOne Hotel in Makati.
AurumOne Makati
It’s a new hotel having only opened mid of 2014 (last year). It’s also a simple, no-fuss budget hotel catering mainly to transient individuals or couples looking for a place to stay overnight since it’s near the airport.
As for our city staycation, we choose to spend 3 days and 2 nights from April 1 to 3. We checked-in at about 2pm in the afternoon and our first impression is it’s minimalist-white theme from exterior to interior. Its design was clean, easy, and fresh to the eyes.
It also popped-out from the old-city backdrop of the streets and nearby establishments of Bangkal, Makati.
Here are some snaps of our bed room AurumOne Suite which got a complimentary upgrade from AurumOne DeLuxe.
Hotel & Room Amenities
Our Aurum Suite costs Php 3,500 per night and comes with a complimentary buffet breakfast. The fully-furnished room is very spacious, has good and free wi-fi, hot and cold-shower, refrigerator, 32″ LED TV with cable, and free local calls.
It’s so spacious I think we can fit another bed! 🙂 Other room amenities include a workstation desk, complete toiletries, and a safety deposit box.
You’d have to request though for the slippers, hair dryer, and iron + iron board in case you’d need them. On the other hand, the Skycable cable tv service uses the basic plan so some of my favorite cable channels are not available.
As mentioned above, it’s a simple no-fuss hotel so there’s no swimming pool. However, we learned from Ms. Judeth Racelis, aurumOne Rooms Manager, that a gym and a spa / massage center is on the planning table for possible future development to accommodate such needs for their guests which are mostly foreigners and OFW (Overseas Filipino Workers) with connecting flights from the nearby NAIA airport. It’s good to know as well that they have plans of upgrading the cable service in the future.
As per the pool, who knows, if the business is good, there can be an AurumTwo and it would have a swimming pool, right? 🙂 Afterall, the hotel’s major investors includes a cooperative of OFWs and Francsico Colayco, a famous financial advisor in the Philippines.
Furthermore, the hotel is also suitable for price-conscious business travelers looking for a place to stay since the hotel is near the central business district of Makati City and Pasay City. They also have about three meeting rooms for business purposes while the whole hotel have more than 60 rooms in total.
It is interesting to note as well that they have a loft-type accommodation called AurumOne Loft. As a couple, we haven’t stayed in a loft-type hotel accommodation yet so it piqued our interest on how it’s like. Maybe we can try that next time. 🙂
Hotel Breakfast
We’ve learned just this morning that their in-house buffet breakfast offering just started last March 2015. In the mornings, the top floor becomes a breakfast nook that can accommodate about 25 guests.
Their buffet breakfast is simple. Aside from coffee and juices, our first buffet breakfast constituted mainly of congee / goto, eggs, bread, pancakes, cereals, and some fruits such as bananas. You should not miss their pancakes!
Our second breakfast buffet still had eggs and cereals but the missing pancake was substituted by sausages and garlic rice while watermelons replaced the bananas.
It’s good to know that it varies by the day. 🙂 (although I still hoped the pancake was there). 😛
AurumOne Makati Hotel Rates
Here are the rest of AurumOne Makati hotel rates:
- aurumOne Deluxe Php 2,500
- aurumOne Suite Php 3,500
- aurumOne Loft Php 4,500
Please note that the rates are subject to 10% service charge, 12% VAT, and 6% local tax. Children below 6 years of age are free but extra guests in excess of (2) are charged Php 500++ per night with extra bed. They accept cash and credit cards fro payment.
How to Go To AurumOne Makati
There are a lot of routes going to the hotel via taxi. Otherwise, if you are riding a bus via EDSA, you can ask to be dropped at the Jollibee fastfood chain at the corner of EDSA and Evangelista. It’s a about 300 meters walking distance to the hotel.
Another option is to take the train via LRT1 and go down at Libertad Station. From there, take 1 jeepney ride via the route Libertad LRT – Evangelista.
The Surrounding Old City Vibe
As much aa AurumOne has a modern design and architecture, it’s surrounding establishments is the opposite. Being on the side of Makati that is near Manila, the streets and establishments reflects the old city vibe with thrift shops and antique stores.
The hotel also comfortably houses the Family Mart conveienece store with it’s own entrance form the hotel lobby. A few streets down the road back to EDSA offers guests access to more restaurants and other fastfood chains for a quick meal.
Basically, Seats For Two found AurumOne Hotel as a convenient and decent mid-range hotel for travellers looking for simple accommodation specs whether you are a merchant doing some business in Makati or a transient backpacker or OFW from the province looking for a good accommodation near the airport for tomorrow’s flight.
AurumOne Makati Hotel
1682 Evangelista cor Hen. Del Pilar Street, Bangkal, Makati City, Manila, 1233 Philippines
Phone: +632 737 3800
Fax: +632 737 3822
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how bis is the deluxe room in aurumone hotel?
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Recently, I had booked an aurumone deluxe room (including breakfast for 2) for my brother in-law, returning to Philippines from Australia. I had also arranged with hotel for Airport Shuttle Service.
All good, until he settled into his room, very tired & ready for a good night’s rest (alone in double bed) then finding NO REFRIGERATOR to store food and drinks he had bought at store downstairs.
Next morning, before departure, he found the ONLY ITEM being offered for breakfast, at hotel cafeteria, was an EGG ! It is outrageous to charge the accommodation fee we had paid for (breakfast for two included) and NOT have anything more than an egg to offer for breakfast.
Again, this was very poor service. After previously reading many appealing and favourable reviews, it is somewhat a big disappointment that aurumOne has fallen down in this regard, by not being consistent in providing good customer service throughout one’s stay. If they are still “trying to improve services”, then surely after more than 1 year since opening business, they should be now able to provide it without excuses. Certainly, the welcome at this hotel ENDED at the front counter upon check-in, although staff were politely courteous at check-out time too. The ONLY comfort my brother in-law enjoyed at this otherwise delightful hotel was the comfort of the bed, air conditioning, shower and proximity to Terminal 3, before returning home to Nasipit (via flight from Manila to Butuan) with Cebu Pacific Airlines.
Yes, this affordable hotel is worthy of CONSIDERATION again for an overnight stay whilst in transit, but BEFORE making another booking, will be definitely looking for a whole lot more favourable reviews, particularly in regards to breakfast.
Indeed, the reviews given here concerning breakfast are good, but what my brother in-law experience was pathetically poor.