I'm just winding up a three day trip to the Philippines and so I'll add my comments to Stealth's
Angeles
Devera: 406 Don Juico, about a 10 minute walk from Fields and 5 minutes from the LB/femboy hangout minimart pointed out by stealth. And yes, they were there every night. Also almost directly across from the SM Mall.
I had a normal executive room. Booking special through Agoda, 1600P. Rack rate is 3000P.
I used their own car to get to and from Clark/Diosdado. 400P each way, Nice car when arriving, nice van (I was solo passenger ) when departing. The driver met me at the airport as I arrived, even though the flight was 30 minutes early (and arrived at 03:30H)
The female counter staff was super accommodating and extremely cute! When I arrived, they gave me a room on floor 8, but the button in the elevator said "D". Floor D looked unfinished. It looked like it was being readied to be a party floor (deck?), as there were refrigerated display cases, sound system, multiple TVs and lights and what looked like a bar. All of this stuff was just kind of scattered around.
After snaking past the big electrical unit, inches away from the "Danger of Electrocution" sign, I found my room, #803. This was NOT the executive room that I was seeking. Too tired to do anything about it, I slept, without unpacking anything, knowing that I god-damn well better be moving first thing the next day.
The "window" in the room opened to a dark interior corridor, there was 1 bathrobe in the closet (I booked for 2), the usual amenities in the bathroom, a shower (no tub), good air-con and a very nice bed, with 3 great regular pillows, 2 throw pillows and 2 large bolster type pillows. Very good Wifi- fast, no connection problems. A good 32" flat screen TV with an easy-to-access HDMI jack on the side (important for big-screen porn!). There was a large safe, but the bolts that hold it in place were in a plastic bag inside the safe- one could just pick-up the whole thing and walk away with it!
Slept until about 09:00H. Every review warns that the hotel is under construction, but I figured it would be finished. Well, Devera is just about finished (except for floor D) BUT: there is a big honkin' under construction thing riding next door about a meter away. Now, I can sleep through a train wreck, but the construction noise might bother some people. Got up, took a shit and used the butt-sprayer- and the water BARELY trickled out. OK, can overcome with TP and a good shower. The shower was a nice, glass enclosed structure, with one of those big rain-head showerheads. Great pressure. Lookin' good, Adjusted the temp- too hot. More adjustment- still too hot. Could not make the water any cooler than scalding hot. I love a steam room hot shower, but I could not stand under the water without getting scalded. Seriously, it must have been 60-65 C!
After kind of sponge bathing with a washcloth (great towels, BTW), I headed down to change my room. "So", I inquired, "What type of room is #803". "Executive, sir". Not really. See the pictures below. It was lacking the mini-kitchenette, the microwave, the table and chairs and the space of an executive room. She "explained" that when I booked in May, they only had 1 type of executive room and that they now have 3 types and I got the low-end executive room. I pointed out the deficiencies and asked to be moved to the room that I had booked and paid for. OK, they finally moved me- but there should have been an apology, an offer of a refund and an immediate move, rather than an excuse and wait to see if I would drop it.
The new, real executive room, room #500, the one pictured on their website, was great. Everything was as described. Nice little balcony, the mini kitchenette, etc. Any card could be inserted in the electric slot by the door to keep the electric on while out (air-con and charge computer). Stocked fridge, lots of snacks. I put all of the snacks away to clear space and to avoid expensive, lazy temptation. Couple of menus for 24 hour food delivery/room service.
The lobby was nice and air-conditioned, unlike when I checked out, when it was hot and humid. There were a few foreigners sitting about, mostly Korean and Japanese (???), so that's probably why the AC. Again, the staff were very friendly. There was great security, with the desk calling up every girl and then not letting them leave until checking with me. Every time. All 5 times in the 2.5 days I was there.
All went without a hitch. The water in the shower and the butt-sprayer were just right. About 20 channels on the TV- CNN, Starz, HBO, Cinemax and a bunch of local language and Jap and Korean language channels (again, ???). They did restock all of the snacks (remember, I'd put them away), which I had to clear up on check-out. They couldn't figure out why I twice as much of everything as I should.
As Stealth mentioned, the flights out of Clark are around 21:00H, so that means leave at 18:30H (HUMONGOUS traffic jam, glad I left early, even though the airport is only 15-20 minute drive). I asked for a late checkout at 18:00H. 900P for that late, she said. Now, I had very carefully checked their website and indeed had been given a standard room the first night. I had looked at the difference in prices, so I responded "Perfect! That's exactly the difference between the price of the room you gave me and the room I paid for. She said "OK, no charge if out by 15:00, 450P extra if stay until 18:00" I accepted.
Checkout easy, van waiting outside, good to go.
This is a new, clean, friendly hotel and, in spite of the minor glitches, I will definitely stay there again.
Pictures in my next post.
