Review: Crimson Hotel Filinvest City
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Having worked in Alabang for 8 years, I've seen its development. Its skyline was previously dominated by just two buildings: Insular Life and Vivere. Then came Crimson Hotel. Today, you cannot miss this landmark whether you're coming from the north or south. I was always intrigued by it, and finally had a chance to stay here last May 16-17, 2015.
Having worked in Alabang for 8 years, I've seen its development. Its skyline was previously dominated by just two buildings: Insular Life and Vivere. Then came Crimson Hotel. Today, you cannot miss this landmark whether you're coming from the north or south. I was always intrigued by it, and finally had a chance to stay here last May 16-17, 2015.
To celebrate my nephew's 11th birthday and post-Mother's Day, we booked 2 Premier Rooms through Agoda; one room for my cousin's family, and the other room for me and my mom. Breakfast is not included, though. Boo!
Crimson Hotel's spacious and classy lobby
Crimson is part of the Entrata Urban Complex - a mixed-use building. Levels 1-7, I believe, are office and residential spaces. The hotel starts from the 8th floor.
The Grand Ballroom, Cafe Eight, Fitness Center, and swimming pool are on the 8th floor as well
There were lots of families also checked in that weekend.
Check-in took a few minutes as they were running high occupancy that weekend. I think it's because they had a special promotion for Color Manila Run participants.
There is a Php3,000.00 incidental deposit that you can either pay in cash or credit card. I chose to pay in cash, and found it actually convenient because I just charged our meals to our room, and the bill was then deducted from the deposit upon check out.
In the elevator, I was surprised that anyone could access all the floors even without using your designated electronic keycard. I later found out that the system was under renovation (sic).
Lobby Lounge
We were given connecting Premier Rooms, as requested, on the 21st floor.
My mom and I had the Premier King, and my cousin's family got a Premier Double Double. They are a family of 5.
In all fairness, the room was spacious and well-appointed. I was happy with our king size bed. Me, my mom, and my nephew shared the bed, and we still had so much space.
I won't state the obvious, but let me tell you what you don't see in this picture.
The personal ref is hidden inside the 'drawer' on the left side. I just find it odd that they don't have a minibar.
The hairdryer is also hidden inside the first drawer on the right (closest to the chair). You can stow your shoes in the remaining 'drawer' in the far right.
The hairdryer is also hidden inside the first drawer on the right (closest to the chair). You can stow your shoes in the remaining 'drawer' in the far right.
Inside the closet are the usual amenities like iron and ironing board, fluffy robes, slippers, and electronic safe. The emergency flashlight is nowhere to be found, though.
The bathroom was modest, but spotless. The toiletries are of good quality, albeit, limited. They also only provide 2 small bottles of water. You can probably request from housekeeping if you need more, but to be sure, we just bought a couple of 1 liter bottled water from 7-11 before checking in.
I also have a tiny issue with the amenities.
Since we requested for connecting rooms, it was very easy for us to see the inconsistencies. My mom forgot to bring her toothbrush, and that's when I noticed we were only provided with one set. I had to call housekeeping to request for another one. We had a shaving kit, and the other room doesn't. I'm pretty sure hotel housekeeping are required to have a checklist when replenishing toiletries and amenity kits, right? The other room also have a portable clothesline inside the bathroom, and ours doesn't.
Since we requested for connecting rooms, it was very easy for us to see the inconsistencies. My mom forgot to bring her toothbrush, and that's when I noticed we were only provided with one set. I had to call housekeeping to request for another one. We had a shaving kit, and the other room doesn't. I'm pretty sure hotel housekeeping are required to have a checklist when replenishing toiletries and amenity kits, right? The other room also have a portable clothesline inside the bathroom, and ours doesn't.
***
We went down to the Lobby Lounge around 4:30 pm to try their Afternoon Tea. It's Php555.00++ for 2 persons, and you can choose a pot of tea or 2 servings of coffee with the pastry set.
It was kind of disappointing that the service was slow. I think we waited almost 30 minutes for our order. Okay, given we ordered 2 sets, I mean, aside from the sandwiches, I don't think they had to make the cookies and petit cakes from scratch.
***
I have to say, the pool is probably the hotel's best feature. It's also the largest hotel pool in Alabang, if I'm not mistaken. As expected, it can easily get pretty crowded especially in the afternoon. We thought we'd just come back and swim at night, but there was an event at the adjacent Deck Bar.
Speaking of Deck Bar, if you're a light sleeper, you might want to request a room facing the Filinvest Area because even though our room was on the 21st floor, we could still hear the music of the live band from the 8th floor.
Speaking of Deck Bar, if you're a light sleeper, you might want to request a room facing the Filinvest Area because even though our room was on the 21st floor, we could still hear the music of the live band from the 8th floor.
The birthday boy, Sean, and my mom at the pool area.
We woke up really early the next day, like 6:30 am, and our effort paid off. haha We almost had the pool to ourselves, but we had to endure the cold water.
LEFT: Adult pool, RIGHT: Kiddie pool
People started arriving around 8:30 am, so we decided it was time to head to Cafe Eight for breakfast.
Kids 4 feet and below get to dine for free. Unfortunately, my nephews were a bit taller, so they only got a 50% discount on the buffet.
My mom and I, on the other hand, decided to order from the ala carte menu.
LEFT: My American breakfast - bacon, eggs, hash browns. Not in the picture are fruit juice, hot chocolate, Danish pastries, and cocoa puff cereal. (Php485.00++)
RIGHT: My mom's Filipino breakfast - Daing na Bangus with garlic fried rice, egg, pickled papaya, and pan de sal with orange juice and coffee (Php490.00++)
Again, I just have to comment on the service. I'm not sure if a) they were undermanned that weekend, b) they were running high occupancy, or both, but it took time for the food to arrive, and for requests to be attended to. We always had to call the attention of a staff to refill drinks and to follow up on our orders.
When my order arrived, the Danish pastries were missing as well as the cereal. When it was served, it looked exactly the same as what my niece got from the buffet spread so it doesn't really make sense why it took them so long to serve it. Anyway, I was already full by the time it arrived, thanks to the hefty portions of bacon.
***
We went back to our rooms after breakfast, and I had a nap. It was almost check out time when I woke up, so we gathered our things and went down to the lobby.
It's actually better to check out a bit earlier than the official checkout time because the front desk is still not that busy, so the process is faster. I was refunded the incidental deposit less the meals we charged to the room.
While I was checking out, I noticed they have a mime artist entertaining guests at the lounge. I thought that was nice. :)
By the way, you can also catch the Sunday Mass at 11:00 am in the Grand Ballroom before leaving the hotel.
Overall, I feel Crimson is a hit-and-miss 5-star hotel. The facilities are great, but there's still room for improvement especially in terms of service.
I do have to commend them, though, for having a satisfaction survey. I received an email the day after we checked out, and I appreciate that the General Manager personally takes the time to read and respond to feedback both through their own survey and on TripAdvisor (see screenshot above). I just hope they really do something about it.
K
Entrata Urban Complex
2609 Civic Drive, Filinvest City
Alabang, Muntinlupa City 1781
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