With recent renovations and modern amenities bringing
it into the future, Manila Hotel at 100 still has its heart firmly in its rich,
stories past
IT WAS SIX O’CLOCK in the evening in March 1997. I was 14
years old and clad in a light yellow taffeta dress that my mother made me wear
for the occasion. I was in the backseat of my father’s car, on our way to the
Manila Hotel. And I, a young teenager who still perfected climbing trees to
attending soirées at the time, fidgeted nervously, albeit excitedly, upon
seeing the imposing edifice of the Grand Dame.
Manila Hotel
I remember waiting with bated breath for the doorman to open
the hotel’s gilded doors. I remember the awe I felt upon seeing the grand lobby
of the hotel for the first time. It felt incredible, almost surreal, to be in
the middle of such surroundings. The great expanse of the lobby and the
majestic chandeliers hanging from the vaulted deiling would have intimidated
me, if not for the uniformed ladies who smiled at me, a scrawny teenage wearing
an ill-fitting gown. I remember feeling like I was part of a something wonderful,
like a heroine in an Austen love story, about to make an entrance into a lavish
gathering.
I have gone to the Manila Hotel many times. But it was the
memory of that night that I carried with me over the years.
It isn’t the ultra-modern amenities that the hotel now has
or the meticulously decorated suites that make the Manila Hotel what it is
today. And though the service provided by their staff is impeccable, it is
truly more than that. It is the solemn knowledge that this beautiful hotel has
been witness to many events that the world remembers in history books. It is
the undeniable fact that if there ever were a national hotel for the
Philippines, the Manila Hotel would be it.
Manila Hotel
ballroom
The rich reservoir of stories that the Manila Hotel has is
prices less. It is this precious trove that the hotel passes on to every guest
who steps through its doors. Dine in any of the hotel’s restaurants or spend a
night in their rooms to share history with the notable personalities who have
stayed at the hotel over the years: General Douglas MacArthur, Ernest
Hemingway, the Beatles, Prince Charles, Neil Armstrong, Marlon Brando, Michael
Jackson, US Presidents Dwight Eisenhower, and Lyndon B. Johnson, and many
others.
It was July 4, 1912, when the Manila Hotel opened its doors
for the first time. Today, over a hundred years later, the same hotel that has
survived a war, witnessed a revolution, and seen the ousting of two presidents,
is paradoxically, also one of the most modern hotels in the country, thanks to
the series of renovations its Executive Vice President, Enrique Y. Yap, Jr. has
implemented in the past four years.
“On our centennial anniversary, it is important to note that
the Manila Hotel is not just celebrating its rich history, but is also working
very hard to bring the hotel into the next 100 years,” says Yap. “All of our
rooms and suites were carefully renovated and modernized to reflect the perfect
marriage of tradition with modern luxury.”
the new Health
Club and Spa
True enough, the hotel’s grand lobby now gleams with energy
and life. And touring around the new pool and garden area, which has the new
Health Club and Spa, gives the feelings that one stands on the cusp of two
different eras, where history blends seamlessly with urbanity and avant-garde
opulence.
The hotel kicks off its 100th-year celebration
with an exclusive Centennial Ball on the 4th of July. The country’s
most notable personalities are slated to attend the event, turning the party
into modern-day re-enactment of the hotel’s inaugural bash, when hundreds of
elegantly attired guests were invited for a dinner of American roast,
Philippines lobster, and French champagne.
On the same day this year, the Manila Hotel offers the first
one hundred guests a special rate of P1,912 for an overnight stay in their
Superior Deluxe Rooms, a way of thanking its guests for their unwavering
support over the years.
Superior Deluxe
Rooms
The hotel’s buffet restaurant, Café Ilang-Ilang, will
feature historic dishes that include the favorite dishes of President Manuel L.
Quezon and of Gen. Douglas MacArthur during the six years that he stayed at the
Manila Hotel. A sumptuous treat for those who want a taste of history and
mouthwatering cuisine in one bite.
Likewise, the Taproom bar will be offering an iconic drink
called the Chamberlain. Discovered by Mr. Yap through an original 1938 black-and-white
print ad for Gilbey’s Gin, the attention-grabbing headline was “The Chamberlain
as they mix it in Manila.” Upon reading the text, one learns that the drink was
Manila Hotel’s own creation, pronouncing it to be “one of the world’s great
drinks!” Poised to give the Sing Sling a run for its money, the Chamberlain is
definitely a must-try.
Café llang-llang
“It is a good story if it’s like Manila Hotel,” Ernest
Heming way writes. With Manila Hotel’s commitment to maintain the elegance of
tradition while striving to exceed the expectations of its modern clientele,
indeed, the story just keeps getting better and better.
