We were lucky enough to do a big trip around the Philippines a few years back and had an absolute blast! In between our trips to Batad, Club Paradise and Bohol we had a few nights staying at the Citadel Inn Makati in Manila.
Visiting Manila
Metro Manila is the bustling commercial centre of the Philippines and home to over 11 million people! The main travel gateway to the region, Manila will most likely be your first stop when flying into the Philippines.
We flew into Manila from Malaysia into a small airport outside of the city and then caught a bus for about $10 AUD into a depot in Manila. From there it was a short taxi ride – where we had our first encounter with a taxi driver blatantly ripping us off – and we were there!
The Makati Area of Manila
We had chosen to stay at a small motel called Citadel Inn in the Makati area of the city. I thoroughly recommend the Makati area especially if you haven’t travelled in Asia before as it was by far the nicest part of Manila we came across in our trip.
Makati is full of accommodation options (to suit all budgets) and close to all the malls, tourist sites and transport depots you would need for your stay!
Now I’m not going to bull**** you, Citadel Inn was no Hilton but it was cheap, central and everything we needed for our stay!
I’ve put together a few pointers you should know before choosing Citadel Inn as your accommodation while in Manila.
One surprising discovery we came across on our first night at Citadel Inn was that its located smack bang in the middle of the Makati red light district.
How did we not notice this?
WELL we’d had a brief look around during the day but had soon after collapsed for an afternoon nap and by the time we both got out the door it was dark again – and by dark I mean the streets were lit with a neon glow! Suddenly what had appeared to be restaurants and bars were places called “High Heels”, “Cheekie”, “Love Machine” and there were some rather interesting characters strolling the streets!
This really did not affect our experience with Citadel Inn at all and unless you have young children traveling with you I’m sure it would be the same for you! The ladies on the street didn’t bother us other than a flirty hello each night and to be honest I almost felt safer there because there were always people around – staying on a dark and empty Manila street would have been quite intimidating at night!
Overall – Its Not Luxury But It Ain’t Bad
The rooms at Citadel Inn Philippines were not 5 star but we had several different rooms during our different stints there and each was clean and tidy and perfect for what we needed – a place to rest our heads! Your basic room at Citadel Inn has a decent Queen size bed, small fridge, sink, some cutlery and crockery, TV and a bathroom with toilet and shower.
There is wireless internet availability in the rooms which was pretty fast and reliable.
There are function rooms, a swimming pool, business center as well as both room and laundry services. The laundry service isn’t cheap but room service is really reasonable and when you’re back from a whole day of sight seeing it is GREAT!
My only warning about the room would be that the water pressure isn’t great and the ladies might find it a bit frustrating when washing their long hair but that was a small issue that was far outweighed by the price and location.
There are studio, 1 bedroom and 2 bedroom options at Citadel Inn but we personally only ever stayed in the studio room which was plenty big enough for the two of us!
You Won’t Have To Part With Much Money
One of the main things that attracted us to Citadel Inn Philippines was the low price point. This was our first long overseas trip and being that it was 5 weeks long in total we were conscious of our budget!
Room prices start at around $40 USD per night for a studio room and approximately $50 for a 1 bedroom suite – please keep in mind rates vary depending on what time of year you’re visiting!
Again I must stress that while Citadel Inn is by no means fancy, for the price and the central location we couldn’t complain at all!
There is also a rooftop restaurant/cafe which serves breakfast, lunch and dinner for a cheap price and has a great view over Metro Manila. The food’s not gourmet but we loved starting off each day with the American breakfast of pancakes with bacon and their delicious strawberry milkshakes (this worked out to only about $5 each USD).
Hope you’ve found this review of Citadel Inn Philippines helpful and please feel free to submit any questions in the comment box below – we’re happy to help!
More Information: Citadel Inn Makati on Booking.com.
