1 night in Manila.

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This topic has 21 replies, 16 voices, and was last updated 6 years ago by unfitgeezer.

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1 night in Manila.
andycs
Full Member

The wife and I will be having an overnight stop in Manila either end of our holiday. Does anyone have any advice regarding places to stay/things to do? Budget accommodation is fine, would rather spend money on food and drink etc.

Posted 6 years ago

rmacattack
Free Member

its grim. i can’t help you out much to be honest. i stayed in the first reasonably priced and reviewed place that came up in a search. don’t venture too far after dark.

Posted 6 years ago

Jason
Free Member

Agreed, and the traffic is terrible too. If you have a longer stay The Philippines is great, but for one night I would find a hotel as close to the airport as possible.

Posted 6 years ago

FGF 701 The Hydrate Or Die Edition

coolhandluke
Free Member

Bring some envelopes back?

Posted 6 years ago

jambalaya
Free Member

erm … its not my favourite Asian city. Personally I’d find a nice hotel and eat in.

Posted 6 years ago

nickb
Full Member

Generally agree with above.
Business district/Makati is probably best (read: safest) option for hotel (unless you stay near the airport), and the Blackbird restaurant in Makati is great. Avoid the main commercial/shopping areas (downtown – can’t recall the name).

Nick

Posted 6 years ago

nickb
Full Member

BTW, avoid any of the airport taxi touts. Uber works in Manilla and is great there.

Posted 6 years ago

looneylunn
Free Member

My brother got bundled into a car by what turned out to be the local police. They demanded money from him for release. He managed to contact home and we ended up transferring around £1800 to get him out. After contacting the British embassy they explained don’t worry this happens all the time. Just pay up and he’ll be ok!

Before we realised it was the police who had snatched him we feared the worse. My parents didn’t sleep for weeks and my brother needed councelling.

Posted 6 years ago

mrmoofo
Full Member

TBH , you will be stuck in traffic …
The transport is rubbish, the foods not much better, but the pope are really good fun!

Posted 6 years ago

allthepies
Free Member

Agree.

Posted 6 years ago

binners
Full Member

Sounds like a Clash tune

Posted 6 years ago

chewkw
Free Member

I stayed at Bayview hotel opposite American Embassy. 😀

Posted 6 years ago

Tom_W1987
Free Member

Intramuros is worth a visit.

Generally the police keep away from westeners unless you’re hanging around brothels. Most of the time, I felt safer in Manila than I did in London. As a westener, mugging or kidnapping you attracts too much attention.

I’m actually fond of Manila, in a bat shit mental dystopian Bladerunner kind of way.

Posted 6 years ago

andycs
Full Member

Thanks everyone. Looks like airport hotel and quiet night in then!!

Posted 6 years ago

radtothepowerofsik
Free Member

The nicer bits of town are BGC and Makati. Plenty of restaurants and bars in both of those – some good craft beers if that’s your thing. When I’m there I’m a bit further North in Quezon City, where there is an incredible restaurant called Van Gogh is Bipolar. The guy that runs it is bipolar and cooking helps him keep on an even keel, and he uses mood enhancing ingredients (not that kind). It was a really cool experience, but depending on traffic, could take you 1.5 – 3 hours to get there from the airport end of town.

Check out spot.ph for eating and drinking. And of course, there’s always the ~~midget~~ little people boxing…

Posted 6 years ago

chewkw
Free Member

Tom_W1987 – Member
I’m actually fond of Manila, in a bat shit mental dystopian Bladerunner kind of way.

The only thing that put me off big time about Manila is smog/smoke from the traffic jam. 🙂

Posted 6 years ago

walla24
Free Member

hotel we booked in to ended being a brothel…the various menus and list of things not allowed was quite eyeopening. girlfriend was not amused, breakfast was good though

Posted 6 years ago

nickb
Full Member

Most of the time, I felt safer in Manila than I did in London

I guess it’s personal experience, but I live in London and feel very safe. I’ve travelled quite a lot and I’ve never felt more “at risk” than walking around downtown Manila in daytime. Maybe i was having a bad day, but I never felt more that 6 feet from being mugged!

My advice would be to stay in the “safe” areas (airport, Makati, probably others) and focus on enjoying the rest of your holiday elsewhere!

Nick

Posted 6 years ago

hammyuk
Free Member

One night in Bang….

Oh…

[video]https://youtu.be/rgc_LRjlbTU[/video]

Posted 6 years ago

rmacattack
Free Member

Posted 6 years ago

Tom_W1987
Free Member

I guess it’s personal experience, but I live in London and feel very safe. I’ve travelled quite a lot and I’ve never felt more “at risk” than walking around downtown Manila in daytime. Maybe i was having a bad day, but I never felt more that 6 feet from being mugged!

That’s just people noticing you because you’re white – even in Manila you get it – but it gets worse when you go to places like Cebu. The Philippines still isn’t really a popular tourist destination, unlike say Thailand – so I’d say the feel is much closer to other countries that are off the beaten track as well….Colombia, parts of China etc.

It’s the same for brown people who go to backwater towns and villages in the UK.

That said, it is of course, statistically more dangerous than any western city.

Posted 6 years ago

unfitgeezer
Free Member

walla24 – Member
hotel we booked in to ended being a brothel…the various menus and list of things not allowed was quite eyeopening. girlfriend was not amused, breakfast was good though

What did you have ? A cream pie surprise!

Posted 6 years ago