Birthday Staycation at Makati Shangri-la Hotel

My son celebrated his 8th birthday at EDSA Shangri-la Hotel and had a blast. If you still remember my post, he mentioned that we need to visit other Shangri-la hotels so he can earn more badges. So when I saw the Wonderful Weekends Promo of Makati Shangri-la, I immediately bookmarked it. I asked him if he wanted to spend his 9th birthday at Shangri-la and he said yes. 

Since my husband has an erratic schedule we did not book early. Five days before our trip, my husband called the hotel and was advised that there was no promo rate due to high occupancy. We already promised our son that we would spend his birthday in Shangri-la so we still booked the wonderful weekend at regular rate kahit mabigat sa bulsa.  

When I received the confirmation, I immediately read the details and I saw the registration link. When we stayed in EDSA Shangri-la, we just registered on the day of our stay but in Makati Shangri-la, there is a link where you need to register. There are FREE activities for kids and adults. 

For 4-12 years old kids. 

1. Cookie Decorating Class 
2. Cupcake Decorating Class 
3. Wonderful Weekend Collage 

For Adults 

1. Yoga 
2. Definition Bootcamp 
3. Core and Body Conditioning 
4. Spinning 
5. Zumba

I only registered for my son. My husband and I did not want to do any activity kasi staycation nga, papagurin ko pa ba sarili ko. Lol But if you ask me now, I will join one activity because it is one of my goals this year, “to be fit and healthy”. If you have the budget, you can also register their PAID activities like Wine Tasting and Date Night at Sage Bespoke Grill. 

Fast forward to our trip, we were there as early as 9AM. If you stay in Shangri-la, make sure you have enough budget or credit limit because I noticed that the deposit amount is x2 of the room rate. Check-in time is 10AM but they gave us our room key as early as 9:15AM so when we went to our room, wala pa yung welcome fruits. Hinabol na lang. 

While checking the room, I saw the note “Makati Shangri-la’s Ballroom will be the venue of local TV network’s annual ball”. Now I know, why there are a high occupancy and no promo rate, wrong timing pala ang pag-book namin, nandun ang mga celebrities. 

Watch the video here. 

Here is the Deluxe room, there is Tipi tent that is too small for us so pangbata lang talaga siya. Sa liit kong ito, masikip siya sa akin or mali yata pagkabuild because I saw some pictures kasya pati daddy e. 

The mini fridge is so cute, ang sarap iuwi but you can only take home the snacks and drinks. There is a separate mini bar for adults but of course, you need to pay for the drinks and snacks. 

We liked the bathroom because there is bathtub + bath salt. +1 lagi pang may bathtub ang bathroom. There is a bidet and emergency phone inside the bathroom. They also have room slippers for the kids but it is too small for my son. 

The hotel is just a few minutes walk from Glorietta so we had our lunch there. After lunch, we went to the pool. There are two swimming pools, one for adult and one for kids. There is no one assisting us so we went to the staff to ask for towels. When we experienced that, I remember what my friend said, “Ayoko sa Makati Shangri-la, di okay ang service dun, nagkakandarapa sila sa pag-asikaso sa foreigner pero sa amin, hindi man lang mabigyan ng towel”. I was sad to hear about his experience but I was thinking baka isolated incident lang yun but I was wrong, it happened to us. 

It is true that nobody cares to give us towels, kami pa lalapit pero kapag foreigner and celebrities ang dumating. Super asikaso, may bitbit na agad na towel and iaassist pa sa pagkuha ng beddings at aayusin ang pwesto nila bago umupo o humiga. We went to the pool twice and kami talaga lumalapit sa staff. May discrimination ba? We did not experience that in Shangri-la Mactan and EDSA Shangri-la, once the staffs see you they will immediately give you a towel, sa Mactan nga maski lilipat kami ng pwesto, mag-offer pa sila na buhatin bitbit mo sa lilipatan mo. 

Anyway, let’s move on. My son attended the activities for kids, there are only 3 activities unlike in EDSA Shangri-la na 9 activities ang meron. The class started late because they did not know where are they going to hold the class. Maybe because of the Star Magic Ball, nagkagulo na sa venue. My son ate the cupcake that he designed, buti na lang nakunan ko pa. But the staff was generous to give him another cupcake. 

After the class, we went back to our room. We have P1,200 F&B credit so we decided to eat our dinner in the hotel, box office din kasi pila sa elevator sa dami ng artista. We ordered as early as 5:30PM and we were advised that it would take 45 minutes and we said okay. Forty-five minutes came and no food yet, so we followed up. After numerous follow-ups, our food came at 7:17PM. Almost two hours of waiting and when you check the food, kulang sa presentation yung sinigang. Take note, the hotel’s foods and drinks are not cheap pero ito na yun. 

While eating, the doorbell rang and they gave us a complimentary cake for my son. When my husband reserved the room, the staff asked him kung may occasion daw ba? And he said, yes, my son’s birthday, why? The staff said, "surprise na lang daw". They totally forgot about the birthday surprise for my son, naremind lang sila nung may nakausap na supervisor si hubby and tinanong siya kung may problem ba. Of course, he said "wala pa yung dinner namin and namention niya na may birthday surprise daw pero wala pala". Then after a few minutes, dumating na ang dinner and cake. Thank you! 

The following morning, we woke up early so we could eat our complimentary buffet breakfast at Circles. They have a buffet corner for kids but more on sweets. As expected, they offer a sumptuous buffet spread, and they have different stations that serve different flavors and cuisines. Of course, I chose Filipino cuisine. 

We had our lunch outside and when we went back to the hotel, my husband called me “Hon, bilisan mo si Daniel Matsunaga pauwi na”. I’ve been seeing a lot of celebrities in the hallway, pool, lobby, restaurant, and elevator. As in everywhere, we go, meron artista pero deadma lang. Pero iba pala pag crush mo so nagpapicture ako. Ang hirap pala magpicture sa artista, mabilisan. Good thing, dalawang pindot asawa ko kung hindi blurred ang kuha. Hehehe! Si Jericho Rosales lang talaga ang di ko naabutan, nagkakasalisi kami. 

Anyway, my son joined the last activity before we check-out. We took home the cookies that he designed, I forgot the flavor but it was yummy. 

It took me a long time to blog about our staycation because I was a little bit disappointed with the service. The service was not that bad but since we tried other Shangri-la hotels we are expecting Shangri-la hospitality. We are expecting that they will serve and treat all guests equally and they will make sure that your stay will be worth it. 

Read: Shangri-la Mactan Resort and Spa 
EDSA Shangri-la Hotel 
Shangri-la Hotel Jakarta 

Wonderful Weekend Inclusions 

- buffet breakfast for two adults and two kids under 12 years old. 
- F&B credit worth P1,200 nett per day (cumulative and non-refundable) 
- one set of complimentary weekend minibar for kids 
- tipi tent play area for kids inside the room 
- confirmed early check-in at 10AM 
- late check-out at 4PM 
- access to kid’s activities within the hotel. 
- second room for the same family at fifty percent discount.