F1 Hotel BGC Manila - Full Review
Yes, the F1 Hotel in BGC is conveniently situated near the Fort, the Mind Museum, shopping malls and more but, on our recent stay we found the experience less than expected. Be sure to watch the video to get the full review. Here is our unbiased review of the F1 hotel Manila.
F1 Hotel BGC Manila
We arrived by taxi and after the security check made our way to the 5th floor where reception is found. After check-in we then struggled with our luggage into the lifts.
Believe me, the lifts definitely are not your friends. It took us three attempts to finally get to our floor…. You require your security card to select your floor in the lift, as you do at other hotels (no surprise here). But with these lifts we found if you don’t register your floor before the lift changes direction it will cancel your floor selection once it starts moving.
We were waiting on the 5th floor (Reception) wanting to go to the 23rd. The lift arrived going up but didn’t swipe and select our floor before the lift changed direction. Once we had finally reached the basement and picked up the last passengers the lift changed direction again and we were able to select our floor without problems.
Very frustrating when you have several suitcases to manage at the same time…
The F1 Hotel in BGC was built in 2011 but after staying there I must say it looks a lot older. Our room door was hard to lock and unlock which, again gave us a negative first impression of the room. The room decor and furnishings were average but acceptable – The TV worked well as did all the kitchen appliances.
The bed was comfortable, the air conditioning worked well and the room was reasonably sound-proofed from other rooms on that floor.
We had been told that others have had problems with hot water pressure in the bathroom (mainly the shower)… I am glad to say we had NO such issue with the bathroom. But I was disappointed not being able to open the door to the balcony. Most of the balcony was taken up with the air conditioning unit anyway, but it still would have been nice.
I also did find the power outlets to be spaced to closely together making it hard to get power adapters in and out of the sockets when another cord was plugged in next to it.
F1 Hotel Reception
Finally in our room
F1 Hotel Manila Review
The Breakfast Buffet
When we booked the room, breakfast was included in the price so we were able to compare the F1 Hotel breakfast buffet to other hotels we have stayed at in the same price range.
I did find the food selection limited but acceptable. All the usual dishes were available and quite tasty. As usual I chose the garlic rice, tocino, crispy bacon, an omelette, fresh fruit, coffee and juice.
The only real negative I had with the breakfast is that the staff seemed more interested in talking to themselves than actually doing their jobs and “serving”…
Breakfast Buffet
Hello…
The Pool & Canary Lounge
The pool is located near the dinning/breakfast area and I must say, it surprised me…
Yes, the pools are not large but they do give a good panoramic view of Manila. Together with the Canary lounge I found it created a comfortable and inviting atmosphere to sit, soak in the sunshine and simply relax. I would have loved to spend more time by the pool but unfortunately time was not on our side…
The Pool Area
Glamping in the Canary Lounge
The Canary Lounge
Conclusion….
All in all, we found the F1 Hotel in BGC to be a rather average 5 star hotel on all levels.
The location near the Fort, Venice Grand Canal and all other attractions in Bonifacio Global City is a big plus for the hotel and was one of the main reasons we stayed here. The rooms were ok but not great.. The service was friendly but still lacking. Decor and maintenance need improving…
Check in and check out was slow and having to juggle bags while trying to get the lift to select your floor was just torture….
After checking out I asked for the hotel car service to take us to the airport as our next stop was Palawan. After explaining to three separate people what we wanted, the domestic terminal we required and all our flight details (they looked up the flight departure times online) it still took another 35 minutes before the car was ready. It would have been quicker and much cheaper to have just caught Grab or a taxi instead (live and learn)
Would we go back to the F1 Hotel Manila?…. If I couldn’t get a reservation anywhere else then, Yes, I would stay there again… Otherwise the answer is NO…
There are plenty of hotels in manila that will give you better value for money than the F1 Hotel.
F1 Hotel BGC Photo Gallery
