The newest hotel to open in Manila is Admiral Hotel Manila – MGallery (AHMM), a boutique hotel that introduces a focus on elegance and excellence along with its location in Roxas Boulevard that evokes Manila Bay’s golden years in the pre-war period.
An ACCOR brand, MGallery is a storied collection of hotels around the world. The brand features boutique hotels, each with its own original design, and unique stories to tell.
History, hospitality, and pleasure mingle with guests upon entering the lobby. They are immediately awed by the Las Paginas de la Historia, an artwork of “pages” of traditional Filipino culture and the hotel’s history that seem to float up from the book to the faux glass ceiling made of stretchable cloth panels of a painting depicting the “Bayanihan” spirit in a fiesta setting.
In a nod to being a boutique hotel, AHMM’s Director of Sales and Marketing, Marie Buenaobra-Agulay, expounded that they leave no stone unturned in bringing in art pieces to augment the hotel’s interiors and beyond.
“At the pool deck we are looking at getting oversized artwork, sculptures,” she revealed.
A total of 123 rooms, AHMM has 8 storeys, each with a different theme, all in luxury furnishings. The 2nd floor has 20 rooms each with a Philippine festivals as its subject such as Dinagyang, Masskara, Moriones, the 3rd floor also has 20 rooms themed after our national heroes with each room number showing the hero’s name like Jose Rizal, Andres Bonifacio, among others. The country’s dances are featured in each of the 20 rooms on the 5th floors like Maglalakit, Tinikling, Kuracha while on the 6th floor, Philippine traditions and traditional games like Harana, Pamamanhikan, and Patintero are featured. The 7th floor’s theme has Native Objects, local implements and fashion like Salakot, Sandok, Barong, and the eight floor that only has 16 rooms to give way to bigger suites has Philippine destinations including Boracay, Palawan, and Bohol, among others.
Cuisine, however, is a showpiece of AHMM’s French “population” in the top management headed by GM Matthieu Busschaert, Executive Chef Cyrille Soenen, and F&B Director Quentin Renard. Traditional French dishes will be readily available; but, everything else will not be French as the experience and expertise of Chef Cyrille goes back to his days in the country, working at five-star hotel and restaurant.
Dining venues include El Atrio lobby lounge at the ground floor, Admiral Club on the 9th floor that function as the all-day dining and buffet. Just outside is the Coconut Grove, the rooftop pool bar and dining al fresco. The much-awaited dimsum bar, Ruby Wong’s Godown, is expected to open by August this year.
For guests who want to take photos of their furry friends amid the art pieces, the hotel is pet-friendly.
AHMM should be given recognition to their noble effort in curating Philippine culture, traditions, and destinations in a beautiful microcosm of the country’s diversity. If only to appreciate its art merged with Philippine culture, AHMM deserves a longer stay.
