Greenstone Serviced Residences Makati

Comentarios destacados

• Mikeywonderful

  12 junio 2014
  Avoid.... and here's why.

  We recently stayed at the Greenstone for a week. I was convinced by many of the reviews that the place was clean and tidy, centrally-located and a great value. These reviewers were either inexperienced travelers or had low standards of living. Now, I'm an American and I've gone around the world, from slums to Shangri-La, so I'm comfortable writing this firsthand experience to spare you buyer's remorse. We arrived at the Greenstone at approximately 2 am on a warm Thursday morning. The clumsy taxi driver was far too embarrassed to let us know that he didn't know where to go. After a few stops, mid-street huddles and tips, we arrived. The door guards, fashioned in white coats and gloves gave immediate relief that I had chosen well for our Filipino excursion. We walked in and were immediately greeted. While waiting to finalize the paperwork, there was commotion had at the door, where my knight-in-white-coat wrestled with local prostitutes to get them away from the building. Resilient as they be, the harlots stood fast and refused to leave, demanding to sit in the lounge. A tragic foreshadowing, if ever there was one. We received our keys for room 2801. The bell hop gathered our luggage, rustled us into the elevator, and midway to our room questioned: would you like a massage? Flummoxed, I didn't know what to say or how to feel. My response: not particularly, but I'd love some food. Our room was more like a single apartment. There was a living room, updated kitchen, and the bedroom. It wasn't warm or welcoming, it was certainly hot from the outside heat, but our hop was quick to turn on the AC and settle us in. The appearance was overall clean. There's a sign on the door of the shower that forewarns, turn the water on for 5 minutes before your shower, to allow the water to warm. We left for a night crawler walk. I spotted a Mc Donald's on the way to the hotel (an American dream, I assure you) so I insisted we eat here before bed. The short walk is a nice bonus to our maiden stay with the Greenstone. The street is lined with commercial buildings, gastro pubs, parking lots, and luxury condominiums. I can see the Mandarin Oriental from my room (and let me tell you, she's in no better shape by the looks of her from here). Greenbelt and Landmark are less than 5 minutes away, there are a couple different yoga studios in the area, and two different mini-marts less than 30 seconds away. Taxi's frequent HV Dela Costa, so no need to rent-a-car or worry about transport. The bed was hard as a rock and there were only two pillows. We slept well but woke up at 7 am to a well-lit room. There are no blackout curtains. Yikes. Since we were up early we couldn't help ourselves but to make it down to the buffet for some sort of recovery before an emotional breakdown. The food is nothing to write home about. Coffee, cereal, juice, a salad bar with odd ingredients and warm dressings, an omelet maker and pancakes. We ordered some omelets and made a salad. The hot food items are common Filipino food items like roast beef, canton noodles, white rice, and Asian chicken. The menu rotates. Pan de sal and other breads are available. Milk in the Philippines is not like milk in the states. Powdered milk is a staple in Southeast Asia. I hope it doesn't spoil your morning joe. As I'm collecting my thoughts, I can't help but people watch in the cafe. I see other guests and my partner begins to whisper in my ear, "She's a pukpuk, she's a pukpuk" (see urban dictionary: pukpuk). Little did I know, that I'm eating salad in the middle of a brothel. One man had 3 women prostitutes, two other men from Mumbai had 5 women prostitutes. Undoubtedly, everyone is awake in the hotel because no one has blackout curtains. Ohh, Manila, you're breaking my heart. Suddenly, I felt like I couldn't even sit on my living room couch without a condom on. My skin itches at the mere thought of what could have gone on on my room. I've already written my travel agent in hopes of ditching this trollop hangout for something with 5 stars, though I'm not convinced that Manila could offer any better. The last 24 hours have swiftly reminded me that it's better to go with your first choice, rather than be convinced by another's last option. I could be in the Sofitel or Pan Pacific, but I suppose that'll have to wait for next time. Until then, I'll relish in this surprisingly charming, errr raw, and cringeworthy experience and wish you MABUHAY.

  

• ivanlaszik

  16 junio 2014
  Recommend !!!

  This was the first time for me in the Philippines. I found this accomodation very very nice and recommend it to everyone. I stayed in 2805. I was on a businesstrip. I booked this hotel from my companies internal hotel search engine. Via email I asked for airport transfer, they confirmed that they do ofer that and I asked them to book that aswell. I received confirmation from them regarding the transfer and gave them my exact itinerary. All of this was done in April but I did send them a reminder 4 days before arriving but got no answer. When I arrived on Manila Airport there was nobody to pick me up. After waiting about 30 minutes for someone to show up I called the hotel to ask for my transfer. I was told that they don't have any information about this transfer, but as he looked up the emails he found everything and apologized and said he will send the car immediately. After a short while a guy appeared with my name on a board. I finally arrived at the hotel. The check-in was fast as everything was already prepared. The AC was running, it was nice and cool in the room. I received an iced tea at the reception. The room was huge as was the bed. It was an apartment intended for two people. It had a kitchenette right in the entry, with an electric stove, water cooker, mircowave oven, cutlery and dishes for 2, a pan & pot and a small refrigerator. I liked the huge windows and the view was amazing. My room was located on the west side of the building, I was seeing the Salcedo Park Towers. The room was clean, bed nicely made, there was a flatscreen TV with cable and a dvd player with 2.1 speaker system. Both TV and dvd player had USB interface so I could watch and listen to my media colection. I considered the bathroom also pretty big, it had a showercabinet & bathtub. The bathroom was equiped with earsticks, toothbrush and paste, shavingkit, showercap, sewing kit, all nicely seeled and packed and of course shower gel, shampoo. I usually don't use these because I travel with my own stuff and prefer to use those. I believe the hot water was heated with a boiler, as I found it under the sink, and the showercabinet had a label saying to turn the water on for 5 minutes before your shower, to allow the water to warm. This is something I'm used to. The breakfast was included. It was between 6 and 10 AM. They had a guy making fresh omelette and pancakes with different extra ingredients on request. There was a salad selection, different bread types, and 4-5 different cooked meals which were different every day and, of course, rice. Cereal, coffee, juice, milk was also available. All in a buffet style. I pretty much enjoyed everything, but I must say that I have no problem with food in general and I like to eat and try everything. On the 6th floor there is a small indoor pool and a jacuzzi and a small fitness room. In another wing of the 6th floor there is a conference room, a pool table and some couches. Beneath the hotel are parking places and each room has its own parking spot which is included in the price. They provide room service with food and drinks, there is a pricelist in the room, and laundry service. There is wireless internet, each floor has 2-3 access points. The connection to the AP was OK, but their internet service was very bad. Website browsing was fine, but streaming was very slow and skype voice calls impossible. As all hotels, stores, malls and other institutions in Manila, there is a guard at the entrance with, usually, 2 or 3 other guys which open the door for everybody and greet them very nicely. They also call taxis and they write down for each room number the taxis information like license plate, company name and phone number. This is for security reasons and in case you forget something in the taxi. The same is done also upon arrival with taxi. When I arrived they instanly took over my luggage. I saw them helping everybody with their luggage, calling the elevator and even going up with guests if they had much to carry. All personnel at the reception was very nice, polite and helpfull. I enjoyed my stay very much, but there were also some issues. On the 2nd day, after I came home from work at about 6PM there was a huge amount of water on the floor. They brought a water dispenser into my room while I was out (probably with housekeeping), they put it on a table but it had a defect, water was dripping from the faucet. I couldn't know at what time they brought it in, but probably it was shortly after I left in the morning because the water amount on the floor was huge. I called the reception, told them about this, and in a few minutes a guy appeared. He wiped up the water, replaced the dispenser and apologized several times. Nothing from my things were affected or distroyed because of this so I had no issue with the incident but the laminate wood flooring got swollen pretty badly. Because it didn't actually bother me and I already placed my things through the room I didn't want to go through all the hassle of changing rooms because of this small incident. The next day I came home from work the trash was not taken out. I cannot say if the entire housekeeping was skipped because I usually make the bed on my own so that was made, and I didn't leave the bathroom to messy either. I called the reception to complain about this, they sent somebody up instantly. On the penultimate day of my stay I couldn't connect to the Wifi anymore with none of my devices. So I went out. At the reception I informed them, they offered to send somebody up to my room to check it out but I declined. When I came back it was still not working so I called the reception again and they now told me that they have a general issue with the APs and till the next day it will be fixed. The next day I still couldn't connect so I called them again. They restarted their APs a night before and also changed the password. After receiving the new password it was all working fine. One thing that I found very interesting was that in the elevators and hallways was very hot, almost like outside, but in the hotel lobby it was nice and cool. I didn't see any aircons in the hallways and elevators and I didn't quite understand why. So the elevator ride was mostly uncomfortable. On 2 days there was also an issue with one of the elevators, causing longer waiting times for the other one. Overall I cannot complain, in my opinion, for the Philippines this place was amazing. I recommend it wholeheartedly.

  

• Harry C

  23 junio 2014
  Great services and accessible location.

  Don't believe everything you read on the reviews. I normally read just the bad reviews prior to booking. This place was awesome! The staff were very accommodating and veryvery helpful. The place is nice and clean. My room was very spacious and storage space was adequate. The breakfast is OUTSTANDING and we'll suited my needs. The Public House, which is an attached restaurant and bar serves excellent food. I highly recommend the PH Burger with bacon (can get messy eating but well worth). BOTTOM LINE: Love it, will visit again.

  

• Arleanne M

  07 agosto 2014
  Courteous Hotel Staffs,Very Nice Hotel& Recommend

  The place was not so crowded unlike other hotel. But the taxi driver we ride on didn't know that place(H.V de la Costa) I wish the address of this hotel could be known by other taxi drivers. Well,the room where we checked in is so clean ,has a nice odor to breathe in,has a fast speed of WiFi and the buffet is so yummy,Has many kind of furnitures(it was nice to have some iron in every room)Decorations was so nice. The room colors were calm and relaxing .The place is so tranquil.I like this hotel because it was located near 7/11,ministop,park,etc. It was so fun to stay here that's why I recommend this hotel for you stay .One of the best hotels in Makati!GOOD JOB!

  

• pweda_na

  09 septiembre 2014
  There are better options in Makati

  The location is excellent, and some of the higher up rooms offer great views, but this hotel is badly in need of a renovation. The room designs and fittings are all very dated; it does not look like they have renovated anything other than the lobby since the 90s. Moreover, the hotel has a very moldy smell throughout. I really did not feel comfortable in the room or at the hotel. I wouldn't stay here unless you were very cost conscious and you haven't been able to find anything better in the area (which would surprise me). I should also make note of an unfortunate incident that occurred at the hotel after I left. After my stay, I ended up moving into an apartment across the street. In April 2013, I returned from work to find the street blocked off with police cars everywhere. It turned out that the local owner and the foreign owner of the hotel was embroiled in a dispute. The foreign owner sent armed guards to evict the staff, and apparently one of the hotel guards accidentally shot another guard in the leg. You can confirm this incident with a Google search. The incident lead to a stand-off between security staff in the hotel and outside police for several days. At this point I believe all guests had left, but it was hairy business, with rumors swirling that the cops would be leading an operation into the joint. At some point, most of the hotels lobby windows got smashed and boarded up. The hotel did not open again for several months, but once it did, you wouldn't have thought anything happened. Everything as normal. It is what you make of it. Security guards in the Philippines are often well armed with little training. Shootings, accidental or otherwise, occur any time guns are around - and you will notice armed security guards at most public places in the Philippines. I never felt in danger while living across the street from the hotel, but it was clear the dispute, incident, and hotel is badly managed.