I stay with Accor hotels a lot in Thailand and I really can’t find much to complain about there. I stayed here at the Sofitel Manila on a complimentary night with my card membership. Normally I would not stay here as the price is above my budget. However, I did stay here last year and compared to then, my initial experience at reception was very impressive indeed. Unlike last time, no one tried to hard sell me a room upgrade and the check in staff were very professional. The room was as you would expect in a hotel of this category: extremely comfortable and a lovely bathroom and shower. The air con was a dream to operate and silent. The food in the restaurant buffet was excellent, but the drinks menu was I felt terribly overpriced. I couldn’t find fault with the service and the management seemed really to have their house in order.
There are though certain simple, but essential demands on premium class hotels in the year 2012 and the hotel fails in this regard. Although there is a DVD player along with the TV there is no way that a USB could be used. The TV’s USB input refused to accept my USB when it was inserted and there was no USB function on the DVD player. I may be wrong, but this could well be intentional so that you have to pay the 672 peso for a pay per view movie. Many hotels now understand these essentials and provide all the necessary gadget hook ups. The Sofitel unfortunately is not one of them.
Another essential is internet access. There is a cable in the room which will cost you 905 peso minimum for 24 hours. No in-room wi-fi as far as I could see. All I wanted to do was to use skype to call my son in Thailand and have a quick look at my email. I was then inconvenienced to go out of the room and find their “free wi-fi in the lobby”. I tried to find somewhere to sit for five minutes, and there were only two benches to use. After trying for some time to connect, I was told by the reception I would have to move nearer to the café to get a proper connection. You don’t then get “free internet in the lobby” and even in the café, the wi-fi connection was a poor one. They can manage a 1 mbps connection in your room if you pay them 1500 peso, but they give you a deliberately miserly 128 mbps in the café, where they force you into so as to get you away from “the lobby” as in the cafe they can charge you over 200 peso for a brewed coffee. Their clever tactic might escape the notice of some, but not me! The likes of this doesn’t happen to me in Accor Thailand.
I can understand that pay per view movies and chargeable internet is a big profit area in the hotel business and the cost of removing them may well mean putting the room rate up. But the room rate is already very high. I really do believe that hotels in the Philippines make serious profits and the Sofitel will be no exception. They also have to understand that overcharging for these modern necessities as extras can be quite inconvenient for their guests. Also, if they advertise free wi-fi in the lobby, then it should be provided.
This hotel is within walking distance of virtually nowhere. There’s no 7/11 to pop out to. If you arrive without forward thinking and run out of your two small free bottles of water then they have a bottle of Evian, imported from France, in the room for you at 240 peso. You can make a cup of coffee in the room, but they provide only two packets of creamer. You can ask for more, but it is an inconvenience to be pretty much on an island and dependent on the hotel services for everything you may need. It is a nice “island” to be on, but it can work out far more expensive than you maybe have budgeted for. If you are on a business trip it won’t matter of course.
Other than the points raised above I am always impressed with Accor hotels, in particular the Sofitel brand and this hotel is certainly a very nice place to stay. This hotel is certainly impressive and more up market than the Sofitel Silom. The room is more like a Marriot. The room was so nice that after a six week trip around the Philippines staying in some not-so-nice places, we just preferred to stay in all night. As our flight didn’t depart until the evening, the counter staff were very accommodating, saying that we were welcome to use the hotel facilities until we left at 6 pm. This was typical of the professional service offered in this hotel. Despite my gripes about the internet and not being able to watch my movie, it is a very impressive hotel.

I arrive at the Hotel at 5:30 to get my reservation. I asked for a non-smoking room but front desk said they only have a smoking room at the 2nd floor and if I need a non-smoking room I have to wait becaise the available room still needs to be clean. I was asked to wait at the smoking room originally given to us until the non-smoking room is available. Until several follow-ups ( i think I made 4 or 5 times) for our room, it was finally given to me at 7:30 pm and I am supposed to check-out at 12pm the following day.
The hotel is already old though maintained. The breakfast is delicious and I enjoyed it.
I recommend the hotel for its food.