Hotel Review: Shangri-La at The Fort (Why It Deserves More Than An Overnight Stay)

The Horizon Club deluxe room

Sometime last week, my husband had an important meeting early in the morning in BGC. Rush hour traffic from Quezon City where we live is unpredictable so he asked me to book a room for him near his meeting venue. I decided to make a staycation of it for me and Jia.

I got us a deluxe room at Shangri-La at The Fort but, upon check-in, I was offered Horizon Club access for just an additional Php3,500. I accepted. We checked in at 5 p.m., which was just in time for cocktails. Although I don’t drink, I was famished.

Nespresso coffee machines are always an indulgent feature

We were given a Horizon Deluxe room on the 40th floor, which is also where the Horizon Club Lounge is located. It was 47 sqm., not a lot of space for the amount we were paying but the bed was supersized, which was perfect for us and our toddler who loves rolling and walking on the bed.

L'occitane toiletries

Complimentary packets of banana chips and coconut chips were waiting for us in the room, and shortly after our luggage were delivered, a staff came in to set up our welcome amenities, which included a basket of fruits (orange, mango, and apples) and three chocolate balls on a stick (delicious).

Welcome setup

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Kids are not allowed at the club lounge during cocktails so I had my afternoon merienda alone (my husband was still at work). Then a staff approached me and asked if I’d like to be with my baby at the lounge. I said yes, of course. She transferred me to an empty meeting room at the lounge, away from all the drinking guests, so I was able to bring in Jia and the nurse.

Tapas

Cold canapes

Bread

Sushi

A whole leg of Jamon Iberico

When we had our fill, I took Jia to Adventure Zone on the 5th floor. Access to stay-in guests is Php600. They require kids to be dressed in long sleeved tops and long pants. Everyone including adult companions must wear socks. The jungle gyms and slides are ideal for older kids but Jia enjoyed playing with the toys.

Salimpusa at Adventure Zone

Kerry Sports Gym has a basketball court!

The pool area at the 8th floor

I met up with my friend Clang at Samba restaurant at the 8th floor for dinner. This is also where the pool area is located. The pool looked inviting but I wasn’t able to take Jia for a dip because she was just recovering from a cold.

Samba’s cuisine is Peruvian, which is growing in popularity in the metro, but they also infuse local flavors in select offerings such as their Peruvian adobo. Their arroz con mariscos, a traditional Peruvian seafood rice, was bursting with flavor. I wish I got to try more of their offerings but I was still too full from my cocktail-hour nibbles.

Arroz con Mariscos

The next morning, after my husband left for his meeting, I went down to the lobby to have breakfast at High Street Café. The buffet selection was ample—not as overwhelming as Spiral’s but thoughtfully curated. Even their bacon is better, grilled over hot coals instead of pan-fried.

Bacon!

Salad station

Gelato station

My favorite -- bread station

My husband's preferred sweets - kakanin!

Filipino breakfast

Eggs station

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There's also a Grab and Go station at the entrance for those in a hurry

Horizon Club guests have the option of having their breakfast either at the lounge or at High Street Café. The latter is certainly a better option as the selection is far more extensive. I thought the lounge offering was lackluster and in dire need of more hot dishes, although you can request the staff for congee, noodles, and the like, which I did for my daughter. Jia loves sleeping in hotel rooms! She slept through the night and woke up at 10:28 a.m. I took her straight to breakfast at the lounge. Thankfully, the staff still accommodated my food requests for her.

There's so much to do at Shangri-La at The Fort that it deserves more than a single visit or an overnight stay. The husband wants to play on their basketball court and try out their gym. I want to dine in all their restaurants, visit their spa, and maybe book a haircut with Alex Carbonell at Studio Fix located at the adjacent mall. I'd also love to enrol Jia in one of the classes at Adventure Zone and take her to The Mind Museum nearby.

Shangri-La at the Fort is in the same price category as Raffles Makati so it’s hard not to compare. For a romantic weekend, I'd pick Raffles. I'd go with Shangri-La for a family affair.

Ultimate Taste Test 2015: A Verdict

I’ve been a reader of Anton’s blog for years. I love that he has almost every restaurant in Manila covered, and then some.

So when he announced that he was holding an Ultimate Taste Test 2015 (UTT15) event in September, I immediately informed the foodie family and friends. Our group of 13 trooped to Glorietta mall on September 12 to sample the offerings of over 40 food purveyors.

After getting our names verified at the registration counter, we were provided a map to the venue as well as a “Passport”, a score sheet with the names of all the concessionaires whose food we were supposed to rate and comment on. The vendors signed the sheet after handing out their dishes. Most booths offered two items for the participants to sample.

Since Judd, my nieces Joanna and Jenna, and I were the last to arrive in our group, we went straight to eating. Our bigger group claimed the peripheral area of the stage as our own so after sampling and/or collecting our food items, we would take a break, go to our spot, and write down the scores on our individual sheets.

Truth be told, we didn’t really use the map. We sort of intuitively agreed to cover the outer circle first and then the inner cluster. But we didn’t strictly follow that rule either. Mostly, we were following our nose.

One of the first things we tried was the beignet of Kapeng Mainit. I am a beignet fiend but it is so hard to find a good one here in Manila. We made quite a scene while having a taste of these doughnuts because we were making unintelligible sounds of appreciation.

 Kapeng Mainit’s beignets have a light crunch, with a puffy, chewy interior that oozed green tea cream with every bite. I didn’t mind that I was covered with powdered sugar after finishing my piece. I wanted another one.

I cannot quite forget the tiny bite of fat-rimmed, beautifully crusted roasted Angus U.S. beef at The Beef Barn’s station. Dipped in the wild mushroom sauce, it was quite fantastic. They are set to open in Eastwood Citywalk in October so that’s something to watch out for.

 

Some of my friends regard Hainanese chicken as nothing more than just tinolang manok. Maybe they have a point but, in good Hainanese chicken, you get a bird that is perfectly moist and silky, something I’ve never quite experienced with tinola. Being a fan of this dish, I was thrilled to find Chivy & Co.’s Sous Vide Hainanese Chicken Rice. It was difficult to truly appreciate the subtle flavors of Hainanese chicken rice in a single mouthful, and it was hard to tell if the sous vide process made a marked difference, but the taste was sensational. I look forward to having this as a meal and comparing it with my favorite Stevie’s Hainanese chicken.

For me, callos is always a reason to break bread. It’s a family favorite and I am happy to report that the one purveyor who offered it at UTT15 did so exceedingly well. Tarlaquena’s callos was melting with tripe and tendon that seem to have been braised forever.

Other noteworthy bites included the following:

The flavor-packed Al Pastor taco of Su Casa Grill

The salted coco caramel of First Harvest, a social enterprise under the Gawad Kalinga Farm

Actress Maricar Reyes’s uber-moist choco-liquor cakes

Poco Deli's juicy kielbasa classic

Of the more than 40 food stations, I was able to cover only 15. Next time we join the UTT, we’ll make a day of it. It’s a fun activity for the family and a group of friends because you get to discover new things together, play food critic for a day, and interact with food entrepreneurs whose passion for their products are inspiring and infectious. On top of that, it was a well-organized event. It helped that Anton published a Survival Guide days before so we knew exactly what to expect.

‘Looking forward to the next one.