We chose the Cherry Blossoms hotel in Manila for our interview trip. We stayed from March 8 to 19. Our total bill was 13,451 Pesos, which included one local phone call and one room service meal and the 12% VAT.

The hotel is in an excellent location, directly across the street from Robinsons Mall. Everything you need is available in the mall, including ATM's, money changers and an Internet cafe (which is where I am right now).

The room was fine. Aircon worked great, towels were good, plenty of hot water. By American standards you would rate the rooms on par with Motel 6, but by Philippine standards it was pretty good. There was a little mold on the ceiling in the shower and the lock on the door did not feel secure. However, they have a security guard on each floor so we felt safe.

However, we do have a few complaints. The biggest problem was that somebody stole or digital camera from the room. It was probably the guy who cleaned the rooms, but the door locks are so poor it really could have been anybody. The doors have no dead-bolt and just a cheap push-button knob lock. I knew better than to leave an expensive item in the room, but I actually didn't know that Jocelyn had brought the camera until she said it was gone. The camera is about 5 years old and I had already been looking at newer models anyway. However, Jocelyn did have a lot of pictures on it that we hated to loose. I reported the theft to the front desk clerk, but she acted like she really didn't give a sh**. Her attitude was almost like "of course it was stolen you idiot, don't you know we are going to steal anything you leave in your room?" She was actually annoyed that I even mentioned it, and certainly didn't offer anything even close to an apology. Unfortunately this attitude pretty much summed up the overall attitude of the front desk staff. They always acted as if they were doing us a favor by letting us stay in their hotel. However, the security guards and bell hops were always very friendly, although one security guard did see me in the mall when he was off duty with his family, and hit me up for 300 Pesos with a sob story about how he wanted to buy his kids ice cream. He was actually so very pleasant when I first met him in the hotel that I really didn't mind the extortion.

There is at least one taxi driver who hangs out in front of the hotel who won't use his meter and will rip you off. He has a sign hiding his meter that says "Hotel Taxi". We got in his cab one time, and made him stop and let us out after one block when he wouldn't use his meter. Also note that when you check out he will try to grab your bags while you are at the counter and take them to his taxi and you will have to sternly tell him to put them down.

So my advice is that if you can carry all your valuables with you when you leave the room, this hotel might be worth the stay simply for the modest price and extreme convenience. However, expect to be treated badly by the front desk. If you don't have the stomach to be very stern with the front desk and taxi drivers, stay far away from the Cherry Blossoms hotel.

Sorry to hear u lost something on that hotel.When you're in Manila especially to those ordinary hotels,dont leave anything valuable inside your room like u said their door knob lock is quite pretty in bad shape.Im a Filipina but i dont trust people there sorry for that but its true,even the taxi drivers gosh they will gonna rip u off.Like when i was with my fiance,when they see you're with an american guy they will take advantage of that,200 to 300 pesos for few kilometers....but of course i wont let that to happen.Its always me who make transaction to anyone.I remember whenever we were waiting for a cab lol.I asked him to hide first so the taxi driver wont charge us too high.But they are some nice drivers who still honest!!!

Congratulations on ur visa!!!!!

<sigh>....So typical in the Philippines.... For the life of me, I don't understand why Pilipinos allow their country to continue to wallow in this (deserved) reputation rather than calling their own countrymen and women on the carpet and refusing to let them continue to keep alive the "No Customer Service" and "Coruption" legacy that reaches around the globe. Is it any wonder why the Philippines sends more of its citizens OUT of the country (Overseas Foreign Workers and emigrees) than it brings non Filipinos (Business and Tourism) country???

-Samby

Im sorry for what had happened to you,although it's been said not to leave any valuable things inside your room,they should've not acted that way,they should be kind enough to explain things to the customers.yes,there are those bad security guards as well as bad taxi drivers and if you're not wise enough,they will really rip you off.In the hotel where me and my fiance stayed,Boulevard Mansion,we didnt encounter anything like that,all of their staff from the room attendants,guards and front desk were all kind and respectful.even the taxi drivers except for those two that were not nice enough,one got mad at me when i asked him why his flag down was 42.50 when it should be 30 pesos only,he told me i will not be the one to pay so why i was complaining afterwards he opened the door and told us to get out,my fiance didnt know what was happening but he can tell that something was wrong,when he learned about it he told me i should've told it to him,i told him i can manage coz i dont want him to be in trouble.the other driver were getting us in a wrong way,maybe he thought i wasnt aware of the places here in Manila,i told him i knew every corner of Manila so he should not try of getting us into a wrong direction.Although the guards from the hotel always get the plate numbers of the taxis,i didnt bother to complain since we were busy at that time.

Anyway,taxi drivers like that are not only seen here in the Philippines,i have encountered one in Malaysia when i had a tour there few years ago.Whatever,i hope they should stop doing things like that especially to foreigners because instead of attracting tourism,they're the among ones who're pushing them away.