Staying at Kingsford Hotel

When I was in Manila, I was only there briefly to spend the night before returning to the airport and departing The Philippines. Since I was just there for a night, I searched for hotels near the airport and came across the Kingsford Hotel. The hotel had great reviews and lots of amenities at a very reasonable rate, so I decided to book there. I only slept there for one night, but I wound up booking two nights because my flight out of The Philippines was at 11:55pm. This enabled me to use the hotel amenities, to relax, and to not have to worry about removing my luggage from my room prior to my late flight.

This was a great budget friendly hotel that has all the amenities you could want. It has a beautiful rooftop swimming pool, a pool bar, and poolside dining delivered from the restaurant. There is also a breakfast buffet for a separate fee and a cafe in the lobby where you can purchase snacks and coffee drinks. The hotel also has a weight room, sauna, and locker rooms. These were great amenities I was able to utilize since my flight was so late at night. My room was also spacious and comfortable and had great air-conditioning to keep the room cool. There are also bathrobes and slippers in the rooms, which is a pretty upscale amenity for a hotel that is not very expensive per night.

I paid $164 USD for two nights at this hotel, which also included all taxes and fees as well as transportation to and from the airport.

Pros and cons of Kingsford Hotel

The value received at this hotel was pretty great for not being very expensive per night. Below are some pros and cons of staying at this property

Pros

• The hotel is well maintained.
• The rooftop swimming pool is really nice, and the pool deck has ample reclining chairs for you to relax poolside.
• The poolside bar is a great place to relax and have a drink on a hot day
• My room was very clean and spacious.
• The food from the restaurant was delicious. I had two dinners at the pool bar, and both meals were quite tasty.
• The onsite weight room and sauna are great amenities as well. The weight room is much better than your typical hotel weight room. It has squat racks, bench presses, and a good selection of dumbbells.
• The staff was very friendly and welcoming during my entire visit.
• There is a complementary airport shuttle.
• There are filtered water stations all throughout the property, making it easy to refill usable water bottles.
• The robe and slippers in the room are a nice touch.
• There are spa treatments available for anyone looking for some pampering while at the hotel.
• I missed the regular time the airport shuttle comes, but the hotel dispatched a shuttle just for me after I called them to ask where the shuttle pickup was located. The shuttle is a bit hard to figure out (see cons below).

Cons

• You have to go through a metal detector and security to access the property, which makes you wonder if they have had problems in the past. This is probably just protocol for most properties in such a big city, but it was a little unnerving.
• The complementary shuttle is a little difficult to figure out especially going from the airport to the hotel. Make sure you call ahead of time to be sure the shuttle will be there and to figure out where to find the shuttle. The website makes it sound like it comes in regular intervals, but it almost seems more like it picks up passengers upon request. I’m still a little bit confused on how it is supposed to operate.

My ultimate recommendation

I would definitely recommend staying here if you are looking for a nice hotel with all the amenities at a budget price. If I return to Manila, I will absolutely consider staying here again given the budget friendly price and all of the amenities that were included. You can check rates and availability for Kingsford Hotel here. You can also compare hotels in the area below. For a 30-day travel itinerary through The Philippines, be sure to read my blog article: The mostly “perfect” 30-day itinerary for The Philippines.