Hotel Ocular - Century Park Sheraton Hotel and Manila Hotel

For the fiance and me, the hotel is an important part of the wedding. It is where we will be doing our preparations and staying with our families the night before the big day, where we will be taking a ton of photos, and it is where we will be spending our first night together as husband and wife. What part of that is not a big deal, right?

That is why an ocular of our prospect hotels had to be done. A and I wanted a hotel in the Roxas Boulevard area, so that it's easily accessible, has less traffic to worry about, and the area is pretty picturesque. We were suggested hotels in Quezon City, but it's far from our reception venue, has unpredictable traffic, looks pretty congested, and we really don't know much about that area, having grown up mainly in Manila. So Roxas Boulevard it is. Luckily, my fiance's mom and my future mother-in-law is in the airline industry and is pretty connected, and she was able to set up two oculars for two hotels in the vicinity of our church and reception venue.

Century Park Sheraton Hotel

Manila Hotel

The first one was Century Park Sheraton Hotel. It's close to the Pergola, our reception venue, so we decided to take a look. I haven't been there - and the nearby Harrison Plaza - in ages, not since I was a little kid actually. It felt like a blast from the past. A hotel person showed us around their suite and their regular room.

After seeing the rooms, Aleq, his mom, uncle, cousin and I had lunch at the Century Park Tsukiji Japanese restaurant. We loved it. It's so pretty - the interiors were bright and cozy. The food was fantastic.

The entrance to the resto

So Japanese!

The super cute table setting

Aleq and his mom

The requisite couple pic

Me + the future mother-in-law

Aleq and his mom both had the tonkatsu teishoku (pork cutlet set meal). 

I had the yakizakana teishoku (grilled salmon set meal).

Uncle Jun's choice: sukiyaki teishoku (beef with noodles set meal)

Aielle's was the tempura teishoku (breaded shrimp set meal).

Uncle Jun and our Junior Bridesmaid, Aielle

Dessert was a small fruit plate.

Our second stop of the day was the Manila Hotel. It's Manila's most iconic hotel. I haven't been there in ages either so it was a joy to finally be able to visit. A hotel person showed us two suites - one with a more modern feel, and the other located in a lounge floor. We got to see their regular room too. Thanks for showing us around, Manila Hotel!

It was a great visit. It was fun to see that hotel again. Before we left, we took a few pics.

At the lobby restroom

Tita Inty and Aielle

With the fiance

The thing is, both hotels had stuff we liked and stuff that wouldn't work for us. The Century Park Sheraton Hotel had modern-looking rooms and great rates, but its location - a bit off Roxas Boulevard and beside Harrison Plaza - was a little hard to get to. The Manila Hotel had an amazing lobby with enormous chandeliers, the suite floor was terrific, and one of the suites was very chic. However, the fiance and I think that it would be perfect for weddings with a Filipiniana theme or a romantic/vintage theme. Since we have a modern theme, it might not go so well with it. And so the search for the hotel continues. We think we know where we'll end up - we shall see.