I was tossing between booking our Easter staycation at Edsa Shangri-La Manila and Sofitel Philippine Plaza Manila. The former has a fairly new kiddie pool facility called Aqua Play that we would like to check out but I had to pay an extra Php 1,550 nett per ticket for the trip to Cozy Land with Dibo the Gift Dragon. I made a last minute decision to book the latter because with its Easter Getaway Package, there's already two tickets included to an amazing adventure with Peter, Pirates and Pixies- A Sofitel Easter Egg Hunt.
Last 2014, we stayed at Makati Shangri-La Manila Hotel for our Easter staycation. You can view our experience here. I think Sofitel's Easter Bunny looks more appealing to kids than the one displayed at Makati Shangri-La last year. Don't you think so?
While we had a breeze checking in at Makati Shangri-La in spite of being full to capacity, I had to endure one hour of waiting in line just to check-in at Sofitel. The reception was undermanned and everybody was asked to check-in all at the same time (2 pm).
I remember a Makati Shangri-La personnel called my mom last year just to remind her to check-in at 12 nn to avoid the long queue. I think Sofitel should do the same.
Anyway, while I was in line, a Sofitel representative in toy soldier costume handed me a Le Petit Prince World flyer. In it was a list of kiddie benefits from restaurants & bars, pool area and kid's tent. For example, kids below the age of 5 are free of charge at Spiral. There's a complimentary scoop of ice cream at 1:00 pm at the Pool Area. There's also fruit skewers and muffins being pass around between 12:00 nn to 6:00 pm every hour. Best of all, there's complimentary 1-hour access to Kid's Tent daily. A schedule of activities like Arts & Crafts, Clay Making, Coloring, Story Telling, Bird Feeding and Kite Flying was posted outside the tent.
With nothing else to do, DH and my daughter went to Kid's Tent. He left all our luggage with the concierge while I was waiting in line.
When I was finally in front of the check-in counter, I was delighted when I was informed about a room upgrade, mind you, not just to the next room category but at one of Sofitel's luxury rooms at Club Millésime. You can view the privileges of staying at this executive floor here. You can also check out Sofitel's impressive 576 sqm Imperial Residence here.
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| Chocolate Easter Bunny compliments of Sofitel Php 350 |
After swimming, we found this Chocolate Easter Bunny inside our room. Cute! It is available at Spiral 2 Go for only Php 350.
On Easter Sunday, after a hearty breakfast at Spiral, my daughter and I proceeded to the Easter Egg Hunt venue. Check out the Peter Pan background and decor around the venue below.
There were long tables with benches neatly set up at the center of the venue. The bench is not suitable for children below 5 years old. Why did I say this? Because my daughter accidentally fell off on one of the benches. There's no back rest to support her. I didn't see any high chair either or I would have requested for one. Anyway, there was no harm done, thank goodness, there's carpet flooring!
There were several food stands like the one shown above and some companies even gave sample products like vitamins, snacks and juices.
After having her bag filled with snacks, I ushered my daughter to the art area where she painted her own egg and designed her own paper bag.
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| Skin painting |
After falling in line to get her pink bunny balloon, my daughter had a pink butterfly expertly drawn on her arm by one of the artists. Other kids opted to have their whole face painted (as shown below).
This little girl has a bunny tail too (not in photo).
Food was fish, chicken and beef patties with corn & carrots on the side. I love the potato chips, so crunchy!
Before the program started, several mascots went up the stage to wow the crowd. Kids were seated at the foot of the stage. Several colorful bean bags were scattered on the ground.
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| What's Easter without an Easter Bunny? |
For the Easter egg hunting proper, kids were segregated by age group. My daughter belonged to the first group, age 0-5. I was allowed to enter the venue with her since she still needs supervision.
And the egg hunting begins...
Guess who found one of the huge golden eggs? My daughter!
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| with Tinkerbelle as one of the emcee |
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| Yey! For a Play n' Cook Kitchen Set |
I took the following photos inside Club Millésime lounge where we had some cocktails and scheduled wine tasting.
Here's a view outside our room, not the stunning lagoon view but it was nice as well.
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| Guess who had a good night's sleep? |
Guess who does not want to go home after spending two nights at Sofitel Philippine Plaza Manila? My daughter. She said she wanted to sleep in the hotel bed all day lol
Check-in problem aside, we had a memorable stay at this hotel as usual. The WiFi was working well despite the heavy demand of users. The pool is huge enough to accommodate the guests staying at the hotel. We still received impeccable service even though the hotel was full to its capacity. Lastly, the Easter Egg Hunt event was very organized.
Sofitel Philippine Plaza Manila is located at CCP Complex, Roxas Blvd., Pasay City For inquiries and reservations, please call 551 5555.
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