Staycation: Vivere Hotel & Resort

Our family loves staycation, it is our way to celebrate, reward or destress from our busy lives. It is a good way to relax and enjoy ourselves without hurting our budget. Traveling is not really cheap, you really need to spend money but “travel is the only thing you buy that makes you richer”. 

Last February, my siblings and I were planning for a family outing and I suggested Vivere Hotel. We took advantage their Lenten Promo, reserving a room is not easy. I don’t know why but it took us 11 days just to reserve a room which I have never experienced in other hotels. I will share it at the end of my post.  

Vivere Hotel and Resort is a five-star hotel in Southern Metro Manila, offering 200 different rooms in their 31-storey building. I believe this is the first luxury hotel in Alabang. We’ve been to three other luxury hotels in Alabang so I’m happy that I finally crossed this out on my list. 

Read: Staycation in Alabang 

After my husband’s dental appointment, off we went to Vivere Hotel for our Easter Staycation. We parked in the basement and went to reception to check-in. I was surprised by their charges, I thought the P9000 is already my downpayment for the three rooms but my brother told me that he was also charged P9000, so he verified this with the staff and was advised that it is really the charge, P5000 downpayment, and P4000 for incidental deposit. 

It was past 1PM when they ushered us to our room. Every floor is secured because you need the key card just to enter the hallway. They say that there are no two rooms alike in this hotel but when I checked my siblings room, di naman pansin gaano yung pagkakaiba.

Let me show you our De Luxe Room. The room is not really big but it has a living room and kitchen. The kitchen has a microwave oven, fridge, and sink. If you want to save money, you can just bring your food and reheat it.

I was disappointed with the bed. The promo is good for 2 adults and 2 kids so I was expecting a king-sized bed or at least two double beds but this bed is good for couples only, pwede three kung slim. I stayed in Vivere Azure and the bed is really huge so I thought Vivere Hotel has the same size of the bed. 

The bathroom has a bathtub but the toiletries are not VMV Hypoallergenics. 

Read: Vivere Azure in Anilao, Batangas 

2PM is check-in time but my sister’s room was not ready so they left their things in our room. We went to the Lama Pool at 3PM so the kids can swim.

For dinner, we went to Yabu at Alabang Town Center, and we availed of the free shuttle service of the hotel. 

The following day, we ate our breakfast at The Nest “Dining in the Sky”. The restaurant is not that big, you can choose to eat inside or beside the pool. 

I was surprised to see the buffet spread, it is not that big compared to other luxury hotels. The choices were limited but it is enough to satisfy our hungry stomachs. The taste of the food is good and I enjoyed my roast pork. Good thing my son is free of charge because he only ate pancakes and bread. 

Then we went to Kid’s Club on the 8th floor, the Jacuzzi is located on the same floor but we haven’t tried it. 

We went to the lobby to buy the “A Hoppy Easter” ticket but were advised to get the ticket on the 2nd floor. We attended mass at 9AM and went straight to the Easter event on the same floor.

Read: Easter Egg Hunt at Vivere Hotel
Watch the video here.

We checked out after the Easter event. 

Likes: 

1. The room is not big but it has a kitchen and living room. Two televisions inside the room.
2. The bathroom has a bathtub. 
3. Free wi-fi and shuttle service.
4. Service is good except in reserving a room and check-in time. 
5. The hotel has a pool, jacuzzi, game area, and kid’s club so you have something to do without leaving the hotel.
6. Complimentary drinks are available in the lobby (coffee, tea and juice). In our room, there are 2 complimentary bottled water and canned juice. 

Dislikes:

1. The bed is good for only 2 people. 
2. Like I said, reserving a room is not easy. 

February 27, my sister-in-law called and reserved 3 rooms. She was advised that our rooms were already confirmed and to wait for the email. One week passed and we did not receive any email. 

March 5, I personally went to the hotel, I asked them about my sister-in-law’s reservation and I was shocked na wala daw reservation. So I reserved three rooms again, I was asked to fill out the form and wait for an email. I find it so weird, I was already there, why do I need to wait for an email.

March 7, still no email, I made a follow-up but I don’t know why they are still asking for the details. I already filled out the form last March 5 and everything was there, so useless ang pagpunta ko dun at pagsulat sa form. Wala na naman sa system nila.

I received the confirmation voucher pero mali yung details, I told them about their promo “free buffet breakfast for 2 adults and 2 kids”. 

March 8, I received the confirmation voucher with the correct details. I signed it and sent it back to them. Imagine, it took us 11 days just to reserve a room. Tinawagan, email at pinuntahan ko pa. 

If you remember my post last February, they did not answer my email so we just reserved a room in Vivere Azure. 

3. Check-in time is 2PM, my brother and I were lucky that our rooms were ready before 2PM but my sister was not happy because they waited till 4:30PM just to get their key. She was not alone, marami din guests ang mainit na ang ulo na nahihintay. 

I don’t think it is a good idea to wait for the guests to vacate the room and let the next guests wait. To compensate, they offered late check-out for my sister but my sister did not stay till 4:30PM, sumabay din siya sa min. 

I don’t think that the hotel is fully booked because sa floor lang namin, may mga vacant rooms. Maybe because it was a promo rate so wait talaga na magkaroon ng Deluxe room. In The Manila Hotel, when our room was not available during our check-in, they upgraded us to Suite Room. 

Read: The Manila Hotel

4. The staff failed to inform us about the charges during the check-in and I forgot to ask about the details too since I already received a text from my credit card company that P9000 has been charged. I thought the P9000 is already my downpayment for the three rooms.

Despite the dislikes, my family enjoyed our Easter Staycation at Vivere Hotel. I do hope they will improve their reservation process or else maghahanap na lang ng ibang hotel ang guest.