Discovery Suites (Ortigas Center, Pasig City)

The larger-than-normal orange-colored chair at the lobby neatly summarizes the weird feeling one gets while checking-in at the Discovery Suites. It’s probably like having tea with Alice in Wonderland‘s Mad Hatter, except that the madness here seems to be the identity crisis of the Suites (though in a good way).

You sit at the lobby, dwarfed by this huge chair, illuminated by natural light that flows from the transparent roof straight to the ground floor. The huge, hollow space through which the light passes though is rimmed by the corridor, at the side of which the rooms are neatly arranged. The open, spacious, simple and high-ceiling lobby may be there to give a sense of modernist grandeur to the place. It may also be there to give the guest a sense of perspective, of how puny you are in the greater scheme of things.

Of course, many hotels have more majestic lobbies and entrances. I can say, though, that the Discovery Suites (website) is a hotel that isn’t quite like a hotel. There’s no constant stream of humanity darting to and fro, unlike a hotel, which is a feat with 220 suites and a number of function rooms. Perhaps better than a hotel, you could call for service and it’s there pronto, with someone calling to follow up if the task was already delivered. Ask my 4-year old son, he asked for more pieces of paper to doodle on, and let’s just say he’s one very satisfied customer.

There’s breakfast (Restaurant 5 at, uhm, the 5th floor, currently under renovation) and there’s a separate restaurant at the 22nd floor (Serendipity Lounge and 22 Prime), but, unlike a hotel, you get the feeling that only guests are here. It’s more reasonably-priced than some 3-star hotels, yet look better. Unlike a hotel, it has no dungeon-like hallway that you must navigate on the way to the room; the open space in the middle is perfect for those who don’t like cramped corridors. Also, its service is comparable to good hotels, only that it doesn’t quite feel like a hotel. (Yes, I know, I said that already.)

It’s just like home. Now, let me restate that line, because my home doesn’t look anywhere near this place — it feels just like home. The Suites’ fact sheet, I later discovered, talks about “successfully combining the warm and familiar comforts of home with the luxurious pampering of a five-star hotel”. That’s what I call truth in advertising.

Describing a place that makes one feel at home is difficult. Maybe the sense of familiarity renders one incapable of doing so. I don’t know exactly why. And so for years I haven’t written about Discovery Suites.

We’ve regularly visited Discovery Suites, found in the heart of the Ortigas Center, Pasig City. It stands across Podium, a high-end shopping mall that is just a stone’s throw from SM Megamall and the Asian Development Bank (ADB). It’s just a walking distance from The Galleria (another shopping center) and the EDSA Shangri-la (hotel and mall complex), just around the corner from El Pueblo (where restaurants like Rack’s, McDonald’s and Shakey’s are found). It’s near Ark Avilon, Fun Ranch and Tiendesitas.

We often visit a client which holds office here, at the other wing, which is for offices (the strange mix of suites at one wing, covered by a different set of elevators, and offices at the other gives the lobby a strange feeling). We go here on some weekends to relax, have breakfast, take a walk to the malls, go home. They say work hard and play (or relax?) hard.

The 4-day long Holy Week weekend provided a good excuse to write about this place.

The good thing about a long weekend is that people troop out of the cities to grab a welcome vacation. The city is practically a ghost town. Traffic is expected to be heavy going out, at the start of the season when people simultaneously head out, and going in as city dwellers go home in preparation for the working Monday. Of course, whether to have a vacation during Lenten season is an entirely different matter, and we’re in no position to pontificate considering that we’re out here.

These reasons made us decide to break the home-based Lenten season and stay at the Discovery Suites. The city is decongested, silent and still. Throw in the added reason that Discovery Suites has a P3,500 promo, and we’re off for the weekend.

We usually have a full set of groceries when we go here. This time, since it was a spur of the moment decision, we had no time to visit the grocery. Besides, why not buy groceries at the malls around the place? Turned out Podium has no grocery store. We crossed the street to St. Francis Square for the groceries and, while on the way back to the Podium, discovered that there’s a food bazaar at the side of St. Francis. These outlets are your regular big branded restaurants, but they serve from Persian to Chinese food — at much lower prices. The discovery was a welcome surprise.

Dinner was supposed to be at Banana Leaf, at the second floor of The Podium. My wife and I agreed on that. Then our son said he wants Burgoo. He can’t tell us what food he wants in Burgoo. He just wants to eat there, he said. We soon learned that he doesn’t really like the food there, but Burgoo has this huge paper table cover, plus a set of crayons, and he remembered that the last time we were here. So Burgoo it was (though for a reason that I’d rather not say here, we’re never going back to Burgoo – Podium).

Dessert at Cafe Breton and coffee at Starbucks, both at the ground floor. Casa Armas and UCC Cafe. My mind was racing with possibilities. Don’t get me wrong, though, we didn’t eat in all of those. I’m just speaking of possibilities.

Breakfast is always something I look forward to in hotels. It shouldn’t be hurried, with plenty of time to sit around and relax. Breakfast at Discovery Suites, just like any hotel packages, is buffet style. Eat all you can. Unfortunately for us, they ran out of bacon that morning, but that isn’t going to ruin my lazy breakfast. I’m happy with pancakes, with full choices of toppings, with toasted bread and omelet.

I could go on writing about other stuff, like the swimming pool for the kids, but I’ve said a lot already (and I’ve said I had a hard time writing about Discovery Suites). So, as I sit on this soft, comfortable sofa facing Podium, I begin to revisit the question why I found it difficult to write about the Discovery Suites. Maybe I’m just selfish. Maybe I want to keep this corner of the city to myself. Maybe I don’t want people to discover my hideaway.

But here, the details:

Discovery Suites
25 ADB Avenue, Ortigas Avenue
Ortigas Center, Pasig City
1600, Philippines
Tel: (632) 719.8888
Fax: (63 2) 719.6928
Website:  discoverysuites.com.ph

For Room Rates/Packages
Reservations Department
Tel:   (63 2) 719.8888 / 719.6930 -32
Fax:  (63 2) 719.6928

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