Based on some suppliers' feedback, "Just NOT Discovery Suites", as the hallways are quite dark.
I asked around the pricing of Crowne, Edsa Shangri-la and Eastwood Richmonde. They were not cheap. It was about Php10-12K per night—and this was just the room where I’ll be staying. So in essence, E’s room, our families’ rooms will have cost so much more too! So again, my practical side said, okay, Astoria Plaza it is. That should be around Php6-7K for a 2-BR suite. I stayed there before and the rooms are quite modern and huge!
I told my mom about this decision and she was aghast. She did not like it one bit. She complained about the one-way traffic in front of Astoria, how their lobby is not very “photogenic”, how it is bordered by Shaw blvd., which spells t-r-a-f-f-i-c for her. I value my mom’s opinion and I get her point. Mainly, for me, I understand the traffic part.
So I went back to the earlier hotels. Eastwood Richmonde is ridiculously expensive (at around Php12K++ per night). Edsa Shangri-la is a little far off already (and yes, expensive too). So I was quite settled with getting Crowne Plaza. They gave me a discounted price of about Php11K net a night. At this point, I told E, we will have to tell our families we cannot shoulder their hotel stay. Luckily, our families were fine with it. (Okay, I will sound defensive but our families are big, seriously. My family takes up two rooms – 4 grown children plus mom and dad. E’s family is his mom, his eldest sister and her two daughters, plus his other sister with her husband and one kid.—it’s just not viable for us.)
In the middle of researching about hotels and hotel preps, I came across a thread in this forum about hotel and having wedding preparations in hotels and this bride got herself hotel stay vouchers and at least 20% discount at Oakwood Premier Joy Nostalg. The ever so stalker cum researcher in me, scoured through the net, inquired at the hotel and was passed on to so many people until I got someone to speak with about this membership.
The Oakwood Premier Membership is valued at Php2,888 for a whole year. This membership entitles the owner of the following:
I am really happy with how this progressed. Imagine all the savings that gave us :) Some images I got online: