When I was researching for a good hotel to hold our preparations for the wedding day, I was looking for one with big rooms, affordable rates, good natural lighting, and one that was not strict with the number of people and outside food coming in. My search led me to Oakwood Premier Joy~Nostalg Center Manila in Ortigas. It received a lot of good reviews with former brides. Later on, another plus point was that they didn't have extra charges for shooting within their hotel premises. I remember during my brother's wedding, we had to do a guerrilla shoot on our way to church because the hotel only permitted shoots when the reception would be done there. Others charge exorbitant fees and don't even allow aerial drones.
The one concern with Oakwood was it was far from our church, the INC locale of San Francisco in Del Monte Avenue, Quezon City. But when I learned that my on-the-day coordinator handled a wedding with hotel preps in Oakwood and an even further church in the INC locale of Capitol (Commonwealth Avenue), I became confident that we could do it. This was more because I trusted my OTD.
We initially booked two rooms in November, two one-bedroom suites for me and for Jay who will stay with his family. Later on, I thought Jay needed his own room so he can relax during his last night as a single man (hehe) and in the morning the room needed to be clean for the photo and video shoot. He was going to stay with three women in the other one-bedroom suite and I knew there'd be a lot of things there. So in January we booked another studio for Jay. We got this at a higher rate so my first tip is to book as early as possible, because the nearer you are to your wedding date, chances are the rates will be higher.
We booked my room for three nights, my in-laws' room for two nights, and Jay's room for one night. The day before the wedding was our check-in. We arrived late and since I had my wedding gown delivered to the hotel, the wedding gown arrived before us. I just called the concierge and asked them to receive it for me. When we arrived, it was at the lobby but it was arranged in an orderly manner, the gown in the mannequin was on a hotel trolley and the skirt part was covered with a black trash bin bag.
During the booking I indicated that the rooms will be used for a wedding so when we arrived at my room, there was a cake with "Congratulations!" written on top. That was a sweet gesture. I also said if it was possible for them to give us a room at the side facing Podium so we can have as much natural light as possible. It wasn't followed, but my room had big windows on two sides so we were still able to maximize the natural light.
We got married on April 7, and that was the time Oakwood introduced the one-time cleaning charge when a room will be used for weddings, functions, and other events. These were the rates:
Studio - Php2,000
1 Bedroom - Php2,500
2 Bedroom - Php4,000
3 Bedroom - 5,000
They were also charging Php200 per extra person, and Php50 per piece of extra luggage per guest (only 2pcs per guest allowed).
I was surprised. At the time of our booking these charges weren't implemented yet, and though I know it's the hotel's prerogative to change their rules, I thought it would have been proper to inform their clients especially since we indicated we were going to use our rooms for wedding preps. The receptionist I spoke to these charges were open to negotation, so I said we were only going to use one room for the preps, my room. So they had me sign the waiver (photo below) and charged us for one room only. As for the Php200 per extra person, we weren't charged for any extra persons during the wedding day. I'll discuss the extra luggage charge in the latter part of my review.
The night before our wedding, our florist delivered our entourage flowers. This was a surprise to me as this was not what we agreed upon. She just told me they were at the hotel lobby already after the fact. We were at the church for our wedding rehearsal so I wasn't able to do anything about it anymore. When we arrived, I was informed that they brought the flowers up to my room already. I appreciated that effort from them.
Our rooms were indeed spacious, Oakwood is a serviced-apartment more than a hotel, so we had a working kitchen complete with stove, ref, microwave, cutlery, plates, even a dishwasher. We also had a washing machine in our rooms.
Come wedding day, all of my suppliers, entourage, and other family members were able to move freely in my room. Since it's a one-bedroom suite, the living area is separated from the bedroom. My entourage HMUA set-up in the living room, while my own HMUA set up at the bedroom. Oakwood gave us keys that had access to the floors of the three rooms so our suppliers (coordinator, photo, and video) were able to transfer conveniently. Food deliveries were also allowed, provided we will meet them at the lobby and bring the food up ourselves. This was taken care of by our coordinator.
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| This photo was taken by my cousin. Oakwood really has spacious rooms. |
During the preps my rooms had a ceiling leak. The area near the closets and bathroom was leaking. It was tolerable at first, until it became big and the carpet was soaking wet. My bridesmaids were having a hard time moving from the living area to the bathroom to fix themselves. I heard my bridal assistant (I was being made up then) calling housekeeping (or whatever department handles this) about it. She called several times, up until we were about to leave the hotel, but I didn't see any officer from the hotel check the room. I have a vague memory of a maintenance personnel checking it, but what my bridal assistant told me was that they wouldn't be able to fix the leak at that time. So before we left, my coordinator told me the arrangement was that we'll just transfer to another room when we get back from the wedding (because we still had a lot of stuff in the room).
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After everybody finished their lunch (we ordered from Amber), my coordinators did a good job of cleaning everything up. Even the bed was fixed, so I thought there was really no need for the one-time cleaning fee. I understand there might have been former clients who trashed their rooms (probably had poppers/confetti or spilled champagne and what not during their video shoots), but they should check for damage AFTER the event and then assess whether to charge the fee.
After our wedding, we returned to Oakwood and that was when we transferred to another room. The leak still hadn't been fixed. There was just a bucket under the ceiling where it was leaking. My coordinator also informed me that they were being charged the Php50 per luggage fee, and they weren't allowed to use the trolley to bring the things from the wedding back to our room.
Since my coord didn't want us to incur any more charges, they brought the things up on their own. This didn't sit well with me because I was a paying customer, I was checked in for three nights, and technically, those were still my things. The luggage fee were only applicable to the wedding suppliers who would bring stuff up during the shoot.
But at that time I was so tired from everything that I just made a note to discuss it upon checkout.
When we were about to check out, I discussed with the receptionist all of my concerns. I told her the one-time cleaning fee should be a case-to-case basis. I also asked her why no one was able to fix the leak in our room. It caused so much hassle to everyone. We discussed all of this in a hurry because Jay and I still needed to buy something at SM. So I settled our bill and we left our stuff at the concierge first.
But everything was still bothering me, and I also asked my friend who's a manager at Manila Pen if they were charging a fee for rooms booked for wedding preps. She said no. So after we returned from SM I asked if I could speak to the manager on duty at Oakwood. It took a while, but I waited. When I spoke to the manager, I expressed my disappointment in a very cordial way. I did it out of concern, really, because Oakwood has a good reputation and good standing as a venue for wedding preps. I told him how no one even apologized for the leak, how no one assisted my coords for our stuff when I was still checked in (for two more nights). I said, "What if I was a guest and I shopped really hard and came home with dozens of bags, would you charge me for them?" He apologized for this and said it shouldn't have happened.
The ending was, our one-time cleaning charge was waived. But I think this was more because my room had a leak. If it didn't have a leak, I don't think they would have waived it. Still, I'm thankful that the manager was very receptive to my feedback and he handled my concerns well (which is more than I can say for the receptionist).
This happened in April, and in the wedding group I joined, someone took the initiative to contact Oakwood. It was resolved that everyone who made a booking before April 1 would have their cleaning charges waived. But after that, the charges would apply.
TIPS:
1. Check the rates at booking sites like Agoda or Booking.com. We booked through Agoda and their rates were much lower than what Oakwood gave us. Book as early as possible.
2. If you want to further save on cost, book rooms without breakfast included. Since Oakwood is not strict with outside food, you can order fast food delivery, or you can also cook in the functional kitchen.
3. Look for a hotel that has a lot of areas you can use for your photo and video shoot. Oakwood didn't have a lot of these. You can only shoot in the rooms, hallways, lobby and outside the hotel. But what I love about Oakwood's rooms are the huge windows and abundance of natural light.
4. Clarify with your hotel first about extra charges, and read your booking contract until the fine print. So you'll have something to back you up in case you will contest charges that come up during check in or check out.
5. If you'll still go for Oakwood, ask your suppliers to bring their own trolleys, or ask your coordinator to help them.
6. Talk to hotel management cordially. Let them know about your side, and if it's possible to have a workaround with your concerns. I believe everything can be fixed when we don't let out heightened emotions get in the way. At the same time, be firm with your stand.
Supplier Contact Details:
Oakwood Premier Joy~Nostalg Center Manila
17 ADB Avenue, Ortigas Center, Pasig City 1600
Telephone numbers: (632) 637-7786 / (632) 910-8888
Email: premiermanila@oakwoodasia.com
Website: www.oakwoodpremiermanila.com
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