Five Reasons Why The Marco Polo Ortigas Deserves Its Five Star Rating From Forbes Travel Guide
To stay in the Marco Polo Hotel, Ortigas is to experience the best of the East and West. The Wharf Group, based in Hong Kong, manages the Marco Polo brand, operating fourteen luxury hotels in the region.
It recently received the five star hotel designation from Forbes Travel Guide for three years now. The Marco Polo Ortigas was the first hotel in the Philippines awarded this rating, the “Michelin Star for Hotels,” if you will. Maintaining the rating demanded nothing but rigor and excellence from their staff. “The first time was luck, the second time was magic, and the third time was hard work,” Marco Polo General Manager, Frank Reichenbach said in an intimate dinner with select members of the media. The hotel management has made it a point to train their staff towards the highest level of service. Asked about the hotel’s greatest asset, Reichenbach is quick to state that it is their team that makes the guest experience exemplary.
Here are the other reasons why we love the hotel:
1. Location, Location, Location.
In the heart of the Ortigas commercial district, Marco Polo is a warm respite in the heart of the city. Once you step outside you can already join the bustling metropolis whether you're a leisure or corporate guest.
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2. Beautiful Room Selections
It is appointed with three hundred sixteen suites that are designed in the name of their guests’ comfort and convenience. Adding to the property’s luxurious experience are two Continental Club floors that extend premium privileges. A full service spa, fitness center and an infinity pool are just some of the amenities to be enjoyed in this world-class hotel.
The Marco Polo Suite
3. Top Notch Dining Destinations
Four dining destinations satiate the discerning palette: Lung Hin, for those who are craving for authentic Cantonese flavors presented with modern flair; Cucina, the hotel’s all-day dining restaurant, endowed with a full-service, live kitchen; Café Pronto, for the casual coffee and pastries on the go; and Vu’s, Marco Polo’s skyline bar and lounge that serves a hedonistic mix of Mediterranean tapas, paired with cocktails.
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4. Grand Ballroom
For large celebrations, the hotel’s grand ballroom is a venue of choice, accommodating up to 600 guests. Its 8 function rooms are also assets, with a capacity of up to 250 people. In consideration for today’s need to connect, access to WiFi is available throughout the property.
The Grand Ballroom
5. Excellent Staff
The hotel management has made it a point to train their staff towards the highest level of service. Asked about the hotel’s greatest asset, Reichenbach is quick to state that it is their team that makes the guest experience exemplary.
About the Forbes Travel Awards
“We verify luxyry,” The Forbes Travel Guide website states. Filip Boyen, Forbes Travel Awards CEO states, “This is the most important thing about the Forbes Travel Guide. You cannot buy a rating. That is totally out of the question. You have to earn the rating, and earning the rating is not easy because we have 900 standards, and of those, 75% are based on service… on the emotional aspect of [the guest’s] stay. In other words, how does the hotel make [one] feel as a client… the modern luxury traveler is much more interested than emotional experience and memories than the physical aspect of a hotel,” explaining the process of rating a hotel.
Forbes Travel Guide Executives with Marco Polo Ortigas Manila Management Team
The hotels are rated by 56 full time inspectors who are chosen by the Forbes Travel Awards, based on their experience of luxury. The hotels are then identified via their very own reputation, as verified by social media and other travel guides. They are alerted that the inspectors are coming in the next 8-9 months to rate the property. All the work is done by the inspectors, incognito. “We book like a normal customer. We pay for our beverages, the spa. When the inspectors book, and the hotel doesn’t even know that they’ve been there,” Boyen continues.
Filip Boyen and Frank Reichenbach
The hotel industry follows trends closely, and Boyen sees that travelers nowadays long to be closer to the local community. “Twenty years ago, if a client would go to the concierge department and say to the concierge, ‘We would like to eat,’ the concierge will do everything to keep the guest a prisoner in that hotel. Nowadays, the concierge will have every good restaurant in the city in his database. He would say, ‘Here is the menu. Would you like to make a reservation,’ illustrating that service is at the core in earning the Forbes Travel Guide stars.
Forbes Travel Guide CEO Filip Boyen giving special remarks to Marco Polo Ortigas Manila management team
This, Filipinos know how to deliver on a gilded platter. “The Philippines has a lot of potential for the future because what I look at first is the mentality of the people. If you see the expression on the faces of the staff, the pride in achieving the Forbes 5-Star, it is something. The mentality is something that has to flow from top to bottom, through every level in the hotel. That goes from the ownership to the GM to the staff,” Boyen says.
Photos Courtesy of the Marco Polo Hotel Ortigas
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