Wednesday 17 April 2019

Hotel and Inn Review: The Oriental Bataan (Mariveles)

Date of Stay: April 17-20, 2019

RATING (Scale of 1 to 10)
Location: ********
Rooms: *********
Condition and Cleanliness: **********
Staff Performance: *********
Room Comfort: **********
Food and Beverage: *********
Other Amenities: *********
Value for Money: ********


The Oriental Bataan

The 4-storey (two upper floors and two basement), 4-star Oriental Bataan, within all three phases of the Freeport Area of Bataan (FAB), formerly the Bataan Export Processing Zone (BEPZ), is a member of The Oriental Hotels and Resorts (part of the LKY Group of Companies headed by COO Wilbert Lee), a well recognized hotel group in the Philippines.  It sits on top of a hill, making the hotel quite airy, serene and relaxing.  

Formerly known as the Bataan Hilltop Hotel, this hotel, designed by my late uncle and National Artist of the Philippines for Architecture Leandro V. Locsin, was inaugurated on September 28, 1974 by the late Pres. Ferdinand E. Marcos.  It operated for over a decade until it was abandoned around the time of the EDSA People Power Revolution.  


The retained Butalist facade of Arch. L.V. Locsin
 
The projected portions of the building indicate the special nature of the rooms 

After being abandoned and neglected for almost 30 years, the hotel was acquired by the LKY Property Group, redeveloped as The Oriental Bataan and reopened on December 2014.  


The centrally positioned Lobby Lounge

The hotel, under the guidance of Gen. Manager Joseph R. Ong, is unusually shaped like the number 8, with the swimming pool and the Lobby Lounge, both within the two concentric circles, surrounded and overlooked by the rooms.  

The dated Brutalist architecture on the exterior of this building  was retained but this was complemented by very elegant, vivid and classy modern Asian Thai interior design that is not hard to appreciate. 

The equally centrally positioned swimming pool

Executive Room (102)
Bathroom
The 86 huge, clean and well-appointed airconditioned rooms all have wall to wall carpeting, magnetic door locks, in-room coffee and tea facilities, IDD and NDD telephone system, flat screen cable television, executive work desk, in-room safe and Wi-Fi access (also available in public areas).  

The spacious ensuite bathroom has a rainshower head, bidet and a shampoo and body wash dispenser. 

Executive Queen/Twin

De Luxe Quad
Deluxe Queen/Twin
The 29 sq. m. (312 sq. ft.) Cellar Queen/Twin Deluxe Rooms, located at the lower floor, comes with a choice of one queen size bed or two double beds. 

The more spacious Executive Rooms, located at the upper floor, come with one queen size bed or two single beds. The 55-58 sq. m. Deluxe Quad offers 4 double beds in a room.

The Governor Suite comes with 2 single beds while the Presidential Suite comes with 1 king size bed. At 75 sq. m., each of these suites comes with its own dining area, receiving area, pantry, and a bathroom with a bath tub.

Suite

The hotel has four good and reasonably priced food and beverages outlets, with the food wonderfully and tastefully prepared by Executive Chef Terence Cruz (who used to work for Vikings Restaurant and Four Seasons Buffet & Hotpot) and his staff.  


The author (left) with friends Maricar T. Jose (second from left) and Norman Capule (third from left) and son Jandy (right) having lunch at Cocoon Restaurant

The airconditioned Cocoon Restaurant offers mostly Southeast Asian-inspired dishes such as Spare Ribs with Wasabi, Thai-style Fish Fillet, Seafood Chopsuey, Yang Chow Fried Rice, Ayam Goreng (PhP388), Salted Egg Shrimp, Tom Yum (phP388), Hot Prawn Salad, or Dragon Balls and other delectable dishes.

Singaporean Style Chicken (phP388.00) - deep fried chicken served with special Singaporean-inspired sauce
Stir Fried Chicken with Cashews (phP388.00) - wok stir-fried chicken with cashews and scallions
Deep Fried Fish with Sambal Sauce (phP388.00) - crispy deep-fried fish served with sambal sauce
Dessert Sampler (PhP348.00)

Bagnet (PhP340) - deep-fried pork
belly with with a side of a spicy
coconut cream sauce
Chicken Teriyaki
The al fresco Forest Grill (with its open kitchen), overlooking Mariveles Bay, offers appetizers (miked adobo flakes, tinapa rolls and baked tahong), soup (sinigang, kansi and binakol), pork (bagnet, adobo, binagoongan, baby backed ribs and sisig), steaks (rib eye, tenderloin, rump and T-bone), chicken(honey lemon, Oriental, teriyaki, garlic and cheesy), cocktails, beer and seasonal fruit shakes plus live performances every Tuesday to Saturday night. 


The al fresco Forest Grill
Live performances at Forest Grill
The gang dining on good food, chilling out and listening to cool music at Forest Grill
Liquid Bar

Liquid Bar, by the poolside, offers snacks, refreshments and a variety of finger foods and juices.   

The Lobby Lounge offers the largest buffet spread in all of Bataan with a variety of local (sweet and sour pork, spicy chicken, fish taosi, green chicken curry, fried fish with honey mustard, roasted porkloin with pineapple glaze, etc.) and international (pasta algamba, pizza, tuna and mushroom alfredo, nasi goreng, etc.) lunch and breakfast favorites as well as salads and desserts (fruit salad, halo-halo, cakes, pastries, etc.). Buffet breakfast (egg station, bread station, champorado, chicken macaroni salad, sausages, fruit juices, coffee, tea, rice, cereals, etc.) is served daily from 6 to 10 AM.

The Lobby Lounge

The hotel also has a 24-hour Front Desk, a small elliptical adult swimming pool with sun loungers, function room, and outdoor lounge area (The Cliff Lounge), with beds and couches, where you can enjoy the afternoon breeze.  The fully equipped Fitness Center, at the basement, has treadmills, exercise bikes, adjustable sit-up benches, free weights, adjustable/incline bench, etc.


Function Room

The in-house Thai-inspired Spa,open 10 AM to 12 midnight, offers Oriental Signature Massage (PhP1,500/90 mins.), Shiatsu Massage (PhP800/60 mins.), Swedish Massage (PhP800/60 mins.), Gapo ni Mayon Stone Massage  (PhP1,000/60mins.) and Oriental Hilot Massage (PhP1,500/90 mins.); foot reflexology (PhP1,000/60mins.), body scrubs (PhP1,300/60 mins.) and ear candling (PhP600/30 mins.).  

It also has small outdoor jacuzzi.  Here, you can have a massage in private rooms or in massage beds under the trees.


The Spa at The Oriental Bataan

The Oriental Adventure Camp, utilized for team building activities, offers 18 challenging but fun obstacle courses.  

The Bataan Convention Center by The Oriental, a 15-min. drive from the hotel, has 7 convention halls ideal for conferences, seminars, workshops and art exhibits. 


Bataan Convention Center By The Oriental

The Oriental Bataan offers room service, safety deposit boxes, laundry, ironing, currency exchange, concierge, private check-in/check-out, daily housekeeping, airport shuttle (additional charge) and luggage storage. 


The Fitness Center

Employees' dance performance
Fire dance performance
The hotel is located 83.9 kms. from Subic International Airport,  126.3 kms. from Clark International Airport and 223 kms. from Ninoy Aquino International Airport.  It is also a 15-min. (3.2 km.) drive to Bonifacio Port, the jump-off point to Five Fingers Cove.


The Cliff Lounge

Bird's nest lighting fixtures
Thai statuary at the Spa
The service was excellent and the waiters were very friendly. The breakfast was great. The WiFi may not be that strong in certain areas. Being situated within the Bataan Freeport area, this place is perfect for business. Still, being literally on a hilltop, it is secluded from the businesses surrounding it. 

Executive Chef Terrence Cruz and The Oriental Bataan General Manager Joseph R. Ong

24-hour Front Desk
The original inauguration 
plaque
Too bad I missed their spa,  I heard their 90-min. Signature Oriental Massage, combining Shiatsu, Swedish and Thai techniques, was a wonderful and totally relaxing experience. 

The hotel is quite remote and not accessible from the main road and it is better to have your own vehicle to get there.  

However, the staff is willing to get you a tricycle to the town proper (1.1 kms. away) if you do not have any car. Hotel transfers within the municipality are free of charge.  


L-R: the author, Terrence Cruz (Executive Chef), Joseph R. Ong (General Manager), Jandy Layug, Maricar T. Jose and Norman Capule

The four-storey Dormitory building, perfect for executives and young professionals working in or around the Freeport Area of Bataan looking for long-term lodging, offers 173 units of high-end dorm-type accommodations at reasonable rates. They have five room types - Studio, Flat, Pad, Executive and Abode. Each unit comes with familiar amenities such as airconditioning, Wi-Fi Internet connection, separate toilets and shower, kitchenettes and laundry cages. To ensure safety, all units also come with high-quality security systems and CCTV cameras.

The Dormitory

The Oriental Bataan: Hilltop St., Freeport Area of Bataan (FAB) Compound, Brgy. Malaya, Mariveles, Bataan, Philippines. Tel: (047) 612-3930, (047) 612-3558 and (047) 612-3682. Mobile number: (0927) 886-8887. Email: bataan-roomsreservation@theorientalhotels.com.

The Oriental Dormitory: Elliptical Road, Freeport Area of Bataan (FAB) Compound, Brgy. Malaya, Mariveles 2106, Bataan. Tel: (047) 633-9587.  Mobile number: (0995) 788-4426. E-mail: thedormitory@theorientalhotels.com and leasing@theorientalhotels.com.

Manila Sales Office: 411 A. Flores St., Ermita, Manila 1000, Philippines.  Tel: (02) 260-0663 (Direct Line), (02) 536 9999, (02) 536 1111 Loc 107 & 115 (Trunkline).  Mobile number: (0917 634-3591 and (0917) 509-8998. Email: inquiry@theorientalhotels.com. Website: www.bataan.theorientalhotels.com/

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