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: ********
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| 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.
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| 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.
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| The equally centrally positioned swimming pool |
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| Executive Room (102) |
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| 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.
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| Executive Queen/Twin |
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| De Luxe Quad |
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| 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.
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| 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.
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| 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.
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| Singaporean Style Chicken (phP388.00) - deep fried chicken served with special Singaporean-inspired sauce |
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| Stir Fried Chicken with Cashews (phP388.00) - wok stir-fried chicken with cashews and scallions |
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| Deep Fried Fish with Sambal Sauce (phP388.00) - crispy deep-fried fish served with sambal sauce |
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| Dessert Sampler (PhP348.00) |
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Bagnet (PhP340) - deep-fried pork
belly with with a side of a spicy
coconut cream sauce |
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| 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.
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| The al fresco Forest Grill |
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| Live performances at Forest Grill |
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| The gang dining on good food, chilling out and listening to cool music at Forest Grill |
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| 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.
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| 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.
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| 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.
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| 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.
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| 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.
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| The Fitness Center |
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| Employees' dance performance |
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| 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.
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| The Cliff Lounge |
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| Bird's nest lighting fixtures |
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| 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.
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| Executive Chef Terrence Cruz and The Oriental Bataan General Manager Joseph R. Ong |
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| 24-hour Front Desk |
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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.
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| L-R: the author, Terrence Cruz (Executive Chef), Joseph R. Ong (General Manager), Jandy Layug, Maricar T. Jose and Norman Capule |
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.
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. 
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 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 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 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.
Liquid Bar, by the poolside, offers snacks, refreshments and a variety of finger foods and juices. 
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.
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.). 
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 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.
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