Venezia Hotel is a value for money proposition in Subic Bay

It was a blissful Friday night (October 17, 2006) in Subic Bay. And the day was so fun that I thought of making several blogs about it, namely; Hotel Venezia, Mini-stop at the corner of Manila Avenue and night out at the Olongapo’s Magsaysay Drive. A beach resort is not an option right now.

Photo from hotelssubic.com

Our friends arrive at the Mini-Stop near Comteq College, at around 8:00pm after leaving the heart of Metro Manila at around 4:30 pm. Yes, it took them more than 2:30 hours to escape the clogged arteries of the Metro. ‘Even at night, SCTEx was a pleasant surprise. Super relaxing ride,’ one of the four said, while stretching his legs.

Mr. A, who was the host for the evening, opted to book them at Venezia Hotel. I haven’t been to the Venezia, mainly because a gambling joint wasn’t my cup of tea.

‘He must have a good reason for choosing Venezia,’ I said to myself. From a far, Venezia looked like a marine barracks trying to look like a, well, a hotel.

‘Or, uhh, a gambling joint…,’ I snuffed, expecting to see scores of puffy-eyed gamblers drowning their misery with expensive shots of inexpensive liquor. ‘But hey, at least they had fun,’ I told myself, it is after all their moolah.

To my surprise, entering the Venezia lobby is like entering a smaller and less glamorous five star hotel in Metro Manila. Well, at least, there were no depressed souls lingering around that would break our guests’ hearts.

I am not easy to please, but the hotel’s welcoming feel is unique, almost similar to the more sophisticated embrace of the Lighthouse Marina lobby at the boardwalk area.

The hotel staff were all smiles --- very warm. Not, forced or trained, like some of the places along the boardwalk area. So pleasing, I thought, that even the unluckiest slot machine addict would be forced to smile back.

But the secret and the most wonderful surprise is the food at its New Feng Huang restaurant. By the restaurant’s name you easily know it is Chinese. So prep up those oriental taste buds if you opt to fill the tummies here.

The set meal for 10-person we ordered tasted as good as those served at the restaurant across the street. I credit that to the ambiance they’ve created.

And how much did it cost us? Our friend paid, so I did not bother to get the exact figure. But the waiter reminded us that since order was worth more than P2,000, they were giving us an additional chicken order and three other orders from their dim sum and dumpling selection. Nice, if you eat meat. 

It certainly went well with their P2,688++ overnight twin sharing superior soom. I took a peak of the rooms and they were decent enough. If you ever stayed at the dingy and insect filled rooms of Legenda Hotel, well, this was quite different. It was clean. So much so, that that room smelled sanitized.

We’ll get some more feedback from our visitors about the hotel service, the bed, the linens and the finer details that should help you decide.

But my take is that Venezia is way better and more reasonably priced that most places in Subic Bay, except for maybe one or two along the waterfront area.

It is too bad that I did not get a chance to compliment the hotel manager. If I did, I’d slip a business card of a good couturier. Uniform and draperies are something that they could improve on.

(Next: Olongapo City's Best & Worst Series: A night out at Magsaysay Drive)

Posted in: Hotels,Olongapo City's Best and Worst Series