subic international hotel

It’s sad when an institution with a glorious past has faded into a shell of its former self.

Over the Holy Week holiday, we checked in to the Subic International Hotel — a once premier destination in the Subic freeport area. As we were a semi big group, we were placed in the Alpha hotel (the oldest section of the buildings). There was a reception area, with no receptionist and no guard on duty, and half the lights in the building were off. Our room was actually pretty decent, considering the hotel is decades old. However, it did have a distinct smell to it…sort of like checking into an apartelle [and the connecting room was worse]. As soon as we got settled in to our room (at around 3pm) we asked to have one extra bed removed, as it was blocking the door to the connecting room. And we also complained that our aircon didn’t seem to be cooling. Their response: “We’ll have someone go on up to remove the bed and check into the aircon.” So we decided to go out and enjoy our free time.

Fast forward to around 11PM. Our elevator wouldn’t stop on the third floor, so we had to get out on the fourth and take the stairs to our stop. (Okay, so it’s not really a long walk, but it’s still not what you’d normally expect from your hotel) The bed was still in our room, and our aircon was surprisingly shut off. So we called for some assistance. After a few minutes, someone came to retrieve the extra bed…then the aircon mysteriously came on. We didn’t touch anything, we didn’t move anything. it just happened. but as we were dead tired, we decided to just let everything go.

The next day, was pretty much the same — we were out of the hotel the whole day, and when we got back the airconditioner was still “breathing its last gasps.” We called the hotel to complain about the cooling system. Their solution: to move us to a different room at 1130 in the evening. But again, we were so tired, we decided to call it a night. By around 12, we were all knocked out, starting to sweat from the heat. And to make matters worse, the lights and aircon intermittently shut off, at varying intervals like a cheap disco trying to save on some electricity bills.

At around 7am, the next day, we were all up…a little grumpy from our restless sleep, but still making jokes about the previous nights “(mis)adventure,” when we started to smell something burning. Our favorite aircon was starting to spew smoke. Immediately we shut it off and unplugged the appliance, and promptly informed the front desk of the incident. The hotel staff promptly arrived and removed the offending party, and sheepishly admitted that their rooms and amenities really aren’t cared for or upgraded…or at least haven’t been for the last 48 years (probably an exaggeration, but at the time, it seemed like he wasn’t joking). We didn’t get a call or an explanation, so we decided to file a complaint. I wasn’t there personally, but as Ran narrated, she felt that the Executive Assistant Manager was really not sympathetic to our plight. He just kept on saying “We’ll take this constructively yada yada.” No apology, no explanation”. What if we had been asleep when the aircon actually burst into flames?!? And he even had the gall to say “Have you seen our Delta building (the newest wing of the hotel).” No, we haven’t, as you placed us in the crappy wing…and we probably won’t, as the hotel now sucks.

I don’t mean to bash the hotel for no reason at all. But for the service and amenities provided this weekend, this has go to be put out there in the public. So the next time you head over to Subic, make sure to check out the other hotels before even considering Subic International Hotel. And if you do decide to rest there, make sure to say your prayers before hitting the sack.