The Oriental hotel provided us with an airport pick-up although we shared the van with two other women.
We got so excited when we saw a Ford E150 van with an old sticker of Ford EDSA.
Its driver and passengers were wondering why I was taking pictures of the back part of the van. I was just too excited to pay attention to their curiosity.
The driver of Oriental Hotel’s van was so attentive and medyo OC. He gave us bottled water, asked if aircon was fine, cautioned us of the low van ceiling, pointed at some landmarks, etc.
He was clearly doing his best to make hotel guests feel welcome. Medyo exaj ng konti.
Last week was the beginning of the Magayon Festival so there are still many banderitas hanging along the main roads coming from the Legazpi airport. The festival is in honor of the majestic Mayon volcano. Magayon means beautiful.
We reached the hotel in about 15 minutes. The Oriental Hotel is on top of a hill overlooking the town. It has views of the Mayon Volcano on a clear sky, the Lignon Hills, two small hills that look like dede from our vantage point, but the tour guide said it’s lion-shaped and not a dede.
We waited for an hour because our room was still being prepared.
We were given a welcome drink, their signature drink daw– Pandan Juice. So refreshingly delicious.
If I am not mistaken, this building was originally the Mayon Imperial Hotel, developed during the Marcos regime. It was built to promote tourism and spearhead progress in Legazpi City.
It’s now owned by the LKY Group headed by a certain Mister Lee, a Chinese-Filipino from Greenhills, San Juan. They opened the Oriental Hotel here in Legazpi around October 2011.
They have also bought several hotels in Manila and Boracay, etc. The Oriental in Tacloban was destroyed by strong waves during Typhoon Haiyan.
Our room is supposed to be overlooking the volcano but we could only see dark clouds.
The room’s toilet and bath has modern amenities but the towels look old.
Room 306. I plunked right in and slept for almost two hours. I was really sleepy. I hardly slept last night.
