A pre-wedding staycation in Makati!
A month ago, Tim and I took a break from all the wedding planning to just lay back and simply enjoy each other's company.
We didn't really have time to go out of town, so we went with the next best thing - a staycation!
We checked into their Deluxe Room - a spacious 36 square meter room with a King Bed an an awesome view of the city. I loved absolutely everything about our room - the huge windows, the well-lit bathroom, and that beautiful workstation/desk!
I also appreciated how City Garden Grand is taking steps to help the environment by switching to wall-mounted dispensers for shampoo and bath gel versus providing small bottles which guests often bring home (and most of the time, never use anyway).
Aside from that, water bottles have also been replaced with a refillable glass bottle to reduce the use of plastic water bottles.
"Refill me. A small step with serious impact." - Think Twice Drink Twice Foundation
After resting for a bit, Tim and I headed out - first to City Garden Grand's Firefly Roofdeck Bar then to Century City Mall, which is a quick three-minute walk from the hotel. I'll be vlogging about our entire weekend on my YouTube channel (click here to subscribe!), I'll link it here once it's up!
Firefly Roofdeck Bar is located on the 32nd floor of the hotel, which is also where the pool is located.
Unfortunately, we didn't get to take advantage of the pool, but we did enjoy the super chill vibes at Firefly when it was time for dinner.
We came back around 6:30pm and was surprised to see that the place was jampacked! I guess I shouldn't be surprised, because the hotel is located on the corner of Makati Avenue and Kalayaan Avenue so it's pretty much on the center, and is very close to the nightlife in Makati.
The restaurant offers International Buffet from Mondays to Saturdays 6pm to 10pm at Php 800/pax.
Here's what to expect:
To be fair, Firefly Roofdeck Bar has a lot of offerings - from salads to breads, lechon to paella, my favorite Japanese rolls, pasta, vegetables, dessert, and so much more, so you definitely won't go hungry. But since Tim and I are trying to watch what we eat, we decided to just order from the menu. It didn't exactly go as planned though.. we still ended up eating more than we should have. Haha.
What we ordered: the Sopa de Gambas which was sort of like a Tom Yum, the Nachos a la Queen because Tim loves his nachos, the Salpicao ala Diablo because I needed my comfort food, and the Mejillones Gratinados, a buttery cheesy plate of goodness.
I also ordered myself a cocktail while Tim went for the beer. It was a really great evening. In fact, Tim enjoyed it so much that before we even reached our room, he already talked to me about going back to Firefly. Haha. So yeah, we'll definitely be back soon.
P.S. If you're checking in, make sure to swim. The pool's extra lovely at night!
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For breakfast the following day, we headed to the hotel's other in-house restaurant, Spice Cafe. Walking in was a surprise because the entire restaurant was decked out Filipino-style! Turns out, Sundays at Spice Cafe is all about Filipino breakfast! I was so glad to see a buffet that featured a lot of my favorites growing up - a lot of which you don't really get to see in other hotel buffets.
Of course you have the usual cheeses and breads and cereals and waffles, but what I really want to highlight are the local offerings.
Dried pusit, danggit, daing, longganisa, laing, palabok.. They also have champorado and arroz caldo which I literally and figuratively avoided because I'm trying to lay off carbs. Hahaha).
Unfortunately, we didn't get to take advantage of the pool, but we did enjoy the super chill vibes at Firefly when it was time for dinner.
We came back around 6:30pm and was surprised to see that the place was jampacked! I guess I shouldn't be surprised, because the hotel is located on the corner of Makati Avenue and Kalayaan Avenue so it's pretty much on the center, and is very close to the nightlife in Makati.
The restaurant offers International Buffet from Mondays to Saturdays 6pm to 10pm at Php 800/pax.
Here's what to expect:
To be fair, Firefly Roofdeck Bar has a lot of offerings - from salads to breads, lechon to paella, my favorite Japanese rolls, pasta, vegetables, dessert, and so much more, so you definitely won't go hungry. But since Tim and I are trying to watch what we eat, we decided to just order from the menu. It didn't exactly go as planned though.. we still ended up eating more than we should have. Haha.
What we ordered: the Sopa de Gambas which was sort of like a Tom Yum, the Nachos a la Queen because Tim loves his nachos, the Salpicao ala Diablo because I needed my comfort food, and the Mejillones Gratinados, a buttery cheesy plate of goodness.
I also ordered myself a cocktail while Tim went for the beer. It was a really great evening. In fact, Tim enjoyed it so much that before we even reached our room, he already talked to me about going back to Firefly. Haha. So yeah, we'll definitely be back soon.
P.S. If you're checking in, make sure to swim. The pool's extra lovely at night!
-
For breakfast the following day, we headed to the hotel's other in-house restaurant, Spice Cafe. Walking in was a surprise because the entire restaurant was decked out Filipino-style! Turns out, Sundays at Spice Cafe is all about Filipino breakfast! I was so glad to see a buffet that featured a lot of my favorites growing up - a lot of which you don't really get to see in other hotel buffets.
Of course you have the usual cheeses and breads and cereals and waffles, but what I really want to highlight are the local offerings.
Dried pusit, danggit, daing, longganisa, laing, palabok.. They also have champorado and arroz caldo which I literally and figuratively avoided because I'm trying to lay off carbs. Hahaha).
And yes, they have pork belly in the morning. Haha!
And my ultimate favorite - TURON!! I think I had four of these!
And my ultimate favorite - TURON!! I think I had four of these!
The Filipino breakfast buffet at Spice Cafe is definitely one of my favorite breakfast buffets to date! You don't have to book a room to enjoy breakfast here since it's available at Php 800 net per person! I highly recommend it!
I'll convince Tim to have breakfast with me here after the wedding so I can eat all the arroz caldo I want! Haha!
Thank you for the wonderful weekend, City Garden Grand! :)
Visit City Garden Grand Hotel at 8008 Makati Ave & Kalayaan Ave., Makati, Philippines. Contact (02) 888-8181 or email reservations@citygardengrandhotel.com for inquiries :)
