Boulevard hotels & other landmarks
November 29, 2003 | 12:00am
Well, we might as well make it three in a row. The last two weeks, we looked at famous old restaurants, nightclubs and other landmarks on the strip (as they used to call it then). At a recent media event, I bumped into Regina Kabigting of the Heritage Hotel Manila and Joanne Lorenzana (yes, the singer) who’s now the marketing manager of the Hyatt Regency Manila. They were both at the table with Jeff Isidro, editor of My Home magazine, and finding out where they worked brought back more memories for me. So here’s the final segment or "triquel" of the Dewey Boulevard series.
I had managed to stay at both hotels in the early Nineties on separate trips back to Manila (I was based in Singapore then). I had always wanted to play tourist and stay by the bay. I did stay, too, at the Manila Hotel, but that experience was none too pleasant (and from reports going round, the grand dame of Manila’s hotels has deteriorated even more). I enjoyed the rooms and service at both hotels. Thankfully, I managed to get upper-floor rooms with a view of the bay both times.
The Heritage was formerly the Regent and I had gone to the Alibi bar many times to listen to this sultry singer named Kuh. They always had hot acts at that hotel. One night, it got too hot and a fire blazed through the Gabriel Formoso-designed building. That was sometime in the early ’80s and it was not until a decade later that the hotel resurrected as the Heritage. Their weekend buffets are still good, but Kuh has moved on.
Long before the Regent, the only hotels on the strip were on the Manila end – the likes of the Bay View, Filipinas and Admiral. The one hotel that intrigued me most was the Hyatt. The hotel was built by Don Eugenio Lopez on his bayside property that also housed his super modern Angel Nakpil-designed Lopez Museum. Commissioned to design the hotel was a young architect named Leandro Locsin. The original hotel design marked a phase in Locsin’s architecture that saw the emergence of his stacked slabs of concrete alternating with strips of glazing. This was a massing motif; he would make his signature in many more buildings in Makati. The original name was "Continental" and by the time it was completed, it was the most lavish modern hotel in Asia.
I remember that the hotel, which operated as a Sheraton for a few years before changing management, was the lone tall structure as one motored into Pasay. I was always intrigued by it, especially after I watched a "B" movie in the late 1960s, starring an almost unknown Burt Reynolds as a tourist who stayed there and got into all sorts of trouble.
Aside from the Hilton, the Hyatt became the only other choice for high-class dining, five-star rooms and great entertainment – until the hotel boom in the mid-’70s. The Hyatt’s answer to the Top of the Hilton was its penthouse La Concha. It was only at those two venues that the best fashion shows were held. Another favorite restaurant at the hotel was Hugos, but I could only afford to eat at the La Hacienda coffee shop or a drink at the Calesa bar, the source of the best jazz in Manila at the time. The place to go in the ’70s, of course, was the Circuit, which ruled until Stargazer spewed its brand of disco lights and sounds.
I did not go often to the Silahis Hotel although I did recall visiting the Playboy Club once in the late 1970s when it was one of the last ones operating in the world. The Silahis became a favorite of visiting Singaporeans and Malaysians in the 1980s. I don’t know why.
Next door to the Silahis is the Carmen apartments. The Carmen is one of my favorite buildings. Designed by Carlos Arguelles, it was one of most elegant concrete structures built here. The gentle curve in its plan and massing, along with its deep cantilevered balconies, created a most appropriate silhouette against the bay’s famous sunset. I had always wanted to live there. I first managed to sneak a peek in the ’70s while kibitzing at a party thrown by Maan Hontiveros. The high ceilings and fresh vistas were a premium not many high-rises can offer today. In the mid-Nineties, I managed to visit the apartments again when I was invited for coffee by Dina Alsagoff and Carlos Celdran (who were planning some Malate revival thing even before the local government had plans for the area). All three have moved out of that building and from the looks of it, the structure is looking a little worn at the edges and should be given a fresh coat of paint, along with major sprucing up.
Not all the landmarks on the strip were nightclubs, hotels or apartment blocks. Arturo Luz’s modernist Magsaysay Center still looks as good as the day it opened. The massive Formoso-designed Central Bank still sits heavily at the very fringe of Manila’s boundaries. Of note is the fact that the BSP complex houses Fort San Antonio Abad, a piece of heritage that should be made more accessible to the public. The Metropolitan Museum is also in the same compound and both could do with a more visible signage to direct people to these two wonderful urban gems.
One last landmark on the strip (actually more than one): The concrete bust stops erected during the Villegas era. Those were the days when public transport was available on the boulevard. There, small and simple but handsome structures are a great reminder of our architects’ and engineers’ facility with concrete. I believe even these urban artifacts should be conserved. We have even forgotten who designed them. Lastly, we recall a time when the strip was serviced by public transport. Maybe those double-deckers should be brought back.
Okay, so that’s it with the boulevard. I think I’ll stay with some light subjects like this till the New Year. It’s no use trying to bring up weightier subjects just yet. Our whole outlook for the future is changing as we speak (or as people hold press conferences to announce their respective candidacies). Hey, I hear that our paper money may change, but I don’t really read chain e-mails and texts. I do get a feeling, however, that we (and the rest of the country) are all heating up, like a slowly fusing mass of mangled metal being readied for the forge and the blacksmith’s hammer. Have a nice weekend but mag-ingat poe kayong lahat! It’s dangerous out there.
Feedback is welcome. Please e-mail the writer at citysensephilstar@hotmail.com.
I had managed to stay at both hotels in the early Nineties on separate trips back to Manila (I was based in Singapore then). I had always wanted to play tourist and stay by the bay. I did stay, too, at the Manila Hotel, but that experience was none too pleasant (and from reports going round, the grand dame of Manila’s hotels has deteriorated even more). I enjoyed the rooms and service at both hotels. Thankfully, I managed to get upper-floor rooms with a view of the bay both times.
The Heritage was formerly the Regent and I had gone to the Alibi bar many times to listen to this sultry singer named Kuh. They always had hot acts at that hotel. One night, it got too hot and a fire blazed through the Gabriel Formoso-designed building. That was sometime in the early ’80s and it was not until a decade later that the hotel resurrected as the Heritage. Their weekend buffets are still good, but Kuh has moved on.
Long before the Regent, the only hotels on the strip were on the Manila end – the likes of the Bay View, Filipinas and Admiral. The one hotel that intrigued me most was the Hyatt. The hotel was built by Don Eugenio Lopez on his bayside property that also housed his super modern Angel Nakpil-designed Lopez Museum. Commissioned to design the hotel was a young architect named Leandro Locsin. The original hotel design marked a phase in Locsin’s architecture that saw the emergence of his stacked slabs of concrete alternating with strips of glazing. This was a massing motif; he would make his signature in many more buildings in Makati. The original name was "Continental" and by the time it was completed, it was the most lavish modern hotel in Asia.
I remember that the hotel, which operated as a Sheraton for a few years before changing management, was the lone tall structure as one motored into Pasay. I was always intrigued by it, especially after I watched a "B" movie in the late 1960s, starring an almost unknown Burt Reynolds as a tourist who stayed there and got into all sorts of trouble.
Aside from the Hilton, the Hyatt became the only other choice for high-class dining, five-star rooms and great entertainment – until the hotel boom in the mid-’70s. The Hyatt’s answer to the Top of the Hilton was its penthouse La Concha. It was only at those two venues that the best fashion shows were held. Another favorite restaurant at the hotel was Hugos, but I could only afford to eat at the La Hacienda coffee shop or a drink at the Calesa bar, the source of the best jazz in Manila at the time. The place to go in the ’70s, of course, was the Circuit, which ruled until Stargazer spewed its brand of disco lights and sounds.
I did not go often to the Silahis Hotel although I did recall visiting the Playboy Club once in the late 1970s when it was one of the last ones operating in the world. The Silahis became a favorite of visiting Singaporeans and Malaysians in the 1980s. I don’t know why.
Next door to the Silahis is the Carmen apartments. The Carmen is one of my favorite buildings. Designed by Carlos Arguelles, it was one of most elegant concrete structures built here. The gentle curve in its plan and massing, along with its deep cantilevered balconies, created a most appropriate silhouette against the bay’s famous sunset. I had always wanted to live there. I first managed to sneak a peek in the ’70s while kibitzing at a party thrown by Maan Hontiveros. The high ceilings and fresh vistas were a premium not many high-rises can offer today. In the mid-Nineties, I managed to visit the apartments again when I was invited for coffee by Dina Alsagoff and Carlos Celdran (who were planning some Malate revival thing even before the local government had plans for the area). All three have moved out of that building and from the looks of it, the structure is looking a little worn at the edges and should be given a fresh coat of paint, along with major sprucing up.
Not all the landmarks on the strip were nightclubs, hotels or apartment blocks. Arturo Luz’s modernist Magsaysay Center still looks as good as the day it opened. The massive Formoso-designed Central Bank still sits heavily at the very fringe of Manila’s boundaries. Of note is the fact that the BSP complex houses Fort San Antonio Abad, a piece of heritage that should be made more accessible to the public. The Metropolitan Museum is also in the same compound and both could do with a more visible signage to direct people to these two wonderful urban gems.
One last landmark on the strip (actually more than one): The concrete bust stops erected during the Villegas era. Those were the days when public transport was available on the boulevard. There, small and simple but handsome structures are a great reminder of our architects’ and engineers’ facility with concrete. I believe even these urban artifacts should be conserved. We have even forgotten who designed them. Lastly, we recall a time when the strip was serviced by public transport. Maybe those double-deckers should be brought back.
Okay, so that’s it with the boulevard. I think I’ll stay with some light subjects like this till the New Year. It’s no use trying to bring up weightier subjects just yet. Our whole outlook for the future is changing as we speak (or as people hold press conferences to announce their respective candidacies). Hey, I hear that our paper money may change, but I don’t really read chain e-mails and texts. I do get a feeling, however, that we (and the rest of the country) are all heating up, like a slowly fusing mass of mangled metal being readied for the forge and the blacksmith’s hammer. Have a nice weekend but mag-ingat poe kayong lahat! It’s dangerous out there.
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