Eastwood City: Living life to the fullest

Whether you’re a night owl or a morning person, a shopper or a foodie, a teen or a grandfather, a local resident or balikbayan; whether you want air-conditioned comfort or the outdoors, new brands or old favorites, quick meals or gourmet choices Eastwood City, the 24/7 city in Libis, will give it to you.

One of the first mixed-use developments of this size in Metro Manila, Eastwood City has sections for offices and BPOs, residential condominiums, gym and wellness centers, Eastwood Mall for shoppers with discriminating tastes, Citywalk for the young and trendy shoppers, and Cybermall for fashion finds and bargains.

It also has cuisines for every palate. Eastwood Mall alone has 30 restaurants, ranging from chef-owned places to new concepts and all-time favorites. For shopping, it has brands that range from medium to high-end.  

From his office where he can view the flagship shopping center Eastwood Mall, Kevin Tan, vice president and head of Megaworld Commercial Division, talks about the success of Eastwood and the innovations it has introduced in the industry.

“We’re not the biggest mall in the country, but we address the needs of our market,” says Kevin. “Our tenants were carefully selected for all our customers and our Eastwood community. We have completeness, we address all their needs. What makes and shapes Eastwood is not just the in-house market in this place but also the communities that surround us.”

Walking the walk: Citywalk 1 and 2 come alive at night. There are also places in Citywalk for when the party winds down and you want to have breakfast at 3 or 4 a.m. after a really happening night out.

With Eastwood encircled by the affluent side of QC Corinthian Gardens, Green Meadows, Acropolis it has become the hub for these communities. “That was what we wanted to create when we built Eastwood. It was important for us to do a variety of things for the different members of the family, which is why we put a lot of things for teens and children. For stores and restaurants, we look at the favorites, but we also take a chance on budding new names and creations.

“I always say that Eastwood is unique in the sense that we were able to combine mall life and night life. I don’t see any other area in the country where you have both it’s either you’re a mall or a nightlife area; it’s either you have a lot of bars and you target people who are out till the wee hours, or you’re a mall with shops and you close at 9 p.m. Eastwood has combined both in a very safe environment. If I’m a parent and I want to spend time with my children on a Friday or Saturday night, rather than their going out with their friends, we can all go to Eastwood together and do different things.”

The fact that Eastwood has these two distinct areas Citywalk on one side and Eastwood Mall on the other is no accident. Neither was it an afterthought. One area is for shopping where you can do retail therapy in air-conditioned comfort, then you cross the street at 10 p.m. right when the other side starts to come alive. In fact, some shops in Citywalk are open until midnight.

“It’s an energetic city,” says Kevin.

He says another source of pride for Eastwood is the personalized service they offer. “We’re very good at serving our customers, more than the conventional way that malls do.”

Just how personalized is Eastwood’s service? Say, you have balikbayan or foreign guests and you want to show them that, yes, Metro Manila is as progressive as any other developed city in the world, you can simply call Eastwood Mall’s concierge for restaurant reservations, movie or concert tickets.

How does it work? Just tell the concierge you have, for example, eight hours and this much budget so what can you do and where can you take your friends? “They will create an itinerary for you they’ve already done that for some of our customers.”

The Eastwood Mall concierge offers services similar to a hotel’s, like guest information, message handling, taxi request, weather update, and reservation of VIP seats during special mall events. 

Special business services are also being offered, such as mobile phone reloading, facsimile message sending and receiving, photocopying, scanning, foreign exchange, airline booking, and remittance handled by Western Union. Bills payments are also accepted for PLDT, Smart, Manila Water, Globe, Bayantel, and Planet Cable, among others. 

“We have our database, we know our regular customers. When you enter the mall, the concierge should already know you by name.”

With Eastwood encircled by the affluent side of QC — Corinthian Gardens, Green Meadows, Acropolis — it has become the hub for these communities.

Apart from the subtle and well-lit mall interiors, the hotel ambience extends to the butler service. Butlers will help carry your shopping bags so you can continue shopping without having to lug around bags or make several trips to your car to deposit your purchases. They can even buy coffee for you or hold your pets while you’re fitting clothes or if you wish, a guided mall tour all for free.

Eastwood City was also the first to allow pets inside. It recently held its annual pet blessing and regularly holds pet competitions. “We promote responsible pet ownership,” says Kevin. “We allow pets inside the mall, but we also impose fines when you don’t clean up after your pet. The fines are gentle reminders about your responsibility, but honestly, we don’t get too many problems because the owners are very responsible.”

Kevin also shares that Eastwood will soon complete The Link, which connects Eastwood Citywalk and Eastwood Mall via a footbridge on the Richmonde Hotel side. “This makes it easier to cross between the two sections without having to go down the street. We are going to create the Eastwood Food Junction right at the tip of The Link. It offers food that’s cheaper than the regular fast food but designed in a trendy and modern way. In short, we create a very good ambience with a very low-priced product.”

And for morning people? There are places in Citywalk for when the party winds down, when everyone has danced the ledge once too often for the night and had a drink one too many. In other words, it’s time to ask: “What’s for breakfast?” at 3 or 4 a.m. after a really happening night out.

Because Eastwood caters to call-center agents who get off from work at odd hours (or at all hours of the day, working by shifts as they do), it’s a city that’s open 24/7. You don’t have to drive out of Eastwood to find a place to eat after clubbing before going home.

Eastwood City never sleeps and never stops. In a place like this, neither should you.