Location: Luneta, Manila / Inaugurated 1912, renovated 1975 / Architects: William Parsons, 1912; Leandro Locsin, 1975

The Manila Hotel was the first big hotel built during the American regime, and was the largest in the country for more than half a century. Daniel H. Burnham’s plan for Manila allocated a lot, 152.40 m x 182.88 m along Manila Bay at the north end of the Luneta, as the site for a hotel that would serve the needs of Americans in the Philippines, particularly tourists. The building was officially inaugurated on 4 July 1912, although it had actually been in operation some time before that. Some rooms later served as residences for American government officials, among them Justice George Malcolm and Maj Dwight Eisenhower, the latter then in the staff of Gen Douglas MacArthur.

Hotel Design

The five-story building was H-shaped and originally had 149 guest rooms on the second up to the fifth floors. For purposes of ventilation, the rooms were on one side of a corridor and were provided with large windows. Some rooms opened out to balconies.

Because of the hotel’s popularity, an annex with 80 rooms was subsequently built on the bay side.

The lobby was a hall about 8 m deep and 45 m wide, with an inner arcade composed of semicircular arches resting on coupled columns in the Tuscan or Roman Doric style. At the west end of the lobby was the dining room, surrounded by a veranda. Along the lobby towards the dining room were the ladies’ parlor and rest rooms. At the east end were the reading room, billiard room, bar, cigar counter, barbershop, and men’s rest rooms. On the mezzanine were the music room, guests’ parlor, and children’s dining room. One of the hotel’s attractions was its roof garden. The Manila Hotel was the first hotel in Asia equipped with electric elevators.

Following Burnham’s recommendations, the building was of reinforced concrete, with flat unadorned exterior walls. While modern in appearance, it evoked the style of the Spanish colonial period, with prominent hip roofs, wide overhangs, rectangular windows on the upper floors, and semicircular arches on the ground floor. Sliding window shutters with capiz panes gave the structure a distinctly Filipino character. The building then cost 1.4 million pesos or $700,000.

Manila’s Social Life

In 1934, a vast ballroom, the Fiesta Pavilion, was built on the bay side, extending from the dining room. It soon became the center of Manila’s social life and also the venue of political gatherings.

World War II

Heavily damaged during World War II, the hotel underwent repairs and resumed operations in late 1945. The repairs took two years to complete. In 1950 the hotel inaugurated the Winter Garden, an air-conditioned ballroom located at the rear and along the bay. Further improvements were made in 1954. The Fiesta Pavilion housed the 1971 Constitutional Convention. The dining room was later converted into a foyer for the pavilion, and was adorned with murals by Carlos “Botong” Francisco.

Manila Hotel Renovation

In 1975, the hotel was renovated following plans prepared by Leandro Locsin. Since the original building could not house additional rooms, an 18-story tower was built behind the central section of the building. The hotel has at present 600 rooms and suites. The lobby was expanded and the original dining room was restored and refurbished. The old Fiesta Pavilion was demolished and a new pavilion built at the rear on the Intramuros side, provided with its own entrance.

New function rooms were added. The firm of Dale Keller and Associates was engaged for the interior design. The exterior retained the original white-and-green color scheme of Parsons. A wrought-iron porte cochere was erected at the main entrance. In its refurbished form, the Manila Hotel became a felicitous combination of Parsons’s austere proto-modern style and Locsin’s elegant, romantic style.

Around 1995, the Government Service Insurance System (GSIS) placed the property for sale. Under new ownership, Manila Hotel underwent renovation in 1997. Beginning in 2008, the hotel underwent even more renovations in preparation for its centennial in 2012. Room windows were enlarged, interiors were refurbished and equipped with new amenities. A health club was opened next to the hotel spa. On 17 January 2008, adjacent to the main building, was built Tent City, a performance and concert hall that can hold 2,500 guests.