The Marco Polo Hotel (Jawz’s Experience)

Jul 27, 2010 by Jawz

On the corner of CM Recto Street and Roxas Avenue, Davao City's Marco Polo Hotel stands tall. To me, this hotel is a major landmark of the heart of Davao City. Seeing it in the many locations that I walk around in, I use it as a 'northern star' to mentally map where I might be in the city.

The Marco Polo Hotel of Davao

As I have mentioned in my 'On My Way' blog, me, my mom, and her boyfriend had stayed at the Marco Polo Hotel after we arrived Davao City (on December the 27th, 2009).I remember my all of us riding with my girlfriend and her mom, in a van, to the hotel. When we got there, I was amazed at the inside. It was all fancy and nice. I stood around while my mom and her boyfriend talked to the people at the counter. Afterward, we went up the elevator to the room.

Walking inside the room, the one we stayed in, there was a bathroom (comfort room) to the left. The bathroom was really nice; it had a shower to the left and a toilet to the right. In the middle was a large clean counter with a sink with toiletries that were provided. One of the toiletries that I kept was a small rectangular box. It had the Marco Polo logo on it and contained a small toothbrush. It also contained the smallest tube of toothpaste that I have ever seen (only 5 grams!).

The Box with the Toothbrush and 5g Toothpaste

A few feet further, straight outside of the restroom, there was the room with the beds and everything. There were two large beds, a giant window straight ahead, and a desk in front, to the right, of the large window. Later they moved in a smaller bed thing since there were three of us. The large window overlooked the front of Ateneo de Davao University, and the backside of the Aldevinco Shopping Center. I took a few photos, liking the view over the rooftops of the city. Far out, I could see the sea and the slopes of land forming Samal Island. Sometime later, all of us (including my girlfriend and her mom) ate at the Marco Polo Hotel's buffet. This would be the first time that I had a Filipino style lunch.

Aldevinco Shopping Center Outside of the Window

Walking into the Marco Polo Hotel's buffet, I could see many tables. To the left were fruits, different rice cakes, puto, a basket of Yakult, and other sweets. To the right was a line of stainless steel containers. The containers contained things like corned beef hash, pancit, and other warm Filipino dishes. In front of that counter (or table), holding the line of containers, was a rectangular counter holding more foods. In the middle of the rectangular counter was a really awesome Christmas display completely made of sweets (maybe gingerbread). To the left of that was another counter against a wall. That counter had fruit juices and cereals. The wall it was against was a small divider of the whole buffet room. We sat to the far left of that divider the first time we ate there.

The Gingerbread Christmas Display

After eating and everything, we went to sleep since we were jet lagged. I woke up later around midnight to try to get online to post photos and a blog, but I wasn't able to. The internet had to be paid for, and we weren't able to pay that, so I just opened up Microsoft Word and typed my 'On My Way' blog. I went back to sleep when I finished typing. When the night was over, we relocated to C5 Dormitel.Though we relocated, while my mom and her boyfriend were here for the few days that they stayed, we still ate at the Marco Polo Hotel's buffet. I guess this was because my mom wasn't too familiar with the eating places around the city, and was only comfortable with the Marco Polo Hotel. But before we left the hotel, my mom wanted me to take photos on her disposable camera. I remember taking a photo of her on the fancy staircase, and also a photo of this awesome quilt like painting (or maybe not a painting). It was above a symmetrically ordered display of chairs, a couch, and a coffee table. We also went into a small room, to the left of the main counter in the lobby, and bought t-shirts with the hotel's logo on it.

The Marco Polo Shirt my Mom Bought for Me

If you can afford it, I recommend the Marco Polo Hotel of Davao to anyone. It is high priced though, but really nice. Foreigners will find it very comfortable, and the buffet's food to be nice. I know I did. If you would like to check the rates and more information on the Marco Polo Hotel of Davao, you can visit their site (to visit, CLICK HERE).