Hiding away at White Knight Hotel Intramuros
Late last year, one of the things I did in the name of my doctoral thesis was hole myself up in various hotels once a month so that I could write in peace. I would do this during the weekends. I asked for Fridays off from work, so I could write for three days straight every week. I preferred hotels that were difficult to find and where cellphone signals were sometimes weak. Maximum solitude!!
White Knight Hotel in Intramuros was perhaps the best one that suited my needs. For me, it was not that easy to find. I went round and round before I realized that it was actually inside the compound where Barbara’s was located.
Sorry for the dark photo. My first gen Samsung Galaxy tab has a really sucky camera. This is the facade of the entrance. Barbara’s is right in front of San Agustin Church.
I booked via Agoda.com and got the cheapest room (at around P1,500/night). There was another hotel listed inside Intramuros, Bayleaf, but that one’s located at one of the entrances so getting it was out of the question. I needed seclusion. Anyway, for the cheapest room, I got this:
Under no standard should this room be considered small. At least, not in the Philippines. What you’re seeing right now, that’s not even half of the room. That’s probably a third of the room. In fact, there’s so much space, you could put 3 more beds of that size in there and still be able to move freely!
(I actually had a difficult time sleeping because part of me was scared that I’d wake up with some mumu lying beside me.)
Understand that this hotel is old. That’s the beauty of it. See, this is the floor. The tiles are typical of houses that were built during my grandparents’ grandparents’ time.
Here’s the banister and the stairway. If you’re easily scared, yup, it could be really creepy at night.
Here’s the hallway. I had to take a quick shot because there was a wedding entourage walking around the corridor.
One of the corridor dead ends. I could totally make a video game theme out of this hotel’s interiors.
Here’s the bathroom. It’s also large. Though I have issues about the drainage and I found myself stepping on the sides of the bath tub while bathing.
The view on the right side of the windows.
The view on the left side of the windows. I think that’s either the museum or Barbara’s. I remember going into the museum some time ago, but was not allowed to take photos. Sadly.
Sorry!! I couldn’t resist. Below the windows, you could see these. I don’t know what they’re called but they remind me of my grandmother’s huge house in Mindoro.
Update: I got a message from one of my former professors (Dr. Aleli Agoncillo-Quirante) and these things are called “ventanilla”. Yay, learned something new!
Me saying goodbye to White Knight Hotel. A friend picked me up and I asked to have a photo of me taken as I bade adiós to this beautiful place. (Thank you, White Knight Hotel! You were instrumental to my graduation last October/November.)
I really want to return, for relaxation purposes next time (this place is really value for your money) and I’m going to ask my girl buddies to accompany me so I can sleep properly. Hehe.
My friend and I explored Intramuros after I checked out but I’m still wondering whether to post the short exploration on sarimanok.ph or on this blog. Anyway, expect another Intramuros-related post from me and thanks for reading! =^.^=
2 Comments
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Cha
March 3, 2013 at 3:57 pmputik naman, nakakatakot. pwede bang solitude na walang possibility of a mumu?
skysenshi
March 4, 2013 at 12:21 amMahal yung ganung klaseng solitude. Pero maganda sha, pramis!
Iniisip ko nga eh baka tinulungan ako ng mumu magsulat. Malay natin.