The pool’s aquamarine water seemed vertically frozen, held in place by a thick transparent glass. Above, the sky was nicely warming up in tones of subdued orange—the sun slowly lowering itself against the busy skyline of Quezon City.

Game? Game!

E dove into the water and glided across the translucent wall. Cameras clicked and LCD screens were checked. Still unsatisfied with the photos, we asked E for the nth time, can you do it one more time, please?

LUXENT HOTEL’S LUSH BAR

BEAUTIFUL PORTAL TO THE ELEVATORS AND GARDEN CAFE

We arrived at Luxent Hotel’s lobby around lunchtime. We’ve been around QC’s Timog area a number of times and have been seeing the hotel’s luxurious lobby from the outside. It was our first time to step within its halls. It looked even better inside.

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LUXENT HOTEL’S LOBBY SPARKLES AT NIGHT

It was beautiful during lunchtime, but it was even more stunning at night; the high ceiling, the classy furniture, the sparkling Lush Bar. I am definitely liking everything I’m seeing.

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RAMEN AT LUSH BAR

Before proceeding to our room, we sat down on their plush chairs for lunch, we were starving. We ordered a bowl of ramen (Php320.00) and their Japanese platter (Php400.00). A bit pricey, but serving size is good for sharing. In fact they even asked us if we wanted to have the ramen in two separate bowls. I love how proactive the staff were!

SPAGHETTI CIOPPINO AND JAPANESE PLATTER FOR LUNCH

My friends ordered their own set for lunch; spaghetti cioppino (Php320.00), beef tapa (Php320.00), roasted chicken (Php450.00) to name a few.

I was able to try the spaghetti and actually liked it more than my own ramen, lol. The roasted chicken was also commendable according to D.

TOBLERONE CHEESECAKE, A MUST-TRY WHEN IN LUXENT HOTEL

But the star of the luncheon was Lush Bar’s dessert, Toblerone cheesecake (Php250.00). Since we were all quite full, we decided to order just one slice. Which was a big mistake. It was so good—just the right amount of sweetness and totally not cloying—that it was gone before we can even say cheese.

OUR SUPERIOR QUEEN ROOM AT LUXENT HOTEL

Burping our way up to the seventh floor, we finally entered our home for the weekend. We were given two Superior Queen Rooms. Since we were ten in the group, we divided ourselves into two and simply requested for an extra bed.

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LUXENT SUPERIOR KING ROOM WITH THE SEE-THROUGH SHOWER AREA

Luxent Hotel has a total of 117 rooms spread along its fourteen floors.  109 Deluxe and Superior Rooms, 7 Executive Suites and a single Luxent Suite.

Our room was one of the common ones, but it’s very spacious and has all the usual hotel amenities like the always present flat-screen cable-TV, DVD player, mini-bar, and coffee and tea-making equipment. The room is, of course, air-conditioned and has a very strong—and free—wi-fi Internet signal.

And as you can see, common is really not the right word for it.

OUR ROOM’S TOILET AND BATH

The toilet and bath was also clean and spacious. Toiletries, hairdryer and linens were all provided for. They have hot water and a bidet, which I feel is a must for all hotels, lol.

A BALCONY! YEAH!

The seventh floor has all the smoking rooms in the hotel and these are the only ones with a veranda out back. Since one of our friends was celebrating his birthday, we decided that this was gonna be our party place later that evening.

CEBU’S ORIGINAL LECHON BELLY FOR THE BIRTHDAY PARTY LATER ~ THE TRAVELLING FEET

Soon enough, our order of Cebu’s Original Lechon Belly arrived, including a bilao of Tugeugarao’s pancit batil patong, Isabela’s pancit cabagan, and a box of Bicol’s famous 3N toasted siopao. You can tell how travelers party—we don’t want your ordinary spaghetti and cake, we want unique regional delicacies on our tables.

GARDEN CAFE AT LUXENT HOTEL

OH NO! ANOTHER LECHON!

But before we can even begin to pick on our lechon, we were already being called back down to the Garden Café. It was dinner time. And at Luxent Hotel, dinner means only one thing. Buffet.

The first thing I saw on the buffet table is a lechon de leche.

Be still, my heart.

JAPANESE CUISINE AT LUXENT’S GARDEN CAFE

I tried to steer clear of the lechon and headed down to the Japanese section of the buffet where I feasted on a plate of ebi tempura and a couple of sushi rolls. I moved to the next table and filled my plate with mechado, mussels, fried duck, and a freshly grilled steak.

SWEETNESS AND MORE SWEETNESS

For desserts, their leche flan and mango flan were the bomb! I’m really not into desserts and sweet stuff but these two literally take the cake!

TAGAY NIGHTS AT TIMOG

The gang decided to have a few bottles of beer on one of the many gimik places in the area before heading back to our room, we were just so full from Luxent’s buffet, we didn’t know if we can even eat all the food we have back in our pad.

But we were determined to finish everything; it was C’s birthday after all. So lugging a bagful of beer and chips, we trooped back to our room and literally partied ‘til the sun told us it was time to sleep.

BREAKFAST BUFFET AT LUXENT

My head was throbbing as I went down the lobby for breakfast the next day. Everyone looked as hung-over as me, but still, we cannot let the complimentary breakfast buffet that each guest is entitled for go to waste. They have tocino, tapa, and all the usual Filipino favorites—plus crispy bacons. I am happy.

YOURS TRULY AT LUXENT’S MAGICAL INFINITY POOL ~ PHOTO BY THE TRAVELLING FEET

We lounged around the room, watching contemporary Filipino films and generally practicing the art of a proper staycation. When we got tired of the TV, we went to the sixth floor where the pool was. We brought some lechon and pancit with us and continued our party on the patio near the pool.

They have a gym right beside the pool, but really, we prefer to do our workouts on their very nice infinity pool.

THE INFINITY POOL STRETCHING TO THE EARLY TWILIGHT

We stayed, goofing around and doing stunts along the pool until the sun slid out of sight; its warmth replaced by cool magentas and electric blues of the early evening. Finally, the weekend’s up.

We’ve has so much fun at Luxent Hotel, and as much as we wanted to stay for a few more hours or even a night, it was simply time to go back home. Until the next weekend then!

Luxent Hotel ► ROOM RATES
Address: 51 Timog Ave., South Triangle, Quezon City, Metro Manila
Contact Number: (02) 8863-7777
Email: sales@luxenthotel.com | Facebook
GPS Coordinates Map: 14.635250, 121.034194

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