You won’t miss it. In fact, you will definitely take a second look at the well lit building. It glows mauve with the coming dusk as you drive past Arnaiz and Makati Avenues in Makati City. Hotel Celeste, a beautiful but modest curved building is a looker. It is a unique structure in the area.
Hotel Celeste, opened in 2008, is a boutique hotel within a stone’s throw from the major malls, hotels, and offices at the Ayala Center. At a corner just where Makati Avenue ends and San Lorenzo Drive starts. But it’s not just an ordinary boutique hotel. From the outside, it’s masculine and solid. But once you step inside, you are in for a stunning surprise. Architect Roland Polendey designed the building. The roundedness of the facade was inspired by the Colosseum, in Rome.
Hotel with a homey feel
The concept was to build a high end hotel with a homey feel. The owner has extensively researched and traveled abroad to check other boutique hotels and incorporating the designs and motifs that she liked. Pouring her passion in making her dream a reality. The result, a European inspired boutique hotel with 29 rooms. To achieve the homey feel, each room is unique with its own color scheme and motif. Painstaking attention to detail, from decor to furniture, from texture to color that beautifully result to a stunning, unpretentiously classy and elegant space.
While the 25 deluxe rooms of Hotel Celeste are stylish, it’s the limited superior rooms, all five, that really shine. Named after European queens: Eleanor, Isabela, Marie Antoinette, Catherine and Blanche, it’s tastefully decorated, spacious and homey. A living room, a bed chamber, dining area as well as a marble tiled bathroom with stand alone bath tub completes the space. Colors are rich, wall painted decors are interesting. Furniture varied from high backed chairs, lounges to ornately carved and opulent day beds. Textures are aplenty and keep the rooms fascinating.
Other amenities of Hotel Celeste
The boutique hotel is not lacking in amenities that provide modern comforts and connectivity. It also has a roofdeck for after hours unwinding while a small function room can host small workshops and seminars. At the stylish lobby, the restaurant, Lucia, serves good Italian cuisine with Chef Davide Lombardi bringing in his extensive knowledge.
Hotel Céleste is one of those unassuming boutique hotels that will indeed surprise and make your stay satisfyingly memorable.
Hotel Celeste 02 San Lorenzo Drive Corner A. Arnaiz Avenue San Lorenzo Village, Makati City
Originally published in D+C magazine 4th quarter of 2015