turista trails

The grand 3-storey lobby of The Pinnacle Hotel and Suites

Our booked Family Room

C I T Y

L U X U R Y

Davao City is highly urbanized and I didn't expect it to be that way as I've never stepped foot at a key city in Mindanao until September this year. I've been scoping mainland Luzon and a few provinces in the Visayas for the past three years and I managed to miss out on the developments happening in this southern part of the Philippines. For some reason, I felt that I could take my time and it was alright to hold out on the chance to experience the city that's dubbed as the "fruit basket" of the country. Prior to my visit, all I had was second-hand information about how great the place is and how it's tourist-friendly.

On my first few nights, I determined the stories to be true. And 12 floors up inside my booked Family Room at The Pinnacle Hotel and Suites (TPHS), I actually felt like I was on a pleasurable staycation in a fancy Metro Manila hotel sans the toxicity of a typical modern grid. It was an unpretentious luxury that the outdoors seamlessly reflect. My restful night in the city's first green hotel actually complemented the pleasant scenery outside where traffic rules are religiously observed by locals who are quite disciplined and no vagabond suspiciously followed me around. For the first time, a city convinced me to plan my revisit even before I could board the plane to go back to Manila. The city and the hotel where it's at were that great!

Arriving at The Pinnacle Hotel and Suites

Wasting no time to have my afternoon soak at the hotel's wading pool and Jacuzzi

Booked with my parents and auntie at the hotel's spacious Family Room

Stress-free check-in

Felt Like A 5-Star Hotel

My overnight stay with my old folks and auntie at the 214-room business class hotel proved to be quite luxurious after spending the day before check-in at the wedding ceremony and reception of our relative in another hotel. To my knowledge, The Pinnacle Hotel and Suites is not a 5-star brand but it certainly felt like one at check-in. It was still the daytime and no opulent lighting disguised what any remnant of poor architecture could offer. By that, I mean everything was bare for guests to see. And was there a lot to see even at the hotel's three-storey lobby! With natural light striking the whole space, I could see how grand Architect Mark Maximo Chan envisioned it to be for first-time guests. I honestly thought that the lobby ceiling depicted the fibrous innards of the city's beloved fruit called durian, but I was informed at the front desk that it was conceptualized for no such reason. It simply looked decadent.

The unobstructed view of Davao City from the penthouse veranda

Mango Shake and Banana Shake for dinner at the hotel's Cafe Frances

A view of the stunning Davao City sunrise from our booked Family Room

The grand lobby still luminous with natural light at daytime

First Green High-Rise In Davao

Interestingly, TPHS is the first eco-friendly skyscraper to rise in Davao City. Located within the city's bustling Chinatown, its green architectural design allows cross ventilation per floor and the whole structure uses LED as lighting system along with its energy-efficient air conditioners. Its elevators are also designed to use less energy without being unreliable. What's more, I was told that the construction materials and the furnishings used were all locally sourced to ascertain smaller carbon footprint.

Six Years of Elegance

It's been on operation since it opened in July of 2010 but everything still looked elegant. From the main entrance alone, the structure stood on a elevated plane which conveys its imposing presence in the landscape where tourism is thriving and people feel safe. There's a plenitude of guestroom options from Superior, Deluxe, Premier, Executive Suite to Deluxe Suite. It even has the luxurious penthouse space called the Pinnacle Suite where the whole of the city can be viewed sans obstructions.

A romantic moonlit night at The Pinnacle Hotel and Suites

Complimentary buffet breakfast at the hotel's Cafe Frances

The grand three-storey lobby at daytime

(top) Tropical Mango Cake for dessert; (bottom) Pasta Carbonara for dinner

Luxury 12 Floors Up With My Old Folks and Auntie

Our booked Family Room was utterly spacious even with the presence of a couple of full-sized beds. It has provisions for a kitchenette and an obvious predilection for bare space where kiddie guests can run around like crazy and not mind hitting any room fixture. It has access to a mini-refrigerator and an electric water pot for preparing coffee. The flat screen TV could have been bigger for the space, but I was not there to stare at cable shows from the bed anyway. There was a wading pool and Jacuzzi waiting to be experienced at the fifth floor and the penthouse has a viewing deck that hotel guests can use so I was instantly out of the room before I even unpacked. The comfortable bed did serve me well after my afternoon soak at the pool.

The lounge area and work desk of the spacious Family Room

Waking up to this beautiful morning view in Davao City from our booked room

Having my nighttime soak at the hotel's Jacuzzi

Delicious options at the complimentary buffet breakfast

Cafe Frances For Dinner and Buffet Breakfast

For dinner, we dined over Pasta Carbonara, Pork Sinigang, Pork Liempo and fruit shakes at the hotel's F&B facility called Cafe Frances. We also enjoyed sharing a Tropical Mango Cake for a post-dinner cuppa before calling it a night.

Cafe Frances welcomed us back the next day for our complimentary buffet breakfast which was reasonably decent for having a balanced mix of featured Filipino and foreign dishes. Although not as decadent as 5-star hotels, it had a little of bit of everything for breakfast from bread varieties, pastries, cereals to different fruits in season aside from the usual salad and soup stations. Unexpected was the presence of an omelette station especially because TPHS is not even a four-star hotel which makes the morning meal surprisingly extravagant. I just hope that the management will include either bacon or dilis in the buffet table in the future in time for my revisit.

Other room types at the hotel

A view of the poblacion district from the penthouse of the hotel

Getting ready for our experience of the hotel's complimentary buffet breakfast

Our booked Family Room's bathroom details

Other Amenities

The hotel also has function rooms to cater to 50 or 200 guests for special events. In the same floor where the wading pool and Jacuzzi are, the fitness center or gym can be accessed by guests on regular hours. It also has a business center with fax and photocopy services and Wi-Fi access is excellent inside our booked room.

Having a faint view of Mount Apo at the penthouse the morning of our overnight stay, I realised why the hotel was named as such. Guests will certainly feel like they're at the height of pleasure in Davao City when booked at The Pinnacle Hotel and Suites. If the city's that great 12 floors down, it looks as great from its penthouse where the country's tallest mountain peak can be seen in one's skivvies.