Okada Manila

Rooms and decor

Picture two tall towers on the edge of Manila Bay, wrapped around a giant fountain garden in the middle — that's the first thing you see as the car turns into Okada Manila, the Japanese-owned resort that Japan's Okada group built for more than US$2 billion, open since 2017. The twin Pearl Wing and Coral Wing hold more than 990 rooms and suites between them, and the striking part is that entry rooms run a full 55 square metres — nearly double the standard 5-star room in Manila. Open the door and you step into a short hall before the king-bed zone, which has its own separate sitting area with a sofa. The marble bathroom splits the rain shower from a soaking tub, and crucially, every room has a private balcony — some face the bay and the sunset, others look onto The Fountain, so you can catch the show from your own balcony each night. The look is warm cream and brown with a light Japanese touch, never overdone. Plenty of reviews agree the rooms are spotless, the linens smell fresh, and housekeeping brings genuinely Japanese attention to detail.

Food and amenities

The heart of the resort is The Fountain, an enormous choreographed water feature — the largest in Asia, designed by the same team behind the famous Las Vegas fountains — with a light-and-music show every evening starting around 6:00 pm; locals and visitors drop by to watch it free. The food is just as much of a draw. Misora is an upper-floor Japanese restaurant serving premium kaiseki and sushi; Medley is the international buffet that reviewers rate the best value here, thanks to a fresh seafood section and made-to-order steak; Red Coral covers Cantonese and Tonosho does proper Japanese yakiniku — more than 20 restaurants in all, plus the lobby lounge for a slow morning and the Tea Lounge for an afternoon break. The big one for families is Cove Manila, an indoor water park under a giant glass dome that blends a club, a beach and water slides: a beach club for kids by day, a buzzing nightclub for adults after dark. The resort also has a Forbes Five-Star casino, the Japanese Hakone Lounge spa, three outdoor pools, a full gym, and an on-site shopping arcade so you never have to leave.

Location and getting there

Okada Manila sits in Entertainment City in Parañaque, on Manila Bay at the south end of the city. Its best card is being very close to Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) — about a 10-minute drive from every terminal when traffic is light, ideal if you're flying in late or out early and want to rest before or after a flight without going into town. The resort runs an airport shuttle for guests, easier than calling a Grab or taxi. The NAIAX and Cavitex expressways are right nearby for trips south down Luzon, and SM Mall of Asia, the largest mall in the country, is about 15 minutes away, along with Star City and Manila Ocean Park. The catch is the distance from the centre: getting to the business district of Makati or the hip shopping streets of BGC takes 30-45 minutes by car with light traffic, and can pass an hour at rush hour. The old town of Intramuros and Rizal Park are just as far. So if your trip is about getting out and exploring the city every day, this spot may not fit — but if you want to soak in one resort and do it all on-site, it's hard to beat.

Things to know before booking

Straight talk to help you decide. The most common gripe is distance — the resort is a fair way from the centre and from key sights like Intramuros, Makati and BGC, so plan on at least 30-45 minutes by car if you're heading out daily, and over an hour at rush hour; some reviews say Manila traffic wrecked their sightseeing plans more than once. The grounds are also huge — walking from your room to a restaurant or to Cove Manila can take 10-15 minutes, and some reviews complain it's tiring enough that you lean on the in-house shuttle or a buggy. The Medley buffet everyone praises also comes with a hefty price tag and very long queues on Friday-to-Sunday evenings, so book ahead. The casino and the Cove nightclub get lively too — on some nights you can hear bass drifting into the lobby, so if you're a light sleeper, ask for a high floor in the Pearl Wing, away from the entertainment zone. Finally, rooms facing the main road can catch some light traffic noise in the morning; tell the staff at booking you want a fountain or bay view instead.

Our take

After reading through hundreds of real guest reviews, Okada Manila is a mega-resort that sells itself as a destination in its own right, and means it — the largest fountain show in Asia, rooms well over the norm at 55 square metres with a balcony each, the Cove Manila water park that covers both families and a party crowd, a Forbes Five-Star casino, more than 20 restaurants, and warm Japanese omotenashi service that pays attention to the details — all 10 minutes from NAIA airport. If the trip in your head is bringing the family to play in the water park, watching the fountain from the balcony at dusk, eating a big buffet, then heading down to the casino without leaving the property, this place delivers in full. But if you're planning to soak up the old-town culture of Intramuros and wander Makati or BGC every day, sitting out beyond the centre may cost you more time in the car than it's worth. Overall we give it 8.8/10 — best for families, couples who want to settle into one resort, and travelers passing through Manila on a short trip who'd rather not lose time to traffic from the airport.