Discovery Travel Through Conversations and Over Dimsum

It's amazing how a simple event can turn into a fun-filled experience. I tend to get carried away when there's talk of travel, food and culture. I'm so glad I was able to dine casually with Discovery Primea's General Manager and Director for Sales & Marketing. I just couldn't help myself but fire away my questions out of curiosity without any inhibitions (especially when they're just right beside me and the atmosphere was super relaxed). Haha. The result - an afternoon of new discoveries, food talk, new friends and excitement for the developments on Discovery Leisure Group's new luxury business hotel Primea in Ayala Avenue (opening early next year)! I was just at the Visit Discovery Travel Mart Launch at the SM Mega Fashion Hall for this. Check out how you can score 50% off weekend stays there along with other Discovery Hotels in Ortigas, Tagaytay, Boracay and Palawan this week! :)

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Discovery Primea's GM David Pardo de Ayala

If you'd like to go ahead and book, the Visit Discovery Travel Mart booth will be at the Mega Fashion Hall until October 12 and at the Mega Atrium from October 13 to 16 in SM Megamall.

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They are offering up to 65% off their rack rates and packages.

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They have travel packages for example for the exclusive Discovery Shores in Boracay for stays up to March and October next year. Discovery Suites in Ortigas (serviced apartment) is up to 50% off while Discovery Country Suites in Tagaytay (hotel) is up to 65% off on Sunday to Thursday rates.

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I'd go for Coron for a major nature and beach trip. They have Club Paradise there. You can also book open-dated vouchers but I suggest you bring your calendars already for a better rate.

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Every confirmed booking in any of their sister hotels entitles you to a 50% off discount for a 2-night weekend stay and 40% off for an overnight stay at the soon-to-be-opened Discovery Primea.

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We talked about the latest scoop over dimsum at Tim Ho Wan. Haha. It's really a treat to discover the stories behind hotels - all the hard work and effort they put into it that are often under-appreciated in my opinion. From that first encounter I had when I talked to a hotel owner since I started blogging, I've come to realize that staying at a hotel where you know the little details is an experience in itself. This makes it A-okay to spend an entire day inside your room, resort or serviced apartment. It's one of life's pleasures I allow myself to have. 

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Somewhere at a point in time, someone thought about you - how they could make your stay more memorable while they were building all this. Be it a swimming pool, a gym, the Murano chandelier, eco standards, self-cleaning tiles, architechture, parking area, a rooftop restaurant, 6 selections of restaurants and even a view that will go all the way up to the Manila Bay from Makati - they said they would have it at Discovery Primea. There's even an underground walkway that will lead straight to the Glorietta mall and Rustan's! We also talked about the trend of serviced apartments in the metro. This new 68-storey hotel will have both hotel rooms and suites, mainly for residents, business travellers and families who wish to have staycations. A lot of people from the hospitality industry in the Philippines are preparing for Visit Philippines 2015.

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We had our fill of baked pork buns over conversations about cuisines of the world (good thing Colombian GM used to be a chef hehe). They said Discovery Primea will have six restaurants serving European and Mediterranean dishes among others. There's a lounge named in honor of Gilarmi apartments (the site used to be where it was) - which was the first serviced apartment in Asia in the 1990s.

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On a sweet note, I discovered this yummy steamed egg cake too during this meeting! Haha. 

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I thought that Makati hotel scene would be saturated by now but the opening of Discovery Primea in the first quarter of 2015 proves otherwise. I was told that some foreign companies require serviced apartments for business travellers abroad are staying for more than 5 days or something like that. This way, I guess they'd feel more at home in our country ;) More and more locals are also doing staycations as getaways - they'd have a lot of amenities included with their weekend packages and they don't have to go far away for some R&R in Manila.

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For bookings and updates, do check out the Discovery Leisure Group website. Learn more about the Discovery Primea Story here.

Hotel Details:
Discovery Primea
6749 Ayala Avenue, Makati
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