Fairmont Makati Review: Same Building as Raffles, but Is It Worth $397?

The short version: the Fairmont Makati shares a building with Raffles, so you get the same pools, gym, spa, restaurants and buffet, in the same spot by Greenbelt. The room is comfortable and quiet, with a great master control panel by the bed, good Wi-Fi and Le Labo toiletries, but it’s a bit older, short on outlets and sometimes a little musty. The lobby is a bit darker and busier than the Raffles one, and the whole place feels a little less private. At about ₱25,400 ($397) for one night, room only, it’s a bit more than Shangri-La The Fort, and I don’t think it’s a good value. A perfectly nice hotel, but I wouldn’t stay again with Raffles right next door.

I stayed one night at the Fairmont Makati, October 27, 2026, in a Deluxe Room with a king bed and a pool view. My family was staying at the Raffles in the same building, so I tried a night at the Fairmont to compare. I booked directly with the hotel and paid for everything myself.

Pros

• Same building as Raffles: the same two pools, gym, spa, restaurants and Spectrum buffet
• Central Makati, right next to Greenbelt
• A quiet room, about 38 decibels at night, quieter than Raffles
• Good Wi-Fi: 48.6 Mbps down and 48.4 up
• A master control panel by the bed for the lights, the AC, an alarm and Do Not Disturb
• A comfortable bed, a rain shower with good pressure, a big tub and Le Labo toiletries
• Smooth, quick check-in
• The hallways are nicer than the Raffles ones were during my stay

Cons

• About $397 a night, room only, a bit more than Shangri-La The Fort
• Breakfast wasn’t included in my rate (₱1,800, or ₱1,400 if you add it at the front desk)
• Not many outlets, and the ones by the bed are hard to reach and don’t always work
• A wireless charging pad instead of an outlet at the desk
• At times a bit of a musty smell
• The bathroom door opens inward, toward the toilet
• A slightly darker, busier lobby that feels a little less private than Raffles’
• The rooms are a bit older and could use a light renovation

Arriving

From the airport, it’s about 15 minutes by Grab early in the morning. The Fairmont and the Raffles share a building but have two different entrances, so you arrive a different way from Raffles guests. The Fairmont lobby is larger than the Raffles one but narrower; it’s not as wide, and it has similarly high ceilings.

Check-in was very smooth. There was no one else in line, and everything went by very quickly.

The two lobbies are connected through two doors. Go through and there’s a little coffee and snack area, which looks pretty nice (I didn’t try it), and if you keep going straight, you get to Spectrum, the buffet. The hotels also have separate elevators. Interestingly, the Raffles elevators need a key card even to get into the elevator lobby, so the Raffles feels a teeny bit more private and exclusive.

The lobby is grand in its own way, with the glass chandelier and the staircase, but it’s a bit darker than the Raffles one, and a little livelier, with more people around. It feels a touch less exclusive than Raffles.

The room: 7 out of 10

I had a Deluxe Room with a king bed and a pool view. It’s actually similar to the Peninsula room. It’s a little older, but it has a bit more technology, and it has some nice character, with brownish undertones that fit the Southeast Asian style. I think they could modernize it just a teeny bit. There’s carpeting, and I think at one point the rooms were quite modern.

My favorite part of the room is the master control panel by the bed. There’s no thermostat on the wall; instead, you control everything from this panel: the alarm, the lights in different parts of the room, Do Not Disturb, and the AC. For the AC, you can turn it on and off, set the fan to high, medium or low, and raise or lower the temperature, but you can’t see what temperature it’s set to. I had it on medium, and it felt pretty cold.

There aren’t a lot of outlets. There are some by the bed, but they’re a bit hard to reach behind the cabinet, and sometimes they don’t work too well. I didn’t find any by the desk, unless I missed them. Instead, there’s a wireless charging pad. Personally, I think it’s better to have an actual outlet, because those pads don’t always work if you have a phone case, and they obviously don’t work for a laptop either.

My view was of the pool and Greenbelt. It was quite quiet, about 38 decibels at night with the AC on, which is actually quieter than Raffles. The Wi-Fi was good too, at 48.6 Mbps down and 48.4 up.

The bed was pretty comfortable. I had a good sleep, so it passes the sleep test.

The bathroom has a nice big tub and Le Labo toiletries throughout. The shower is pretty good, with good pressure, a rain shower and a handheld. One quirk: the bathroom door opens inward, so if you open it kind of quickly, you’re going to slam into the toilet.

There are slippers and robes, and the closet has an umbrella; it would be nice if there were two instead of one. At the entrance, there are buttons for Make Up Room and Do Not Disturb.

The minibar is paid, with local snacks and drinks like Don Papa rum, ARC gin and Auro chocolate.

There’s also a booklet on the desk with information about the hotel: the services, the restaurants, the spa treatments, which I didn’t try, and area attractions. It doesn’t give distances, but it’s fairly comprehensive and kind of interesting.

One other thing: at times, the room has a bit of a musty smell. It’s not too bad, and it didn’t disturb me, especially if you aren’t in the room all the time or you get used to it. But it’s something to be aware of.

The setting: 7.5 out of 10

Slightly lower than Raffles. The Fairmont feels a bit older and a teeny bit less private and exclusive. But you get exactly the same amenities as Raffles guests, and you can crisscross between the two hotels.

The gym, on the 4th floor, is very nice: spacious and modern, with Technogym equipment, pretty much every machine you’d want, a corner view over Makati and personal trainers. Next to it is the Fairmont Spa, shared by both hotels, with a steam room and a clean, well-kept locker room. A 60-minute massage is ₱4,000 to ₱4,300, fairly expensive for Manila.

There are two pools. The one on the 4th floor is the one most people use, with a lap lane, a shallow children’s section, cabanas and a pool bar, and it gets busy with families. The one on the 9th floor is smaller and much quieter, with a daybed pavilion, and when I went on a weekend it was nearly empty. That’s the one I’d use. My Raffles review has more on all of these.

The Writers Bar, on the Raffles side, is a nice spot for afternoon tea, with a grand piano, TWG tea and library shelves. There’s live music at tea time (₱3,200++ for two when I was there).

The location is the best part: Greenbelt, Landmark and Glorietta are right next door, and the neighborhood is safe and pleasant.

In my mind, the Fairmont hallways actually look a little nicer. At Raffles, they were repainting the hallways the whole week I was there, which I guess keeps them nice, but the paint smell was strong and it had more of a construction feel.

The top two floors, 7 and 8, are Fairmont Gold, the hotel’s club level, with its own lounge. I didn’t stay on Gold or see the lounge.

Ironically, it’s the Raffles that felt a bit more Filipino to me: its hallways and rooms felt like a high-end Filipino condo or apartment. So you might be getting a bit more of a Filipino experience there.

Food

The food is the same as at Raffles, since it’s the same buffet and the same restaurants, so I’d give it the same score, 8 out of 10. I didn’t eat at the Fairmont on this night, but I did during my Raffles stay. Breakfast is at Spectrum, probably my favorite breakfast buffet in Manila, with honey from an actual comb, fresh peanut butter and a long list of stations. For lunch or dinner, Mirèio on the 9th floor is a great value at lunch. My Raffles review has more on both.

Breakfast wasn’t included in my Fairmont rate. It’s ₱1,800 extra, but at the front desk they offered it to me for ₱1,400, which is kind of interesting. Our Raffles rate did include breakfast, but I’m not sure whether that’s standard at either hotel, so check when you book.

Service: 7.5 out of 10

Nothing really stood out one way or the other. Service was always pretty good, and everyone seemed very friendly and quite nice. It’s fairly low touch, so you don’t really build much of a connection, and that’s fine. Partly that’s because I never needed to ask them for anything; I didn’t really interact with them beyond check-in.

What it cost

One night in a Deluxe Room, King, Pool View, on the flexible rate, booked directly with the hotel, came to ₱25,378.20, about $397, with fees and taxes, room only. Breakfast is extra.

Value: 6.5 out of 10

This is an interesting one, because I think you could make an argument that the value at Raffles is actually a teeny bit better. Raffles feels more private and exclusive, and its rooms are probably a bit more consistent, although honestly both rooms had some minor issues. But the Raffles room was bigger, with a kitchen and a washer-dryer, and breakfast was included in our rate, for about $446. The Fairmont is a bit older and the feel is a little different, so it feels a little like you’re getting a little less. Everything else is the same: the same amenities, the same building, the same location.

That said, I wouldn’t say the Fairmont is necessarily a good value either. At $397 a night, it’s quite a bit more than many other places in Manila. It was even a bit more than Shangri-La The Fort (about $357 for my room there), where you get a similar location, a more modern, luxurious room, better amenities and better service. And at the Fairmont, you have to pay for breakfast.

Fairmont vs. Raffles

• Same: the building, the location by Greenbelt, the pools, the gym and spa, the restaurants and the breakfast buffet.
• Raffles is better on: privacy and exclusivity (key-card elevators, a smaller, more private lobby), the room I had (a one-bedroom with a kitchen and washer-dryer) and value, with breakfast included in our rate.
• Fairmont is better on: a quieter room, faster Wi-Fi and, during my stay, the hallways, with no paint smell.

Who it’s for

Anyone who wants to be in central Makati with all the Raffles amenities, and who finds a good rate. If the price is about the same as Raffles or Shangri-La The Fort, I’d pick one of those.

Tips if you go

• Use the connecting doors to Raffles: Spectrum, the coffee and snack area and the restaurants are all through there.
• Both pools are open to you, on the 4th and 9th floors, and the gym and spa are on the 4th.
• If you want breakfast, ask at the front desk; they offered it to me for ₱1,400 instead of ₱1,800.
• Bring a charger with a long cable or an extension; the outlets by the bed are hard to reach.
• The AC panel doesn’t show a temperature; medium was plenty cold for me.
• Use the quieter pool on level 9; most people stay at the one on 4.
• Go early to breakfast at Spectrum, especially on Sundays.
• The minibar is paid, so stock up at Landmark next door.

Verdict: 7 out of 10

A perfectly comfortable stay in a perfectly nice hotel. It has a lot of amenities, you’re in a good location, and for Western standards it’s still a decent value. I had no real complaints aside from the occasional musty smell, which is fairly minor. But Raffles is better, and it’s right next door, and I think there are better options in Makati. Would I stay again? No, especially with Raffles right there, and with Shangri-La The Fort and the Grand Hyatt, which I think are much better values.

Deciding between the two districts? See my Makati vs. BGC guide: hotels, food and nightlife, compared.

Breakfast matters? See my best Manila hotel breakfasts guide: nine buffets scored, with prices, hours and which rates include it.

Raffles or the Fairmont? They share a building; see Raffles vs. Fairmont Makati.

FAQ

Are the Fairmont and Raffles Makati the same hotel?

They’re two hotels in the same building, with separate entrances, lobbies and elevators. They share the pools, gym, spa, restaurants and breakfast buffet, and the lobbies are connected.

Does the Fairmont Makati have a pool?

It shares two with Raffles, on the 4th and 9th floors.

Is breakfast included at the Fairmont Makati?

Not on my rate, though some rates may include it, so check when you book. It’s ₱1,800 extra, and the front desk offered it to me for ₱1,400. Breakfast is at Spectrum, the same buffet as Raffles.

How much does the Fairmont Makati cost?

My Deluxe King with a pool view was ₱25,378.20 for one night, about $397 with fees and taxes, room only.

Is the Fairmont Makati quiet?

My room was, about 38 decibels at night with the AC on, quieter than my room at Raffles.