I stayed 2 nights at the ibis Styles Araneta City near Manila in the Phillipines in June 2025. ibis Styles is a the value hotel brand that is part of the Accor All program. I took advantage of the status match to Diamond from Bilt so I wanted to try some of the Accor properties. The benefits of Diamond at an ibis Styles is early/late checkout if available, a welcome drink at one of the restaurants, and free breakfast at Asia Pacific properties.
I booked directly on the website and the total for the stay was just $86.48 for 2 nights. By comparison, any Hilton, Marriott, or Hyatt was at least $100 per night. The lowest price I could find for an USA based chain was IHG, at around $80/night. Even local 3 star hotels are around $30/night.
It’s about an hour from the Manila Airport by Grab, which was only about $8 USD. I would avoid the tolls because it only saved me a couple minutes.
I checked in at around 6PM and it was seamless. I was assigned to a king room on the 12th floor. Since they essentially have 2 room types, no upgrades were available. The room is modern but basic, about 200 square feet. It includes a safe and a small fridge.
The breakfast buffet was in the restaurant on the 5th floor and is included with diamond status, or about $13 without. It was actually the best breakfast I’ve ever had at a value hotel, and way better than any Hyatt Place or Marriott value property that I’ve been to.
Some highlights of the breakfast (free with Diamond, $13/pp without):
Made to order omelette station
Made to order ramen station
Rolled ice cream cart with toppings
Salad station
Pressed juices and juice station
Local food station that had rotating entrees including pork adobo, beef stew, chicken afritada, and daing na bangus (fried fish) while I was there. They had 6 dishes at the local food station and all 6 were different between days.
3 different types of eggs (scrambled, sunny side, hard boiled)
Waffles, pancakes, bacon
Dessert/Pastry station with over 15 different pastries or breads. The bread budding and ube cake was particularly good.
I went as only there for two days, and they rotated many of the main dishes and pastries between days.
The gym is also on the 5th floor and had weights up to 22kg, a couple weight machines, a dip station, a boxing area, a single bench, and a pulley station. Unfortunately, no squat rack or even a smith machine. For cardio they had 3 treadmills, a stationary bike, and a spin bike. They also had an inbody scale and hot/cold towels.
I checked out at 1PM (they were unable to give me a later check-out due to availability). Supposedly 4PM is possible, depending on the day.
Some thoughts:
There are so many good hotels besides the big US chains. If I only looked at a Hyatt, Marriott, or Hilton property, I would have had to at least 2x more (in cash or points).
If no one has status, then your status goes way further.
So far, best breakfast of any value property I’ve been to.
We visited Mexico City for a quick 3 day trip to catch the Monarch Butterfly migration.
Parking at the Airport: We used cheapairportparking.com to book 4 days of parking at VPNE parking near LAX. It includes a shuttle and was only $27 for 4 days. A trick is to buy a cheap refundable parking reservation. When you cancel it they will offer you additional credit if you refund as an account credit versus to your credit card. Afterwards, you can use the credit for your booking. Make sure to add a coupon code for additional savings.
Flight to Mexico City: We only had 3 days in Mexico City so we wanted to catch the midnight flight out of LAX so we can arrive in the morning. The price of the flight was only listed as $88 but we added the carry-on package. They also charge a significant tax for non-residents of Mexico, bringing the total to almost double the listed price. Despite booking two people on the same PNR, they did not seat us together so we also paid extra for a seat assignment.
Hotel in Mexico City: Although the Andaz Mexico City was an option was 42k points, we opted for a cheaper option on Expedia. It was only $184 after a personal Capital One Shopping offer of 16% back. The Apartamento Suites Londres 212 was basically an AirBnB studio that was very centrally located. Two of our tours started within a 7 minute walk of the hotel. The lobby was staffed 24 hours but they only spoke Spanish and they had no AC in the room. At the end, we were happy with the choice because of the convenient location. We arrived at the hotel at 6AM the first day and just left our luggage with the staff at the lobby and proceeded to breakfast, followed by the first tour.
GetYourGuide Frida Kahlo Tour + Xochimilco + Coyoacan Tour: The tour was originally priced at $162 for two people but we had 40.5% cashback from the Capital One Shopping Portal. We gathered at the meeting spot and took our tour buses between locations. Fortunately, we were able to sleep on the bus between locations since we arrived that morning from LAX. This was a full day tour and lasted until around 7PM.
GetYourGuide Teotihuacan Balloon Tour: The tour was originally priced at $336 for two people but we again used the cashback from the portal. We were picked up at the hotel and drove about an hour to the meeting area. There were hundreds of balloons that go up each morning and we were in a basket with 8 total people. We flew for roughly an hour and a half and got really close to the pyramids. Definitely a great experience and worth the price. Afterwards, we had breakfast in a restaurant in a cave and then proceeded to spend an hour on foot at the pyramids. We could have used about an hour more but we had to get back to the van.
GetYourGuide Monarch Butterfly Tour: The tour was originally priced at $234 for two people but we had the 40.5% cashback offer. We walked to the pickup spot and the van took about 4 hours to get there, including one rest halfway. The van was incredibly bumpy (I logged 10k steps each way just from the bumpiness of the ride). The El Rosario sanctuary was the highlight of the trip and we came at a good time to watch millions of monarch butterflies in the sanctuary.
Food and miscellanous: We ended up withdrawing 3500 pesos (About $180) and used all of it for food and miscellanous expenses. We used the Charles Schwab debit card which reimbursed our fees at the end of the month (about $6 reimbursement). Some highlights:
La Casa De Tono: Breakfast place close to our hotel. Really hit the spot when we first arrived. Only about $10 for two people. 9/10 Taqueria Los Coyos: A Bib Gourmand taco place. Really good tacos. Was only about $8 per person. 9/10 Terraza Los Pérez Carbón y Comal: Rooftop Restaurant with views across from cathedral. About $20/pp. 8/10 Taquería El Califa de León: Michelin star taco place. They really need better signage for the pickup vs order line. Worth a shot if you’re visiting but took us about an hour to order and wasn’t as good as the other taco place. About $15/pp. 8/10 Centurion Lounge Mexico City (terminal 1): Food is free for platinum card holders, plus tip. Pizza and tacos were great. 9/10 Centurion Lounge Mexico City (terminal 2): Only had the pizza here, and it seemed like it was microwaved. The lounge seemed fine otherwise. 7/10
Flight back Aeromexico via AA: We originally booked a 6AM AA flight award from MEX-PHX-LAX for 12k points per person. However, a day before, availability opened on AA for a 3PM direct flight for the same cost so we just cancelled the first one and rebooked for the later flight. It allowed us to wake up at a reasonable time and also enjoy a couple hours more in Mexico City. When we arrived at the airport, we spent an hour or so at the Centurion Lounge which offered a la carte meals that were quite good. We walked to the gate and they needed about 20 volunteers to change flight due to weight limitations. They offered $800 credit per person and offered to rebook us to the Aeromexico flight that was leaving just 3 hours later so we jumped on it. It took us about an hour to switch to the other terminal and get our new tickets from the Aeromexico counter. We were able to save about 30 minutes by using the skyteam priority line because of the Bilt status match to Air France/KLM. After clearing security, we went to the other Centurion lounge for awhile and then boarded the flight.
Totals: Our total cost for the trip was about $1800 for two people. Broken down it was flights: $774, Hotel: $184, Activities: $477, Food/Misc/Ubers: $371. They flights were pretty expensive because we had date/time restrictions. We also received $800 of AA vouchers per person for changing a flight by 3 hours. However, they were archaic paper vouchers that had some booking limitations and expire within a year.
Effect of Points: The points/miles hobby saved a couple hundred dollars for this trip and gave us lounge access. It allowed us to book refundable award flights, and change our flight to a better one at the last minute. We also received $280 cashback from the capital one shopping portal. There were points options for the hotel and flights, but they just did not make sense given the lower cash prices for acceptable alternatives.
Median Travels 