While visiting designer Willie Garcia at her JunkNot Concept Store opening last February, I couldn’t help but notice how fun and quirky Selah Pods Hotel was.
For starters, it strives to be an eco-friendly hotel (this is the main reason Willie chose it for her showroom), as its main public area opens to an airy, central “courtyard” with a skylight, so it gets a lot of natural light throughout the day. There’s a lot of cross-ventilation coming from the windows that encircle the area, so it’s always breezy and there’s no need for air-conditioning.
And the hotel décor isn’t cookie-cutter at all. The central light-well is decorated with out-of-this-world wire sculptures and suspended metal pods (that’s where the “pods” part comes in). And if you are brave enough, you can actually “ride” in the pods—hotel staff can open the pod and you could lounge in it with friends, until you call the staff over to help you climb out.
I was honestly too scared to try out the pods, so my son and I had a go at the suspended wicker swings on the 10th floor. The hotel is full of little surprises, like carpeted corners with floor pillows by the stair landings for you to hide in, and tiny nooks above the swimming pool area where you can have a few beers on your own.
The lap pool on the 11th floor roof-deck overlooks both cities of Makati and Pasay, and is especially lovely to swim in at night. The hotel is very near World Trade Center, PICC, and other trade show venues so it’s a convenient and affordable place to stay in during fair season.
Selah Pods Hotel is located at 2004-224 FB Harrison Street, Pasay City, and has recently reopened after the lockdown. For more information, visit the Selah Pods Hotel website.
Rachelle Medina 