Having waited 18 years for the opening of a new five-star hotel, Makati, Manila’s financial hub, suddenly has two. Housed in a 30-story tower designed by Miami firm Arquitectonica, Fairmont Makati (1 Raffles Drive; 63-2/555-9888; doubles from US$240) comes with 280 plush rooms, seven restaurants and lounges, and a 1,200-square-meter spa. In the same building, the 32-suite Raffles Makati (63-2/555-9777; doubles from US$360) is diminutive by comparison, but with a pedigree that looms large: its Long Bar is the Philippine outpost of the storied Singapore original. –Harry Jacques
Originally appeared in the February/March print edition of DestinAsian magazine (“Double Debut”).