Review ｜ Z Hostel ★★★★★
Z Hostel in Makati, just slightly outside of the P. Burgos Street red light district, is one of those places for people that don’t know any better. As you probably surmised from the name, it is in fact a hostel (multi-floored) that has a rooftop bar.
I’m going to give credit where credit is due, the actual rooftop is great. The bar is actually spread over two floors. The lower floor has bay window views that are great, but you can take a narrow staircase up another flight to a fully opened roof. Larger people might have difficulty navigating this. The roof has some of the best unobstructed views of Manila. At sunset or night, before 10pm, which is the time they turn off the super cool building lights, it is well worth dropping in here for a beer. There is bar on the roof, which was unmanned when I was there, but you can drink up on the rooftop. There are tables and chairs and the staff will also take orders and bring drinks. If you want faster service, I recommend ordering a drink from below and carrying it up.
Security is tight and there are signs all over the place about not bring in drugs and weapons. A strong tip off that a lot of dumb-dumbs frequent the place.
To get to the bar, you need to pass security at the street entrance and enter into the hostel. There’s a check-in desk for the hostel to one side and opposite that there’s an elevator. Take it to the top and you’ll be greeted by more security. Expect a bag search. Thankfully, there’s no cover charge to enter. For the most part, all the security and staff were really cool to us.
Why Does the Z Hostel Bar Rate So Low?
What really disappointed us about the Z Hostel bar was the poor cocktail quality. The liquors tasted bottom shelve, the drinks were overly sweet, and the prices are high. Truly, an unholy trinity. I had a whisky sour and it tasted like juice. Not a hint of egg white in the drink. Don’t want to mess around with egg whites in your drinks? Don’t put a Whisky Sour on the menu.
We also got one of the house special cocktails and big surprise, it was cavity inducing, and oddly it tasted a lot like my whisky sour. I can’t stress how disappointing the cocktails were. This is why I recommend only getting beer here.
To nitpick further, the music was too loud to be able to speak to anybody, which made things like ordering hard. It was all contemporary tacky tunes. Just my opinion. Sadly, this describes a lot of bars in the world, so this isn’t a make or break issues for me.
Beyond the amazing view; I guess I would only recommend this place if you’re a Chad looking to pick up a loose girl or are looking to be picked up by a rando Chad.
There are way much better places in the area to get cocktails, like The Spirits Library and the very amazing Banter & Jive. Neither have the incredible view though.
Need more information about the Philippines?
Mill over our full write up on Manila HERE.
Read our full write up on Angeles City HERE.
Check out our full write up on Cebu HERE.
Look at our full write up on Laoag HERE.
View our full write up on Vigan HERE.
Peruse our tips on Palawan HERE. (Coming soon)
Contact & General Information
Price: Above Average
Hours: 6pm – 4am (last call at 3am)
Website: Z Hostel (official website)
Location: Google
