After hours in Manila, you’re in luck: the city offers a lively social scene where fashionable crowds of socialites and young professionals gather, and a favorable exchange rate makes upscale drinks and meals surprisingly affordable. If you’re in town on business, you’ll likely be based in Makati, the premier commercial and financial district. For more than two decades, the centrally located Shangri-La Hotel has been a social hub in Makati, featuring three comfortable lounges.
Located beneath an imposing curved stairway, the Lobby Lounge looks out over lush plantings that help soften the surrounding urban landscape. The Pool Bar, overlooking the expansive swimming deck, provides a relaxed outdoor setting to unwind in tropical air. Newly opened this year, Sage Tapas Bar adjoins the lobby and invites guests to gather at a polished marble bar or settle into intimate seating to enjoy live bands and DJs. From 5 to 8 p.m., “Deux Delight” happy hour offers two-for-one specials. From the tapas menu, try the phyllo cigar—a leaf wrapped around lamb, confit and figs—that showcases the kitchen’s inventive small plates.
For sweeping skyline views, take the elevator to the top of Gramercy Residences, Manila’s tallest residential skyscraper, and visit 71 Gramercy, one of the city’s most talked-about new bar-restaurants. With bold black beams, elongated square lampshades, tufted leather couches and a constellation of overhead lights, the interior channels New York-style design. The outdoor roof deck features a full bar and panoramic vistas across the city, making it a favored spot for sunset cocktails and late-night conversation.
Promoting itself as the country’s first boutique nightclub, Privé attracts an exclusive crowd to its plush red banquettes and tufted velvet stools set before a quilted mirrored wall. The venue highlights top local DJs in a cavernous space with a full dance floor and state-of-the-art audio and visual systems, offering a premium nightlife experience.
At Black Sheep in the W Fifth Avenue building, the evening often continues long after dinner. From Monday through Saturday, starting at 7 p.m., a jet-set crowd gathers around the open kitchen in the loft-style lounge to sample inventive dishes influenced by molecular gastronomy—think three-way prawns, chicken-and-egg preparations deep-fried in dark beer and finished with an orange foam, and dishes accented by salty salmon roe. Towering liquor displays and cozy wrap-around white upholstered chairs complement sweeping views, creating an intimate yet energetic atmosphere.
The Mandaluyong district has become a popular area for gay nightlife, with two well-known venues close to each other: O Bar and Bed Manila. Bed, recognized as a leading LGBT venue since its opening in 2003, recently relocated and now offers dinner, coffee, cocktails and some outdoor seating in a welcoming setting. Nearby O Bar operates daily but is particularly lively on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Fridays; on Saturdays, its regular transgender shows give way to lively dance nights.