Malate is Manila's traditional tourist and expat district, a neighbourhood of hotels, restaurants, bars, and art galleries running along and behind Roxas Boulevard between the bay and the historic centre. It is older and more faded than Makati or BGC, which is part of its appeal — the streets have the texture of a city that was once international and cosmopolitan and still carries traces of that history.
Remedios Circle, a small roundabout with restaurants spreading out from it, is the social heart of the neighbourhood. The bar strip on Adriatico Street comes alive late at night. The Malate Church on M.H. Del Pilar Street, a sixteenth-century baroque church with a palm tree garden in front, gives the area an anchor of history. Malate is more affordable than the business districts and more atmospheric than the malls.