So we were keen on not wasting an Independence Day long weekend. It was too hard to get a place since we started looking only a few days before the holiday, so we ended up booking whichever resort we find in available in the nearest beach area--Batangas.
Once we got to there, we immediately went down to the restaurant.
Food we tried: Pork Sinigang, Lumpiang Shanghai, Hawaiian Pizza, Spaghetti Bolognese.
Okay, I was kind-of stupid to take a shot of the pool from the balcony.
Anyhoo, I am not sure if their pool water is actually filthy most of the time, or if it's just because we took a dip at around 9 in the evening.
It doesn't smell very nice and you can barely see through the water. I only stayed for a couple of minutes.
I've seen two pools but I wasn't very interested to visit the other one.
Matabungkay Beach rings a bell but I haven't actually been there so it was worth the shot.
Getting to the resort was easy, since the resort staff were very nice to send us specific directions. We decided to commute to the place taking a van. There is a terminal in Pasay and we got on the van that says Calatagan via Lian, Batangas.
The trip took about 3 hours. After getting off we had to take a short tricycle ride to the resort.
Once we got to there, we immediately went down to the restaurant.
Food we tried: Pork Sinigang, Lumpiang Shanghai, Hawaiian Pizza, Spaghetti Bolognese.
The food was okay. Nothing major. It's actually affordable, though, for a resort.
(the next morning...) Our booking had breakfast included then we were asked by the staff if we wanted to add 50 to upgrade to buffet, that sounded like a good deal so we took it BUT-- it's a BIG mistake!
Apparently, their single-serve meal and buffet have different selections. It's not an upgrade at all. The single-serve meal had American Breakfast, Danggit, etc. While the buffet had hotdogs, vienna sausage, and tocino. That's it. We payed more for less.
Anyhoo, I am not sure if their pool water is actually filthy most of the time, or if it's just because we took a dip at around 9 in the evening.
It doesn't smell very nice and you can barely see through the water. I only stayed for a couple of minutes.
I've seen two pools but I wasn't very interested to visit the other one.
The beach.
I didn't get to enjoy the beach so much because it's not somewhere you'd love to sit in and watch the sunrise.
The room we took was a Deluxe Triple for P4,300++ which looked just okay for the price.
To wrap it all up: The beach was, erm, a beach. The food was okay, the travel was the worst.
TV isn't even flat screen.
Good thing we have a balcony. But we only used it for drying out our clothes. I would have loved to eat here but they don't deliver to rooms.
Bad times begin...
After checking out, there were 3 groups who were complaining about their rooms that where broken in. The guests' room were all next to each other right next to us! Oh, I was very happy we were leaving.
While getting to the resort was easy, leaving was 10x much harder.
We had to take a service (which is a tricycle) to the nearest bus terminal which costed us P350. Well, I never.
Crazy!
What's even more crazy is that our tricycle broke down 3 quarters of the way so we had to transfer. The new driver didn't want to drop us off in the terminal because he said it's still too far so he had to drop us off somewhere to ride yet another trike. Just wow. We tried to explain that what we paid for was a ride to the terminal, but I don't think we had the energy to argue. So we took another trike, which lucky for us is just now P20 each. He hailed a bus so we got off, and hopped on.
Finally we are on the bus going to Makati... or so I thought. The bus is only until Buendia, but the Pasay-side of Buendia. The bus took the longest way from Batangas to Metro Manila that you can ever imagine. It took us I think about 5 hours and we are not so happy about skipping lunch.
So we were in Pasay. We had lunch/snacks/dinner and I finally got an Uber to take me home.
To wrap it all up: The beach was, erm, a beach. The food was okay, the travel was the worst.
Ever.
This is exactly why I don't want to commute when going on vacation. You're supposed to relax and the whole commute just stresses you out even more than regular days. Missing the whole point of a vacation.
Lesson learned: Never Make The Guys Plan For Anything!
Haha. Just kidding.
Haha. Just kidding.
Bottomline: Is it worth it? Let's just say we spent over P8,000 in total (food, hassle transpo, hotel) for an overnight retreat at a rocky seaweedy beach near the metro. You tell me.
Maybe my dissatisfaction doesn't come entirely from the resort, but thinking how we could have done better at that price really annoys me.
Maybe my dissatisfaction doesn't come entirely from the resort, but thinking how we could have done better at that price really annoys me.
It was a long day. I was really reaching my limit but I tried to keep it together for the sake of the people who cared enough to plan this mini trip. Plus, we were very lucky that we weren't part of the whole theft thing. We were just next door to the others. In the end, the trip was still something to be thankful for.
Cheers,
Trixie
