Another November 2021 blog post dump, and this is one of the trips we wouldn’t forget. Heading into holiday mood, approaching December, suddenly we’re all in for a road trip / beach family getaway. We haven’t stepped onto the beach for years, our toddler is also always saying “Let’s go to the beach!” whenever she watches her Boracay trip.
After running searches online, a very nice photo in Airbnb got my attention and searched it more on Facebook, so we found this place called Club J Dive Resort. They are responsive to our inquiries, everything went smooth up to our reservation via Messenger, we just made a 50% down payment via GCash. They just acknowledged our reservation via Messenger and SMS. There were no other requirements from us, just the Vaccine Cards.
It’s been a while since we visited Batangas beaches so we opted to try this one. They are located at Barangay San Jose, Mabini, Batangas. A 2 hours driver from Bacoor, Cavite, that time you’re free to drive on nearby provinces, as long as the adults were fully vaccinated, no checkpoints from Cavite to Batangas. You can pin their location on navigational apps, but they are easy to locate if you use the “Tanlak Resort”.
These reviews were based from our overnight stay…
Parking Area – Small parking space. Overnight fee is Php 200.00.
Staff – They lack hospitality and needs more orientation. It’s as if they are always confused and weary whenever you approach and request something from them. They will not revert to you unless you remind them.
Room – Just an average, fair enough for the 3 adults paying. We got the room rate of Php 3,500.00, it’s a Twin Room for 3 adults, no charges for our toddler. It comes with a free breakfast meal only, you’ll have to pay for your hot drinks or coffee. The room has 2 beds (1 double sized, 1 single sized), they have a stable wi-fi connection in the rooms. Make sure to bring your own towels, slippers, toiletries like we did. We had to ask for their towels, we haven’t found any on the room. Also, don’t expect complete amenities, they don’t have electric fan, TV, room slippers. The restroom is spacious, they have 2 pumping bottles for shampoo and body soap. They allow guests to bring food inside, so we just bought our own drinking water and snacks.
Restaurant – Their price range is a bit on the high side, if you compare it to the overall quality of the resort. Availing the full-board meals is cheaper, if you have no choice. Taste is just on the average as well. For dinner, we tried their Samgyupsal Set of Php 400.00 per head, it’s just okay, side dishes and meats were not even unlimited. If you’ll order in their resto, average waiting time is at least 30 minutes to an hour.
Facilities – They have a diving pool, ranges from 5 feet – 9 feet, be careful especially those who cannot swim and with kids, we brought our own floaters, but they also have it on the pool. We enjoyed swimming in the pool, the water is not so cold and not hot.
Mostly on the shoreline, you’ll get to see poops of their resident cats and dogs. This resort is pet friendly though. But who will be happy to smell the poop when you’re hanging out by the beach? And sometimes, you get to step on the poops since the sand is dark.
Overall – We had a nice and smooth start with the resort. It’s just that the problems started to come one by one, upon our arrival at their place. We saw there were many good feedbacks online but from our own experience, there are plenty of areas that really needs improvement. Sad to say, instead of our relaxing getaway, we got even stressed out that we just checked out earlier than usual.
Hope we somewhat gave you a bit of heads up. If you have more time to read, this is the part where we detail our experience.
We checked in on a Sunday, the parking space is full, so we assumed the resorts still have guests, but we managed to get a spot, the parking attendant is friendly, he showed us the entrance to the resort and called one of the staff to get our baggage. Since we arrived 2:00pm, we stayed on their restaurant/common area first. No one was approaching us so we texted their contact person, was informed that we cannot check in yet since our room is still being cleaned. Note that their check-out time is 11:00 am, you still have some time to clean those rooms prior arrival of your next guests. We noticed the generator sound was so loud, no one bothered to inform us that there’s no electricity, we only found out upon actual checking-in at our room. Also reported it to the owner via Messenger, just the usual response received. We requested for an electric fan be plugged in to an extension, but it was not given after our several follow-ups to the staff. Imagine, you have guests and rooms has no electricity for almost an hour. We just went with the flow, tried to freshen up, the sun is about so set, so we hang-out on the shoreline, then swam on the beach. One of the guests also had the same sentiments with us that time, they were a group though. We met the owner during our dinnertime, he’s friendly as well. They did not charge the Php 200.00 overnight parking fee to us, I think since it has something to do with our raised concern on the no electricity upon checking in.
La Bella is located at Tagaytay, near the Radar Station and Puzzle Mansion. It’s a developing residential and commercial compound tucked from the main road, just entering their gates will give you that relaxing and posh vibe.
The place has a Santorini theme and I’m lovin’ the architectural style, their interiors..it’s uncommon. Since it’s a smaller compound with lots of greens, it has a serene and calming feeling. Opposite to Dear’s preference of being on a high-rise tower and close to well known establishments.
Instagrammable, as what the millennials label on hip and trendy places, that’s what you’ll have during your stay at La Bella. But for me, I just love the place for being so unique and again, relaxing.
Another unforgettable moment on this staycation is our baby’s first swimming, yey! She’s 4 months old now and another experience was added, her parents likes to swim..especially her mom 😂
Thanks for reading, please rate our post.
This is a late post, we visited Tagaytay again, the nearest to our place for a holiday or just over the weekend. It was Black Saturday to Easter Sunday, we booked a unit at SMDC Wind Residences via AirBnB app.
We started our Saturday by visiting my favorite chapel in Tagaytay at Little Souls Sisters Convent. Then, we had lunch at Concha’s Garden Cafe since check in time at the unit is still at 2:00pm.
It was Black Saturday, we expected more guests checking in, there was a line and the lobby of Tower 4’s flocked with arriving and leaving guests. It’s already near 3:00pm when we entered the unit, you can see the entire unit’s photos below.
We did not roamed around the compound of Wind Residences, we just went to the nearby Hypermarket to buy groceries for the night and Pizza Hut on the ground floor. Baby’s 2 months old when we had this trip and so we chose to stay indoors and enjoy the very cold air-conditioning of the unit hehe, simply rest overnight and have family bonding.
Parking area is a bit far from the towers, you’d have to ride their shuttle or just walk like Dear did. The clubhouse and pool area, is near the parking area, and as expected it was flocked again with guests of all ages.
Overall, the booked unit is nice, it gave all the necessities one should have during an overnight stay. It’s a spacious unit that can fit even up to 5 persons, they also have 2 mattresses aside from the bed. It has a basic interior and not located in higher floors but good enough for a quick stay. We checked out earlier than 12:00pm to avoid other guests at the lobby.
Kaja let's go! 