2 Nights, 3 Hotels

Yep. Only in Tagaytay.

In my previous post, I recounted my horrible phone inquiry with Royal Taal Inn, and it ended with my calling up Residence Inn for a reservation.

So let's start there.

By 9am, we were at Residence Inn. The staff then led us to our viewdeck room...and I almost wanted to leave as soon as I stepped inside the room. It looked tired. That's the first thing that came to my mind. Tired. Then I noticed there was no TV, and called the attendant's attention. A few minutes later he reappeared with an old TV, and when we turned it on, the reception was so awful, only GMA-7 was on the screen. Turned out they didn't have cable. The bathroom was decent, though. No tub, but there was hot water, towels, shampoo and soap. The view from the room was great...unfortunately we felt like we were part of the attractions of the zoo. A flight of stairs from the lobby led to the lower level of the zoo, and by taking those stairs, guests could see us from outside.


That was another pain, the stairs. It was fairly steep...not an easy trek for my folks. And to add insult to injury, it rained that afternoon! Not only that, the power went out! Imagine being stuck in a "tired" hotel room on a rainy afternoon with two cranky senior citizens and a very bored 7-year-old. We had to contend with LP's lecture on snakes and spiders, which I guess were appropriate since she had a fantastic time with the animals earlier. (That was a plus, at least LP was happy.)

By 5pm, the rain hadn't let up and the power still hadn't gone back on. We decided to have a short joyride before heading off for dinner at Leslie's, rather than wait for the power to come back on. Fortunately, attendants brought flashlights and lit the way for us...yep, steep flight of stairs and rain and all.

By around 8pm, after dinner, we headed back to the inn. The highway was pitch dark and we missed the hotel by a kilometer! Anyway, I figured if the power was still out, then we'd have to leave. True enough, the inn was dark as hell. I threw a hissy fit at the staff and demanded a refund, which they gave. (Turns out we were the only guests that night! No wonder!) I started packing (in the dark, aided by candles and flashlights) and left in less than a half hour.

Hotel 2

A short drive down the highway, I spotted an inn (the sign just said INN) and checked it out. It looked curiosly like a motel, but the interiors were a fair bit more "wholesome," and had a small dining/kitchen/receiving area, and they had power! But there were no windows in the room, and I figured that would've brought out the claustrophobe in me. At P2,000, it seemed like a fair deal, but I wasn't about take it just yet.

Right next door was another inn, Sierra Spring. The only room available was a family room, and when I checked it out, I was sooo relieved. The place was new, the beds were new, the beddings were new, there was POWER and TV and CABLE! At 2,500, they threw in an extra cot for free. Whew. I checked in right then, and realized our room had a nice verandah, albeit no view of Taal. Plenty of fresh air, though. The staff were very accommodating, too. We had our first restful sleep that night.


Hotel 3

The following morning after breakfast, I spotted a resort right next to Sierra Spring. The sign read, WITH WIFI. Crap, how could I have missed that? Then I saw the name, Pura Vida Resort, and realized that I chanced upon its website once and dismissed it as way over my budget. But I figured there was no harm in checking out the place.

Wow, I was impressed. The lobby was spacious and had two desktop computers AND wifi. And they had a pool! The rooms were great, too! Just like a real hotel: painted in gentle yellow and blue hues, big fluffy comforters, flat TV, well-appointed bathroom, verandah overlooking the pool, etc. Really, a room for relaxing! Spanking new. At 3,800 inclusive of two extra cots, it was a steal.

So I had my folks pack up and move next door. Turned out that we had the entire place to ourselves, imagine that. Pura Vida also had three villas with views of Taal Lake, and each villa accommodates at least ten. I spent a good hour exploring the three villas, gushing at each and I had a house just as beautiful and tastefully furnished. The villas had the view of the lake, too. Whoo.

I guess the best part was having the place to ourselves. We lorded it over the lobby and the wifi...no screaming kids, save for LP and her peals of laughter from swimming in the pool. The staff weren't at all ignorant, and all our concerns (which weren't much, really) were addressed quickly and professionally. Questions were answered, no blank stares nor I-don't-knows were given. My folks were happy and LP was ecstatic.

We're definitely staying there next time! I recently found out that the hotel is only a few months old, but the vacation houses have been around for the past three years, so if you check out their website, there is no mention of the hotel. Call them, though, and be assured of a fantastic stay.