Place: La Virginia Hotel and Resort in Batangas

It was October 2011 when we went to La Virginia Hotel and Resort in Batangas so this post is delayed.

My Dad has this yearly "paid" vacation leave of about 10 days. By paid, it means that the company will reimburse him a certain amount of money if he actually goes on a vacation trip -- out of town, out of the country, wherever he wants. But if he decides to stay at home, and therefore not spend a single centavo, no money will be refunded to him.

Three years ago, he and my Mom went to Legaspi City in Albay. The following year, their destination was Baguio City. For last year, he asked me to look for discounted airline tickets to any of Boracay, Bohol or Cebu. I told him that cheap airfare, especially to popular destinations, is hard to come by when it's just two weeks away from the desired travel dates. But I looked anyway and even tried my luck on travel package deals. As expected, I found none, not for the dates that fall on his week-long vacation leave anyway.

Then they decided to just go to Subic, and acting like their personal travel agent, I researched for a good hotel, called up to reserve a room and planned their itinerary. I was also entertaining the thought that maybe I can go with them on this trip. But the week before, North Luzon was hit by a storm and the forecast for the following week said that another tropical depression, which was likely to become a storm, was traversing the same path. They had to cancel the trip.

The week of my Dad's vacation leave came and they still didn't have a place to go. I then suggested that since the forecasted storm was going north, we should consider going south of Luzon instead. Hence, I started looking for resorts in Laguna, Cavite and Batangas.

I learned about La Virginia Hotel and Resort from my former co-workers who went there a few years back. They said the place was beautiful so I searched for more information about it. From their website, it looks like a perfect place for a fun family getaway. And the fact that it has swimming pools instead of beaches is also good as the weather at that time wasn't exactly suitable for beach bumming.

And did I say family getaway? Yes, because instead of just the two of them, he also decided to bring the whole family along.



Going There

If you have a car, going there is really easy. Take SLEX and Star Tollway to get to Lipa City. Once in Lipa City, you'll find road signs that will point you to the direction of the resort, which is in town of Mataas na Kahoy (thanks for the correction). All you need to do is to just pay attention to the road signs, you'll find ample of them. If for some reason, you get lost, don't be afraid to ask as the place is quite famous and I'm sure friendly Batanguenos will be more than happy to give you directions.

The resort is is on a mountainous area, so the roads are narrow, steep and mostly lined with trees. As you get near, you'll notice that the houses along the road become few and far between.

For instructions on how to get there via public transport, please refer to their website.


The Place and its Attractions

The place is huge -- 6 hectares according to their website -- and sits on the edge of a hill with a splendid view of the Taal Lake. Now, if you're expecting to see the Taal Volcano, read again because I said Taal Lake. I made the same mistake too and was disappointed when no volcano was in sight. I thought the website misled me but when I read again, it said "...fantastic view of Taal Lake", which was truthful -- their view of the lake is indeed fantastic. It was a very relaxing sight comparative to the ambiance in Tagaytay overlooking Taal Volcano.

The view is just one of the attractions. In fact, the whole resort is an attraction in itself -- like a fantasy theme park with its colorful concrete statues and structures. While these structures are not exactly masterpieces, they are very amusing and we had lots of fun posing and taking pictures beside, inside, under and above them.

The houses are likewise themed and equally colorful which added more whimsical touch to the fairyland feel of the whole resort. It's also a must to climb to the top of the tree-house if you want to appreciate the whole resort in 360 degree view. Other areas worth mentioning are the Buddha viewing deck, the hanging bridge, Adam and Eve statues, Ifugao Village.

We saw at least 4 swimming pools, 3 of which are located on the Taal Lake side including the infinity pool, and 1 located below the Buddha viewing deck. But it seems that with the size and capacity of the resort, these pools are not enough to accommodate all guests especially during peak season. Good thing, it was lean season when we went there, and a weekday at that, so we had the infinity pool to ourselves.

But when we were there, construction of more pools, houses and statues are afoot and they are probably complete by now. They also have a zip line and a wall for climbing but none of us tried them. I would love to though, if only I wasn't 7 months pregnant.

The Accommodation

We rented the Bamboo House with two air-conditioned rooms and a dining area. The house looked cute and  new and was made predominantly of native materials such as wood, rattan, sawali, and bamboo (hence the name).

The bedrooms have double-sized beds, 15-inch TVs, closets and bathrooms. They can each accommodate up to 5 guests (2 will sleep on the bed, 3 on the floor). The air-conditioning unit was working but it could barely keep the room cool. The TV has no cable and I couldn't even switch to another channel. The bathrooms were rather cramped and small, in fact too small to do your business there with ease.

The dining area has a beautiful 6-seater table made of rattan, a sink with adequate water supply, and a functioning refrigerator. There's also a videoke machine but we're asked to pay an additional fee (P1000 if I remember it correctly) if we want to use it. A separate grilling area outside the house is also provided.

The Food

Guests are allowed to bring food, cooked or uncooked, from outside the resort. But if you'd rather travel light and don't want to be bothered with cooking your own food, there's a restaurant inside where you can buy cooked meals. We brought our own food but because we arrived at the resort at noon and were too hungry to cook, so we just bought our lunch from the restaurant.

Since it was my parents who bought the food, I can't tell if they are reasonably-priced or not. As for the taste, I guess it was okay, nothing to rave about but not that bad either. They tasted like any average home-cooked meal.


The Staff

I read in a few blogs that the staff at the resort, the one at the front-desk in particular, are not friendly nor accommodating. So I kind of expected a lukewarm treatment when we got there. But to be fair to them, we did not encounter any rude or unpleasant staff. Some even greeted us cordially and responded politely to our inquiries.

Our only complain was regarding the dogs. They have dogs that they keep on leashes during the day but are let loose during the night. None of us got bitten or anything like that, but the dogs ransacked our garbage can that night, probably looking for food. When we woke up the following morning, the can was knocked over and the trash were scattered all over the grilling area. We're assuming that since it was their dogs who made the mess, the staff should be the one to clean it up. But they didn't so we had to picked up the garbage ourselves.


The Verdict

Overall, we had a wonderful time at La Virginia Hotel and Resort. Aside from our group, there were I think only 2 other groups that were staying at the resort at that time, so it kinda felt like we had all 6 hectares of wonderland to ourselves. We enjoyed the view, the statues, the pools, the whole place actually. It's like we were transported into a dreamland. La Virginia Hotel and Resort is indeed a fun family getaway.

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La Virginia Hotel and Resory
Web: http://www.lavirginiaresort.com/
Facebook:
Email: lavirginiaresort@yahoo.com

Contact Numbers:
Resort:
(043)703-2145
(043)774-9445
(0916)3757457
(0921) 781-4171
(0923)717-3637
*Office hours 8:00am to 5:00pm

Manila Office:
(02)732-7994
(02)743-2047
(02)732-8803
(02)998-9238
Fax:  (02)414-9014
*Office Hours 8:00am to 5:00pm (Monday to Friday)