Planning a family outing during summer is frustrating, especially when they ask me to do it just a few weeks in advance. During this season, it is more difficult to find a good beach or pool resort that's not too expensive and still available. By good, I mean somewhere decent, clean, has a nice view and/or facilities. It's important that they have a family room that can fit more than 10 people and that they allow guests to bring food and cook inside the resort premises. It's also a factor if the resort is not too "public" because nothing ruins a summer outing than a crowded beach or pool where you can't swim in without bumping into someone.
So when my family gave me this task, I chose to go north. Our initial plan was Subic and I've already inquired and researched about the places where we can stay and where we can swim. The good resorts in Subic are way beyond our budget for 12 people so I thought we'll go to a public beach by day and crash in a cheap hotel by night.
Then I found about Sunset Cove Beach Resort in Morong, Bataan, which is somewhat close to SMBA and thought that this was the better option because they have both a beach and accommodations. Immediately, I asked if they have a family room available on April 13-14, our target date and they said they do. So everything was set in motion. They sent me a quotation and asked to make 50% deposit to their bank account to reserve the room.
The Resort
We made a side trip to San Fernando, Pampanga because my uncle's parents live there, and we paid them a short visit and he knows this wonderful market place where we bought our food supplies. Then we entered SMBA and exited at the Morong gate. From there, we just followed the directions given to us by Sunset Cove, or did we get that from Google? Sorry, I can't remember anymore, but the place is not that difficult to find.
It was past 10 a.m. when we arrived at the resort and we were immediately greeted by the owner, Ma'am Cecil (Jimenez). Because it was still early for our 2:00 p.m. check-in time and our room was not yet available, Ma'am Cecil chatted with us and kept us entertained by her stories of how they started the resort and what they do during the lean season. Apparently, the place can get flooded during the rainy months. It was a good chat and she was very accommodating.
By 11:30, we were told that our room is ready and we can unload our things and start cooking. The use of the kitchen and all utensils were already included in our quotation so we asked someone who looked like the manager of the resort, because he's the go-to person for everything, for the things that we need for cooking. I forgot to ask for his name so let's just call him Kuya.
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| Our Family Room |
Before we went to Sunset Cove, I inquired first if we still need to bring kitchen and table utensils. I was told that they will provide all these, so we didn't bring any. And they did provide these. But Kuya, the one who manages everything in the resort including these utensils, was a very busy person and it's sometimes difficult to find him. We tried to ask the other staff, but they seemed clueless and they just told us to find Kuya, because he's the only one who knows about it.
Asking for something that we needed in the kitchen became a bit frustrating and we usually ended up improvising, which was okay, but the hassle of repeatedly trying to find Kuya when we need something, and not finding him was draining. We wished we just brought our own utensils, and we would have had I known that getting what we need would not be that easy.
After cooking our food, we asked if our bahay-kubo cottage, where we were supposed to eat, was already available. But it's not and they told us to just use any vacant table cottage that we can find. Good thing there were a couple of unoccupied tables near the cooking area.
I'd also like to point out that the "new wing kitchen" in the quotation. which we paid P1,000 for, is just your typical public grilling area with a gas stove. We only consumed a small amount of the LPG and grilling areas are normally provided for free in other resorts, so surely, it's not worth P1,000. We felt like the kitchen did not really justify the fee. But let's move on... to more problems.
Remember that this was summer and the resort accepts day tour and overnight guests. By noon, people were starting to pour in. I almost pity those who came at around 2:00 p.m. because they couldn't find any empty cottage, table or kubo or what-have-you type, anymore and they were just standing there, looking tired and helpless. I think there was a company team-building event or a birthday celebration - or worse both - that day and the place was jam-packed. I was just thankful that we arrived much earlier.
And then there's the problem with our cottage. By 2:00 p.m., we asked again if we can use the cottage already because 2:00 p.m. is the official check-in time and I assumed that it will be available by then. But no, it's not yet available and it was only then I realized that they were renting out all the cottages to day tour guests. And that's just wrong because we paid for our cottage.
Granting that there was only a 3-4 hours overlap in the check-out of day tour guest and check-in of overnight guests, but the fact remains that we paid for that cottage and we are entitled to use it during the hours specified in the contract. Otherwise, they shouldn't have included that in the quotation and it should be just an option for overnight guests.
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| Our Bahay-Kubo Cottage |
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| It is spacious enough for 15 people |
You see, having a separate cottage, a few meters away from our room, was really unnecessary. It would be perfectly okay for us to eat and lounge inside our room. We could skip the cottage all together and there wouldn't be the need to haul things back and forth. But since we paid for it already, not using it would mean wasting our money.
And then there's the water problem. Because they had so many guests during the day, their water reservoir was already empty by evening. We needed to wait until their motor had pumped enough water back into the tank. We were lucky our room was on the ground floor. Those who were on the second floor needed to wait longer to have water flowing in their faucets and showers. Some faucets in the resort have water, albeit close to a trickle, so we were able to wash our dirty dishes.
The Family Room
Our troubles didn't end with the resort's facilities. We had more in our room.
I totally agree that room that can comfortably fit 12 people at P6,000/night is a great find. Inside the room, we had 6 double beds, a small air conditioning unit, 2 wall fans and 1 stand fan. There was no closet for our clothes, no refrigerator and there's only 1 bathroom for all 12 of us to use. It wasn't swanky but it was alright.
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| Excuse our clutter. That's what you get when you have 12 people in a single room. |
However, when we asked for the key to the door knob, they couldn't find it. We asked several times to no avail. At some point we were told that the previous occupant, who is a friend of the owner, brought the key with him by accident and they were trying to get it back. In the end, they told us that they'll just replace the door knob. But that didn't happen.
Also, for some reasons, people keept going into our room thinking it was the resort's public comfort room, probably because of the lack of clear signage and our room is close to the real comfort rooms. Because of this, we couldn't all go out at the same time and at least one had to stay inside to guard our things. It was a bummer.
Another problem was keeping the room clean and mud-free. The resort sits on a sandy ground and they didn't have cemented pathway so our sandals/flip-flops/shoes/whatever were always sandy. We couldn't leave them outside the room because, even if they weren't exactly the expensive brands, someone might take interest and steal them. You never know, right. No choice but to take them inside so sand was all over the floor. And because they didn't provide any floor mats, when we go to the bathroom, our slippers get wet, water and sand mix, and the sandy floor became a muddy floor.
Speaking of bathroom, we also had some issues there. Our bathroom looked pitiful, you could just imagine how dirty one small bathroom can get if 12 people were using it. There was a leaking pipe under the sink so we couldn't keep the floor dry, even if we try. There's nothing, not a caddy or a hole in the wall, to place toiletries on and there's no trash can.
The Beach
Although, it seemed that our stay in Sunset Cove Beach Resort, was unpleasant, it wasn't so terribly bad. While the resort itself was disappointing, the beach area was the redeeming factor. The sand is not white, more of a light gray and it turns into a rich cream color at the peak of noon. In some areas of the beach, the sand is black. But don't expect powder-fine, cool Boracay sand.
I like that some areas had a rustic, unspoiled charm.
Because it's a cove, the water was calm, and clear almost like spring water. It actually felt like we were in a big swimming pool rather than a beach because the waves, if there were at all, were very gentle. It's a small cove and you can walk from end to end in less than an hour. There are other resorts in the area, but I think Sunset Cove is the biggest.
We particularly like the beach area in front of Sweetwater Resort, the farthest resort on the right end, because it has the clearest water and there were hardly any people there at that time so it felt like we have the beach to ourselves.
The cove has lots of potential and I just hope that the resort owners will do their part in maintaining the beauty of the place. In the morning, we saw some trash left by guests who had bonfire the night before. No one was cleaning it. There's also food wrappers and plastic bottles floating in the water.
This is just a small cove, and if resort owners don't implement strict rules regarding trash, it's just a matter of time before the water becomes polluted. Without the clean and clear water, the cove doesn't really offer anything much.
Well, except for a great sunset.
We also went on a boat ride, P500 for 10 people (the 2 kids were free). If anyone offers you a boat ride for more than P50/head, don't accept it. There's not much to see, just the other side of the cove and the boat ride was short.
The Verdict
I think it's obvious that I won't be recommending Sunset Cove Beach Resort, especially if what you're after is relaxation and hassle-free stay. I understand that this is not a high-end beach resort and we weren't expecting fancy amenities and posh accommodations. Despite that, we felt that the resort fell short in providing us the basic things that we expected they will provide. After all, these are just basic things that other resorts of the same caliber have no trouble providing.
One of the staff admitted to us that they simply took in more than they can accommodate that day so it was chaos. To be fair to the staff and especially the owner and Kuya, they were really very friendly and accommodating. But I can't simply ignore the misses and shortcomings. And we all agree that although the beach was nice, Sunset Cove Beach Resort was simply not worth going back to.
Sunset Cove Beach Resort
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/sunsetcove/
Email: sunsetcove@yahoo.com
Phone: 0915-784-6541
0933-674-0906
0928-500-1132
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