It's an overnight stay but could only be used between Sundays and Fridays. Saturdays would require you to add an additional 1,000 pesos. Also, they're adamant about the 2 person rule. You can't bring kids even babies, which rules out taking Thirdy with us.
The previous day, May 25, we spent our anniversary at F1 Hotel in Taguig. The next day, May 26, Chea's parents picked us up and drove to Cubao to pick up Rona, who was coming off a vacation at Samar, and we then headed to Antipolo to drop everyone off.
Chea and I then went to Rockwell Powerplant mall for a Mommy event at the tent area. We're on the lookout for new shoes for Thirdy as he's outgrown every single pair he has at the moment. We couldn't find anything we liked, so we left and dropped by at a Dunkin' Donuts store. I didn't want anything sweet so I opted for a Classic (?) donut that looked plain and didn't have anything on it. Chea told me later that it was more expensive than the other donuts. What's up with that? A plain donut is more expensive than those fancy looking ones?
After the trip to Rockwell, we headed towards SLEX. After taking the Sta. Rosa exit, we stopped at Nuvali first to check out the shops for Thirdy's shoes. We found something we liked at Res Toe Run, but they were too expensive and we weren't sure if they'd fit Thirdy.
So after the brief stop, we got back in the car, and proceeded to drive all the way to Tagaytay. Along the way I read that they did not allow guests to bring in food from outside as they had a cafe that would provide us the basic items we might need such as drinks, junk foods and meals. I was ok with that. But then, Chea told me that the rooms did not have televisions and airconditioning, just electric fans. Again, I was ok with the fans, since it is Tagaytay, so the weather should be cold enough for me not to sweat out the entire stay.
But the bit about the television surprised me. It's very rare that we find ourselves in accommodations that did not have TVs. It may have happened once or twice, especially in far flung resorts (Davao pearl farm is one I think, the other being The Farm at San Benito). But they're usually around beaches, or they had activities to while away the night.
Chea told me there was a pool, but I don't swim at all. And i don't think you'd want to swim in a pool in Tagaytay at night time. I remember taking a bath outside in the late afternoon during a Scouting Jamboree in Tagaytay when I was in high school, and it's an experience I wouldn't like to go through again.
Chea said that the place was really for relaxing. A chance to be away from the hustle and bustle of urban life. Which I translated to no Internet access as well. Since it was a free stay, I really didn't bother to ask or read about the place before agreeing to the trip. But I was having second thoughts by that time.
We were then approaching the Tagaytay public market where the instructions said to look towards the left side of the road where there is a Colette's sign and there's a roadway right beside it. The roadway is wide enough for a single vehicle. We almost missed it since we were looking for the Tagaytay Market and planned to start looking for the signage once we were in front of the market . The road is actually about 30-50 meters before the market, so as soon as you can eyeball the market, look for the Colette's sign to your left. They also had a small Las Ventanas signage by the road.
We turned into the road, and found that it's a very steep drive downwards. I don't think it would be safe to drive here at night, especially if there's fog or rain. So it looks like we're not going out tonight.
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| This is a promotional picture of Las Ventanas. The only accurate picture here is the lower right picture. Lol. |
Las Ventanas is directly at the other end of the road. You'll find a red gate, with an elevated guard house. Just honk and the guard will come down and ask for your reservation letter/voucher.
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| Archway separating the parking area with the rest of the resort |
The parking area is towards the right. It should fit around 10 cars I think. There's an archway directly fronting the gate. An attendant greeted us at the archway and we were ushered towards the left to their cafe, where we were asked to fill up a couple of forms and given complementary iced tea drinks.
The cafe is an open air hut with iron welded seats and tables for guests. The kitchen is behind a small bar / counter. A small tv hangs above the bar and speakers are placed around the area, providing the music.
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| The cafe. |
After filling up the forms, we were ushered towards the right of the main archway along a stone footpath. A swimming pool is off towards the left of the path, while towards the right are trees and a manicured grassy area.
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| The pool. |
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| The entrance to the villas. |
At the end of the stone foot path is a small archway that looks like a villa entrance. And inside there's a villa square, with a drained fountain in the middle, and villas on each of the three sides of the square. Each of the villas also had three rooms. We were assisted towards the right villa, and the rightmost side room.
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| Bahay na Bato. |
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| Our room. |
The room itself was almost bare. There was a double sized brass bed on the left side of the room with mattresses, four pillows and bed covers. The bed was draped with a canopy mosquito netting. There was a bedside table and lamp, with only one electric socket just below the middle of the bed's headboard.
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| The creaky bed. Wink wink. |
There was an armoire at the right side of the room (across the foot of the bed), and a rocking chair beside it.
There was a ceiling fan with very short pull switches. We had to ask the female staff who escorted us to turn on the fan (she had to stand tip toe on the bed as there weren't anything steady she can stand on).
At the other side of the room across the front door were the shower and toilet. The shower and the toilet were separate, each on a corner, and covered by single swing/saloon doors. In the middle area separating the two was a sink and a mirror. On that far wall, the top half was basically open, covered with what looked like aluminum screens. I guess it's for keeping the room airy, especially since you only had two small front windows (which you have to keep closed because it doesn't have screens), not to mention as ventilation when you're doing a number 2.
It was 5pm when we got settled in. We were told that dinner was between 7pm and 9pm. The staff also informed us that the complementary massage was at 9:50pm to 10:50pm.
I kept asking myself (and Chea too), what we're supposed to do for the next 2 hours while waiting for dinner, and the next 3 hours while we waited for our massage? We fooled around for the first hour, but after that, I couldn't think of anything else to do. There were no reading materials in the room or board games to while away the time. Chea kept telling me that the place is supposed to be for relaxation. Sure, but there's a difference between relaxing and getting bored out of your mind.
When I'm at home, I relax by lying on my bed and reading a book or by watching a movie and munching on something. If i could get a massage, that would be the complete relaxing day for me.
It was fortunate that we actually brought our ipad and smartphones with us. Chea alternately played with her phone and slept, while I just read some comics on the ipad.
I got hungry after a while, so I went to the cafe and ordered a canned soda (35 pesos) and some chips (40 pesos I think). I didn't read the room policy about bringing the food to your rooms, so when I got what i ordered, i turned my back and headed back to the room.
I went back to reading my comics. But after going through a few issues and finishing off my snacks, I got fidgety again. I was thinking of going out after dinner, but the steep access road looked dangerous at night. And since we had the massage at 10pm after the dinner at 7pm, I don't think we'd enjoy the limited 3 hour jaunt to the Tagaytay night life.
After the torturous wait for 7pm, we went to the cafe and waited for the meal. We waited for about 15 minutes, and all that time, there were mosquitoes buzzing all around us. We kept getting bit on the legs and there were several ones flying behind us as well. They didn't have any mosquito repellents, so they just took out a desk fan and turned it on hoping to drive away the pests.
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| Dinner. Nothing special. But at least the menu is inexpensive. |
The food then arrived. We were served a single fried tilapia (which was average in size), pork sinigang, some steamed vegetables, and a couple servings of rice. There were no drinks included in the free dinner so Chea settled for water while I ordered a glass of juice. They don't serve bottomless drinks.
I ordered an extra serving of rice. But after the meal, i felt that i was still hungry and I could use a sandwich. The sandwich they were selling were packaged with an iced tea. But i was really hankering for a soda. I asked if I can swap out the tea with a soda, and just pay any excess, but they won't agree to my request.
Usually, at any vacation getaway, they usually give in to any simple requests of the clients. And despite this supposed to being a place for relaxation, I am getting really stressed out.
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| 85 pesos (I think). Includes a glass of iced tea. |
I just settled for the sandwich and the iced tea. When it arrived, I ate a few and asked if i could bring the rest to my room. We were told that it was against policy. They reasoned that since it's a garden, any uncovered foods would attract insects. So we had to stay a while longer despite getting bitten by mosquitoes, so I could finish off the sandwich I ordered.
After a sub par meal and a very frustrating lesson on their policies, we headed back to our room and waited for three hours for the massage. Again, there was nothing to do but read comics on the ipad while Chea dozed on and off.
By 9:30 pm, we got a knock on our door and the female staff herded us off to their massage hut which was a quick treck going between two villas and up a few stairs.
The night was pretty cool especially after a brief rain shower. The hut had open windows to let the cool air in, but unfortunately, there were a lot of moths and insects flying around the light bulbs, some of which fell on me because I was on a massage bed directly under the light bulb.
The massage was pretty good. I asked for a moderate massage and got exactly that. We forgot to bring money with us, so the massage therapists had to follow us back to our room for their tips.
By that time, I wanted to have a drink. I went out of the room and walked towards the cafe only to find out that it was closed!
I was thirsty and I wanted a drink. They didn't have a personal ref in the rooms or water dispensers. It was 11 pm and I didn't want to go mucking around in the dark and walk towards the highway which was about 200 meters away. This time, I was really pissed off with Las Ventanas.
If you say that you don't allow outside food brought in your place, and food brought into your rooms, the very least you can do is make sure that your cafe is available anytime your clients come looking for something to eat or drink. Even thinking of it right now severely pisses me off.
It was a good thing we had a bottle of soda left in the car from the other day. So i went stomping off to the parking area and took the bottle back to our room.
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| Nothing says 'budget vacation' more than instant 3 in 1. :D |
The next day, we got up by 7 am and decided to head home as soon as we finished breakfast. Chea had tinapa (which she misheard from the other day as tapa), eggs and rice, while I ordered something else. I couldn't remember since it's just too plain to even waste time remembering.
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| Tinapa at itlog. They don't have tapa in their breakfast list. |
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| Longsilog. Now I remember. |
After that, we took a bath. And again, another disappointing experience. Sometime during Chea's bath, the water pressure got too low that there was barely any trickle coming from the faucet. Chea had to wait for her dipper to fill up since there was no water bucket in the shower. I was waiting in the cafe while she was taking a bath because i wanted a soda to drink. When I went back, she already had asked for a water bucket.
When it was my time to take a bath, the water pressure was still low and I had to patiently wait for the bucket to fill up every time I washed myself.
After that, we got dressed, and got out of Las Ventanas early. Easily the most disappointing vacation experience of my entire life.
Chea and I then headed to Bag of Beans first so she could buy some bread, and also to Mahogany Market to buy fruits.
We headed straight to Antipolo to pick up Rona and spend time with Thirdy before we headed back home to Novaliches.
I then decided to read up on bloggers' accounts of Las Ventanas. All I could read are middling neutral to positive reviews on the place. Well, I'm going to say this out loud: It was disappointing.
If you want to relax, just do what I usually do: Stay at home, lock your doors, draw the curtains, turn down the lights, turn on the AC unit, get a good book to read, or watch a movie. Just make sure you have something to drink and nibble on in your fridge. Save yourself from the 3-6 hour travel time (back and forth), the expense for the gas and toll fees, and being bitten by big friggin' mosquitoes.
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