75 miles from the International airport, this can be a long drive in Manila's traffic. Once you get…read morethere though it felt like a real slice of hidden paradise. We were greeted by really courteous staff. From the security guard, front desk to the room attendants, it was great customer service. Three meals a day were provided and it was a feast. Usually 4 dishes plus the mandatory rice for each meal was more than enough for us. Which says a lot after a whole day of swimming in the ocean. WIFI was free and reliable around the resort. 2 hours of kayaking came free with our package as well. Accommodations were separate cottages having 1-2 rooms.The rooms were spotless and offered a very nice view of the ocean. There was AC but with the configuration of the windows along with the multitude of trees in the location, you could just leave the windows open and really enjoy the cool ocean breeze. The rest room was shared per cottage but it was well maintained and clean as well. Massages were available in-room. I personally did not avail of it but my sister did and seemed to enjoy it. The beach was clean and the water was very clear and warm. Perfect for swimming any time of the day. Overall, if you want to go to a great beach with modern facilities, it is well worth the road trip.

Because long beach trips are impossible with families with infants, we just settled for a day at…read morethe waterpark with some of our friends last weekend. We had our (una at) huling hirit sa tag-init at WaterCamp Resort in Kawit, Cavite. The place was okay, it was a big waterpark (I like saying that word because it reminds me of the movie Grown Ups) with adult and kiddie pools with slides, and a wave pool. The shower rooms were clean and relatively well-maintained considering there are a lot of people coming there. Guests can choose to stay in tables or cabanas according to their budget and there are several areas for grilling, so families can definitely bring their baon, or order from the restaurant inside (which I wasn't able to try, unfortunately). I liked that the place is very family-friendly; it's ok to swim in t-shirt and shorts (as long as there's no metal) and they're very strict about prohibiting alcoholic drinks in the vicinity. I had a slight issue about breastfeeding my four-month old baby in the cabana, but I'm pretty much used to nursing in public by now. The entrance fee was reasonable (240 for adults, 210 for kids) for the place is big with lots of amenities. My daughter had the BEST time swimming there. She just swam and swam until she was too tired and fell asleep. She was so happy that I think an hour drive going to the place is absolutely worth it.

A HIDDEN GEM! A must go retreat for family, big groups, honeymooners, quick getaway, etc! Only less…read morethan 3 hour drive from Manila. The road going towards the resort is so narrow. You would not think this didn't go anywhere! We actually tried booking through Airbnb but they only limit it to sixteen people; or I think Airbnb's requirement. The representative told us to communicate through Facebook instead as we needed a big group reservations for 30 as their description on Airbnb stated they can accommodate up to 30 people! Easy reservations with them via phone and the best place to go so far since visiting the main island! The resort has their own farm of fruits and veggies so everything is fresh and depends on the season; they can only make certain meals during the season. Food is pretty decent. We reserved the villa for our stay called - 'Sta. Teresita Villa' where it has its own private infinity pool. The villa has its own kitchen, two and half bathrooms and two bedrooms. It has great views! It was so awesome! We all didn't want to leave!! We also rented additional rooms that had outdoor jacuzzi's. You can order set meals for 5 or 10 or ala carte. Just to let you know, if you are used to American portions, you may have to order more than average. They have fresh buko drinks, too. They plan to add a zip lines in the resort. I can't wait! Tips to remember: - Weather is still very warm here so don't over dress. OK, I mean HOT and humid! - Bring bug spray especially during rainy season. Bugs are huge here!! Bring slippers! - pools have overhead covers so even if rained on, you can still swim. Bring waterproof camera bags. - No wifi except in the lobby. Free wifi. 3G goes on and off within the resort so good luck! No use coming here if you are working! - It's easy to use Waze to get here but leaving, make sure to start the Waze while using the wifi in the lobby or it won't turn on till a few km's out! Remember how you got there. - They do accept credit cards. - Bring snacks or drinks as their snack bar is limited. - Make sure to explore the resort, their crops and their pet snakes! - They do have a few blackouts. - Wake up before sunset to check out the lake and mountain views! Bring your good cameras! Also, love the weather in the morning! For my 650th review, I am dedicating it to Noni's Resort! Staff were very accommodating and super friendly for our big group! Prices were pretty good for our staff and what was offered. I will definitely recommend anyone to check them out and stay for a quick weekend getaway! You won't regret it! [69/100]

We made the reservation for Banahan for April 7 - 9, for 12 pax, paid the security deposit by March…read more21, in constant communication with your coordinator, who claimed to be a part owner of the resort, named Clark. We left early at dawn from Manila, so we can be on the road and beat the hustle and bustle of the holy week travelers. After 5-6 hrs of driving, only to find out that we don't have a room reserved for us, it was booked to another group, and our so-called coordinator and part time owner, Clark, is nowhere to be found at the resort and not responding to FB group chat that was made for our reservation. The Punta Tierra Blanco, employees said he is not a part owner, nor an employee, just a sales agent who brings clients to the resort, but the owner is his godfather on his wedding. So after almost 1 hr dealing back and forth, only to them this coordinator, Clark replies, apparently he is away on his holiday thus he have limited internet connection, therefore cant reply on time and fixed our problem, the Punta Tierra employees said they managed to get us a room but we have to wait until the rooms gets vacated and cleaned, and we are ushered to a dining table behind the information counter, and we even had our lunch since it's past 12pm already. So comes at past 2pm, we were informed the room is ready and it's good for 7 pax and they can provide us an extra bed, take note and extra bed to accommodate another 2, we are a group of 12 adults and 3 kids, age 6, 5 and 2 yrs old respectively? How in the world they can expect us to fit in a room technically can fit 6 people since it only have 3 double size beds? So, it's only natural to say NO we cant fit here and we reserve for a whole cottage with 2 rooms and for 12 pax? So they offered their event hall, they said they can have the other 5 be fixed with a make up bed by the event hall but this comes with a fan only, and if we want an air condition, we need to rent the whole event haul and they can open the AC but the rate will be Php16,000 per night. The worst- They can only accommodate us the night of April 7, and we need to tend for ourselves and look for other accommodations for night April 8. At this point of time - we have been waiting for over 3 hrs already and kids are getting irritated due to hot weather, and not having a proper way to relax since we cant unload out luggages from the car and settle down properly. So again, we demanded a solution and said that this is not our problem and we have the proof of reservation and you have the confirmation from their coordinator Clark and our security deposit was transferred to the owner's account, we said that we are ok with the hall to be converted to a make up room bit we should not pay anything more than what the agreed rate of Php12,000 per night for the Banahan. Then, came the owner and said it's not their mistakes but the coordinator mistakes and we should speak to him not to them He said that the coordinator is not their employee so should deal with us. I told him, your coordinator or your agent may not be an employee, but the fact they speak and promote your resort to potential clients then they do represent your resort per se, plus the payment made were to your resorts account, and your employees here acknowledges the early conversation of our reservations being made at that time and as we speak they are coordinating with Clark. Due to lack of choice- we opted to just take the hall and the Urduha (7pax) just so we can settle down and at least have a bit of relaxing moment and worry about the next day and worst we may need to go and find another resort, but who are we kidding? at the height of the long weekend holiday?? we will have to go home and wasted the whole holiday. None of us get to enjoy anything, while the rest of us unpacked and goes to the hall and urduha, my cousin and I scoured the area and was lucky enough to find a an air conditioned hut in a nearby resort so 1/3 of grouo can transfer and we just have to worry the remaining 2/3, by the time we settled down at almost 4pm? the beach has gone low tide and nobody cant swim, except in a small pool that mainly where children swim. We just prep for dinner and eat by the cottage and have some drinks and salvage whatever we can from this disastrous experience, came the next day, my cousin and I are busy looking for a resort nearby where we can transfer the rest and managed to find additional nipa hut to accommodate us for the night. Now back to Punta Tierra Blanco, at this point no water at the beach as well- so nobody can swim so we end up just have to prepare for lunch - eat and check out again, and the audacity of Punta Tierra Blanco, ar around 11:30, they went for rounds in the rooms and cottages reminding us we need to vacate the room so they clean by 12pm as they have the next guest checking in‍‍ I told the lady- we are clearing the room

Never going back to this resort again. The place that we stayed at is crap nothing like the ones on…read moretheir FB page. The toilet very basic no toilet seat. The room that they called extension is just like a servants quarter. It has double deck bed the upper part creeks whenever my son goes up. The owner made us pay entrance fee when it's clearly said day rate/overnight. We stayed there for 3nights so that's an accommodation. Lots of hidden charges when you checked out so make sure you ask them first what is included on the price. The beach is not nice near the resort full of jelly fish around the area that's why they have nets. The only thing positive was the island hopping. Very expensive for the type of accommodations that they have. I am not going to recommend this place at all. I think Catanauan Cove is much better.

TL:DR Unspoilt paradise with white sand beaches, crystal clear water that's great for diving and…read moresnorkeling, and not crawling with tourists. Don't expect modern luxuries. Just enjoy its natural beauty. We've done some island hopping/exploring in Occidental Mindoro, mostly off of San Jose, like Grace Island and White Island, but have yet to venture beyond San Jose. We decided to venture out this trip and hired a van (₽7000 for the day) to go to Sablayan and take a boat from there to Pandan Island. Our first stop was the Ecotourism Office located next to the plaza. This is where you can get information and book your boat and stay if you're heading to Pandan Island and Apo Reef Natural Park. You'll need to pay an environmental fee per person here. They'll also assign you a boat once you decide what kind of boat you want to take. We went with a Glass Bottom boat (Queen Ella). Our boat stopped at various places close to Pandan Island to look at Sea Turtles, Corals and different kinds of fish. Really amazing! Some places were really deep and some we were only a couple of feet from the corals. The water is so clear, you could see the sea turtles if you look to your side on the water. Once we got to the island, we chose the table next to the hammock and paid for our picnicking fee at the bar. There is a day use fee per person. I forgot how much but you can look at pandan.com/prices/ for all the fees you need to pay. The water temperature was 82°F or 28°C. It was perfect. Not warm and not cold. We stayed in the water for a few hours playing and swimming! We got there around 9 am and although there were overnight guests staying in the cottages and day trippers like us, this part of the island was not crowded. Most of the tourists here are Filipinos, Europeans and Australians. This is not Boracay thank God. I hope it never gets transformed into a Boracay and I don't think it will be because it is a protected marine sanctuary. We saw a lot of divers going out to the open sea to dive. You can get your PADI certification here if you want. This island has no electricity, so it's definitely off the grid. I would totally love to stay here a couple of nights. The cottages are only a few steps from the water! It'd be the ultimate relaxation. My husband and I have camped and backpacked in remote places in the high Sierras so a stay at Pandan is luxurious compared to that! The island has a restaurant and a bar! You're also close enough to Sablayan that you'll be able to get Globe LTE here. My brother in law had Smart LTE and they couldn't very good cell reception here. The food on the island is not that great (even the Filipino food), so I suggest you bring your own food. We brought a big jug of water, empanadas, halaya, snacks and other stuff. We bought 2 young coconuts from the bar (50 pesos each) and that kept us hydrated. We tried the boneless Bangus and it was just okay. My sister did not like the Tosino. Bring your own food! Apo Reef (the second largest contiguous reef in the world and the largest one in the Philippines) is another 3 hr boat ride from Pandan, so you would really have to stay there overnight if you want to see it. Stop by Pandan for a few hours to cool off or stay overnight and then head to Apo Reef. I'd love to be able to do that on another visit when I have more time here.

A suggested reunion place by my niece who was one of the in charge personnel of the recent family…read moreget-together. It was not a disappointing place. We had a enjoyable weekend stay experience. It is a privately own resort in a town known for hot spring. The location is reachable by either private driving or public transport. It is about 45 minutes to hour from my hometown, Binan. Online reservation is welcome ( Google their website) but my niece reserved the place in person. It requested a deposit to reserve the preference date. It has three villas to choose from , has private entrances for each. Villa 2 is reasonably suited for our party of 40. The accommodation aside for its one big adult pool and small kiddie pool with shower and toilet in the area includes 5 average bedrooms with shared shower and toilet for every 2 rooms, has 2 or one double deck queen bed, twin bed and two pull out beds on each room with tv and cable as plus. The large kitchen has stove , refrigerator, water dispenser with one free refill , kitchen utensils as provided that change use. The big dining area and BBQ grill made our dining experience pleasurable. The wide garden area delighted us to fully enjoy the prepared group games. The billiard table , karaoke , big kids yard , darts added to our entertainment . The driveway parking secured our cars plus it's security camera gave us peace of mind. It costed me Php22,000 which is the average cost for 7 pm to 5 pm private resort rental as everyone was saying. Affordable rate for a large gathering. The place is descent, neat and clean. The way I look at it, the place may be not even 5 year old establishment. There was no corkage fee for all the foods and drink we brought in. Provide it is a home cooked meal and hit catered. Curfew hours rule doesn't apply as long as we were considerate of the people of neighboring villas. It was a good decision to spent our family gathering here. They provide only bedding so do bring your own towels and toiletries. Highly recommended for any of your event.

We stayed at Villa 1 last May 6-7, and my family really liked the place. I found the place through…read moreFacebook, and was interested because of the nice photos and good reviews. I was pleasantly surprised that the photos they had online where similar to the real thing. The rooms were spacious and clean, and the pool was well-maintained. Since it is a hot spring resort, the water temperature of the pool was a little bit hot during the afternoon, but it was still tolerable (the kids didn't care, and still swam despite the heat). It was nice for night swimming since it was not too chilly. Overall we were happy with our stay and would recommend it to family and friends.

If I could rate this place a 0, I would. To start off the maintenance is terrible. This "resort" is…read morenot as appealing as the photos show. As well as the workers and owners had the audacity to threaten to MURDER my friends and I when we refused to pay 365 pesos for ONE hour. I definitely don't recommend ANYONE to go here. We were all very scared and worried. We even had to call the cops. They don't deserve to stay in business. CLOSE DOWN THIS RESORT

It is branded as modern Filipino cuisine, and it is situated on the hills of San Mateo, Rizal…read more We reserved a table for 19 ahead of time, and there was a minor miscommunication at their end, but in the end, they were able to resolve it and were able to prep our table after 30 minutes of waiting. Things happened, including accidentally spilling water (knocking over a glass of water) to one of our guests by one of their servers. Looking at the positive side, we got classic Filipino dishes, and we were amazed by the preparation of the food and its authentic taste. The staffs were nice, ambiance is good, nothing too fancy. The location is a 30 minute drive away from the nearby big city of Metro Manila. I recommend this place for you to try out,

This business is located in my hometown and continues to grow. They have several good restaurants…read moreinside the resort. You can also hold events here for any occasion. They have villas available for rent as well. During our stay, we tried the two restaurants, Farmyard and Lorenzo's. I preferred Lorenzo's; they have a larger menu and offer a breakfast buffet on weekends.

My family and I had a lovely time here at the Villa Escudero Plantation and Museum during a recent…read morevisit. My parents used to take me here on trips to the Philippines when I was a kid. Revisiting as an adult felt familiar and although there were significant upgrades to the property since my last visit, it still gives off that warm welcome home vibe. For newbies Villa Escudero is the Disney World equivalent for immersion into the Filipino culture. We started off at the Visitor's center where we purchased our day trip tickets. I believe the tickets are about $2000.00 PHP = $35 USD. The ticket cost includes 90% of what is offered in the plantation which includes the museum, Carabao (Water Buffalo) cart rides, E-jeepneys, swimming in their pools, bamboo raft rides, buffet lunch and cultural show. Alcoholic drinks, some non-alcoholic specialty drinks and on-site accommodations are not included in the cost of the day trip tickets. These are considered separate fees. We were a party of 7 with 2 sets of elderly parents with mobility issues. Thankfully the staff at Villa Escudero were well equipped to handle transporting our parents from one part of the facility to another via E-jeepney (electric jeepney). The E-jeepney was a newly added service allowing one to travel comfortably enough to visit most of the sites without much effort. Our parents were able to visit the pink museum on the 1st floor holding mostly religious statues. The statues are realistic to the point of near creepy. The museum has no elevator access to the 2nd floor where the more interesting artifacts are. Unfortunately, the lack of an elevator limited our parents to the 1st floor. My cousin, husband and I opted to take the stairs to the 2nd floor to explore some more while leaving the parents in the waiting area on the 1st floor. The 2nd floor is an impressive collection curated by the Escudero family with period pieces from all over the globe. I won't go into too much detail for spoiler reasons but we found the 2nd floor fascinating from the first. Please keep in mind photography and video is restricted only in the museum portion. Post museum we were E-jeeped back to the visitor's center to hop on their Carabao carts taking us to their grand Main Pavilion for their lunch and cultural show. The Carabao Cart ride was one of the most enjoyable parts of our visit making it memorable for all. The short 12-minute ride transported us through the palm tree lined, lush plantation grounds. The ride included an onboard serenade with a singer and a guitarist playing folkloric tunes. The scene, with sunny picture-perfect weather to boot, was heartening and provides you with a taste of traditional Filipino culture. It definitely brought a smile to my mom and dad's face. In that fleeting moment, I felt as if they were truly happy at home. As all this is happening, seeing them light up in awe as we were passing through the grounds via Carabao cart was priceless. Once at the covered pavilion, you can pick any available table to sit in and have a set buffet lunch served to you. The buffet was ample and tasty complete with typical Filipino dishes such as Pancit, Chicken, Beef Caldereta, Fried Fish, a number of stir-fried vegetable dishes with a Banana-Q dessert finisher to round out the meal. After lunch, the cultural show starts roughly at 3pm and goes till about 5. The show was amazing and included traditional music and dance from regions all over the Philippines. At the end of the performance, my husband and I were gifted a small palm frond keepsake shaped in the likeness of a bird. It was a simple yet sweet parting gift by the performers of the show. The property also has a separate venue for private events and if you are seeking a unique wedding venue, they have a simple chapel and reception space available. Whether tourist or a local, Villa Escudero is a lovely place to visit. They offer on-site hotel accommodations if you're looking to extend your time with family and friends. The hotels are private villas overlooking the river. The average nightly stay is about 14000.00 PHP which is about $240 USD/night typically accommodating anywhere from 2-6 guests depending on room size. The accommodations are rustic and in line with the plantation theme. We enjoyed our time at Villa Escudero. We've always had fond memories visiting the plantation. If you've never been to the Philippines before, this would be the perfect place to start outside of Metro Manila. If you can reciprocate kindness and respect, the people here are super friendly and will go out of their way to make your stay at Villa Escudero a pleasant one. Foreigner friendly, most staff are English speaking and can help you navigate through the property. Enjoy your time in the Philippines and make Villa Escudero part of your visitor itinerary to immerse yourself in the warm Filipino culture. Safe travels and Mabuhay Pilipinas!

Youtube Video on my experience: https://youtu.be/ntKNPeL4ULY…read more WOW. I am truly blown away at this place. I have been wanting to come here for years and years since I had seen a photo of the waterfalls restaurant. I thought that the restaurant was a separate entity and not part of an entire plantation that was turned into a resort for Filipino culture and heritage. I am so surprised at the tiny sign to enter Villa Escudero as well, is that the original sign? I feel like it has to be. The is a long stretch of dirt road leading into Villa Escudero, but it is cool to see all the coconut trees and other fruit/vegetables growing along the road with the carabao just hanging out. After checking in, the experience just to get to the lobby for room reception (if you are staying overnight) is fun because you can ride a carabao (or electric cart if you prefer). You also get sang to on the carabao. I would have put 4 stars for our room stay because our longhouse room didn't have the mixer of cold and hot water working properly, but after my auntie's upgrade to a riverside cottage with a/c, I was amazed at how beautiful and relaxing it was. We also were surprised with a harana one night and they sang a few songs to us, it was very beautiful. Somebody please tell those guys who harana at Villa Escudero that it was such an amazing experience for me and I'm glad I was able to dance with my son while listening. It was extremely beautiful. The waterfalls restaurant at Labasin was very cool, but because I had my little one we were careful and sat on the dry side right by the waterfall. Maybe next time when he's old we can eat in the water! The food was pretty good as well, I enjoyed the okra! My favorite was the breakfast buffet that they offered and the people working there were SO helpful and kind. The museums are crazy!!! The museum holding all the religious artifacts and museum of animals is so incredibly interesting. The house museum is also very cool to walk around and look at. Each location has a docent to explain the museum if you would like a tour as well. From beginning to end, I had a wonderful time and it was a surreal experience for me. As a Filipino-American, I have felt disconnected from my heritage growing up in the U.S. so I feel like staying here was very important. Thank you Villa Escudero, I hope to come back again!