My husband and I checked in at this resort to celebrate our wedding anniversary. We could only afford a short overnight stay somewhere near and since we frequent Tagaytay for our usual anniversary celebrations, we decided to try something new.
We got to the resort from Quezon City (Timog Area) in an hour and a half while going through moderate traffic. Not bad for a Friday. We did leave the house at around 3:30pm so I guess it's because we left before rush hour. There's a lot of road work going on along the Ortigas Extension so you could get stuck there during rush hour. Going home took us a lot longer and we were stuck in a bit of traffic near Ever Gotestco. The only time you will feel like you are "away" from the city is when you start going up the STEEP incline nearing the resort. Unlike Tagaytay, you will never feel that "country vibe" in Binangonan Rizal, I guess.
It was raining when we arrived. The resort did not have a good drop off point so husband and I proceeded to the pebbled parking area to park first. We got off the car with one small umbrella with a small overnight bag in tow. The guard did not even bother to escort us with his umbrella to the lobby nor was there any bellhop to assist us. Check in was fast.
The room is spacious. I...My husband and I checked in at this resort to celebrate our wedding anniversary. We could only afford a short overnight stay somewhere near and since we frequent Tagaytay for our usual anniversary celebrations, we decided to try something new.
We got to the resort from Quezon City (Timog Area) in an hour and a half while going through moderate traffic. Not bad for a Friday. We did leave the house at around 3:30pm so I guess it's because we left before rush hour. There's a lot of road work going on along the Ortigas Extension so you could get stuck there during rush hour. Going home took us a lot longer and we were stuck in a bit of traffic near Ever Gotestco. The only time you will feel like you are "away" from the city is when you start going up the STEEP incline nearing the resort. Unlike Tagaytay, you will never feel that "country vibe" in Binangonan Rizal, I guess.
It was raining when we arrived. The resort did not have a good drop off point so husband and I proceeded to the pebbled parking area to park first. We got off the car with one small umbrella with a small overnight bag in tow. The guard did not even bother to escort us with his umbrella to the lobby nor was there any bellhop to assist us. Check in was fast.
The room is spacious. I could smell insecticide was we entered the room. The bathroom was also spacious. It had a separate shower and tub. You could tell that the resort was a good luxury resort when it was still new. Now you could say that the resort needed some upgrading to maintain that status. The bed and pillows were nice and soft. The linens were good quality Egyptian cotton. The room had good insulation so it was nice and quiet the whole night. The curtains were not totally black out but good enough to make you want to sleep through the entire morning. The resort offered free WIFI which was ok. The room had a mini bar and a safe available. The only upgrade the room has was the flat screen TV. The room also had a component / DVD player. The toiletries were impressive (VMV Hypoallergenics). They only placed one small bar of soap so you had to shuttle the soap back and forth from the shower to the sink if you needed soap to wash your hands. I tried using the tub but it would never fill because it leaked all over the bathroom floor.
We decided not to head out of the resort for dinner as it was raining. We had dinner at the Koi restaurant and probably ordered the top two worst items on the menu. Hainanese Chicken and some beef with coconut milk and tamarind. The chicken dish was a generous half chicken but it was dry and overcooked. The beef dish was so bad we could not even force ourselves to finish it. The beef slices looked like cuts of beef that were supposed to be discarded. We had the soup / salad bar for P350 per person. It was ok but found it too expensive as it didn't have much to offer. The soup was pretty bad. It was a clear seafood soup thickened with a lot of cornstarch. After the disappointing dinner, we tried our luck at the Fiesta Casino. Fooled around with the slots. As it turns out, dinner was complimentary if you play so we regretted that we paid for such an awful dinner all the more. We could have used what we paid for dinner in the casino. Even if the food will come from the same restaurant, at least you won't feel as bad because it's free.
The breakfast buffet that came with the stay was ok. Nothing special... the usual Filipino fare -- longanisa, adobo, fried fish, fried chicken (for breakfast?), plus they added mini pancakes too ... Breakfast also came with salad, soup (This time it was clear chicken soup thickened with lots of cornstarch.) cereal, fruits, juice and coffee. The restaurant is pretty small to for the size of the resort. We were there just in time (7:30AM) before the tables started filling. Some guests had to sit outside ( open air) and there are a few who had to wait. During breakfast, the aircon broke down and started pouring water on one table. (poor guests). The restaurant looked much better in the website that it did in actual.
We did not even bother to swim because the water was not clean. It was greenish brown! The jacuzzi was even worse. The pool also looked so much bigger and better in the website. The resort is right beside Eastridge golf course so if you play golf then the resort will probably be a good place for you. I saw some guests bringing their bikes with them. I'm not sure it there is a trail for bikers though.
There's nothing else to do at the resort. It could be a good place for a near and short overnight stay if they improved on the food and the facilities.More
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