It was a three-day out-of-town vacation for me, my sister, my two cousins and my uncle. Fortunately, I had only a handful of tasks to do at the office and with that, I was able to take a leave and my boss approved it without thinking twice. It was nice to get my U.S. counterpart off my back for two days.
When my uncle arrived from the U.S., he immediately asked my sister to book a room in any resort with pool and beach in Batangas. I suggested to enquire on the Acuatico Beach Resort in Laiya, Batangas. It has the best infinity pool that I have seen when I searched on the resorts in the whole of Batangas. I would have loved to take pictures of it. Unfortunately, the resort was already fully booked on our target dates.
I racked on Google again to find the second best place in Laiya. Why Laiya? I don't know. Maybe because I haven't been there, I wanted to be there. When I browsed through it, popular results were Palm Beach Resort, La Luz Beach Resort and Blue Coral among many others. I tried to look for pictures, not the resort website pictures, but pictures which were taken by the vacationists to see the real view.
After pages of Google results, I finally hit on the website of Estrellas de Mendoza Playa Resort (EMPR). It was not among the popular choices. I checked on the site's photo gallery of the resort and I found it interesting. There were not much real pictures by tourists.
It is their swimming pool that attracted me most. Next to Acuatico's, I think EMPR's pool is quite nice. It is large and according the EMPR's website, it uses some kind of state-of-the-art water-filtering technology. With all the other features it boasts on its website, I asked my sister to book at EMPR.
We booked 3D/2N at EMPR. It was a 2.5h-3h drive from Manila and we did not have a hard time finding it. I was glad that we chose EMPR than the other resorts in Laiya because it was not crowded. All the others were full at that time.
When we got there, we were greeted by friendly hotel staff. Yes, the resort's accommodation is hotel-type and it is one of its kind in Laiya. We found out from the receptionist that EMPR just opened last April 2011, and the rates that we were charged were still promotional rates. We were just five and we took the superior room. The only other choice of accommodation you could have is the cabana which is good for 6-8 persons.
The superior room is good for 2-3 people. Rate was PHP7k++ (inclusive of tax) plus PHP1,500++ for each extra person. That cost us PHP11k++ for a night. The price includes a sumptuous daily breakfast.
After checking in, we immediately went to our rooms. I was able to take pictures of the hotel hallways. The building is still not fully constructed with more finishes to do. There were carpenters at the top floor. The building has seven floors and we occupied a room on the sixth floor.
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| Staircase / hallway |
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| The spiral staircase |
The hotel uses key card locks. The linens clean and very white. There is a mini fridge in the room and an electronic safe deposit box. Their ACs are all high-powered and great, you will never feel warm when you are in the room.
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| Electronic key lock |
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| Safe deposit box / LCD tv / fridge |
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| Room |
We went for a stroll first around the resort before taking a dip in their wonderful pool. The hotel has a nice overlooking view of the pool and the beach from our room and is also elegant on the outside.
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| View from the room |
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| View from the outside |
Then we tried the infinity pool. The water almost smells no chlorine and clean. However, I did not much enjoy swimming, because I do not know how to. I just stay on the sides. The middle part of the pool is already five feet and is six feet when you go further to the opposite edge. The kids would enjoy the round kiddie pool on the side of the infinity pool.
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| Cabanas on the pool side |
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| The infinity pool |
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| My uncle enjoying the pool |
Before the sun went down, we checked out to the beach. Like all the other beaches in Laiya, despite of it being a bit rocky, the water is clean. You can see astray colorful jellyfishes swimming and tiny crabs on the sand. Tides were very low during afternoons. Even from the beach, you can see a spectacular view of the hotel.
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| View of the hotel from the beach |
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| The beach |
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| Shores on a high tide |
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| Shores on a low tide |
Overall, my Estrellas de Mendoza Playa Resort was a great experience. It was a fun and relaxing vacation. I would definitely go back.
