Montsch and Iris Acosta picked us up dawn of V Day to spend the whole day and a half in La Virginia Resort in Batangas. It was a lovely ride aboard Rose (the Acosta’s new ride), which is WiFi to boot! Dear Iris took care of our accommodation arrangements weeks prior to our quick getaway.
But before we headed to La Virginia Resort that day, Itot, a fellow blogger who I have known from way back, (probably one of the few bloggers we have met online late 2007) toured us across Lipa. He played tour guide, sharing with us the lush beauty of Batangas. From Bluroze Farms, to two majestic churches in Lipa and even the public park that puts to shame most parks that I know of in Manila. Before this, we only got to visit Batangas once or twice. But we weren’t able to appreciate it as much as we did during this trip. Basically because we did not know where to go. It was essentially a field trip of sorts that my son and I could make use of and discuss about during our class. Itot showed also showed us around the museum and we had lunch at Lando and Lorie’s Banay Banay Eatery.
The humble restaurant was jampacked through and through and when the food was served, I understood why. They serve good food without hurting the pocket. An easy alternative to Rose & Grace – they serve good bulalo as well for the fraction of what R&G’s costs. Sorry, I wasn’t able to take decent shots of the food. We were famished when we got in. 🙂
We checked in La Virginia right after lunch. The place was eye candy. It was my first impression as soon as we got in the huge gate resort. Here is what welcomed us…
Although we hoped for a friendlier receptionist, we thought we’d just let her attitude go even as we were all planning to have fun that day.
We stayed in an Ifugao house with two rooms.
nice view and structures
This is the Ifugao house where we stayed in. Montsch and Iris gave us the upper room which is more spacious. Â It was just sad that the first two hours of our stay when we ran out of drinking water, there was no crew in sight where I can order or even ask around where we could get some water. I went around the Ifugao Village for practically an hour to no avail. My son had to end up having his afternoon nap thirsty. We ate a handful of chocolate covered polvoron prior to that. They did not even provide us a map we can use! And I was not going to wake Montsch up (they hardly had any sleep – they just drove from Baguio) to drive us to get water. And I surely was not going to run through all six hectares of La Virginia Resort just to find a crew. I knew too well that I get lost easily. Yes, even with a gps on hand.
photo op with the garden dwarves
Even the phone numbers in the brochures that they gave out are not working! I actually had to call the Rey Villamin, the General Manager for a crew to come and check with us. Good thing I grabbed a hold of his business card from the reception. I found out from Rey himself that our rooms should have an intercom. We were later told that intercoms are all busted. A very frustrating moment. I actually had to ask why they would charge us P50 per towel when they can’t even provide the basics that is included in the package that we paid for. Aside from the fact that the room has a busted light, toilet with no lid and broken closet handles. All the latter stuff are tolerable. But us not being provided a map in a 6 hectare resort is something else altogether!
Oh well, we did go there to have fun and that’s what we’re having! Although the husband was not able to join us for the night swimming. The bed bug bite (which he had operated on last weekend) became to painful for him to swim.
Before the night was over, there was another issue that came up. The lights on the path to the infinity pool (the only one that was lit that evening) were all switched off. We practically stumbled our way through the pool and back to our cottage. Even if they are saving on electricity bill, they should have at least turned on a lamp post on every other block! Montsch tripped in one of the cement stairs. Thank God the fall was not bad.
I honestly hope they shape up on their customer service and these little details and run their resort better. Otherwise they will merely just be an eye candy and word will eventually get around if they keep this kind of service.
Itot & Ofel, Montsch & Iris, me and my boys
Although our La Virginia vacay was far from perfect, we did have a great time with blogger friends. Itot and Ofel prepared a sumptuous dinner for us on V Day and talked the night away while enjoying the cool breeze of Lipa that night. Our next stop will be Laiya on April. 🙂
