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Showing posts with label hotel review. Show all posts

After our lunch at Pan de Amerikana in Katipunan, we went to Manila to book for a hotel. We didn't have any reservations and so we just searched over the net for hotels while we were having lunch.

We were supposed to book a hotel at BGC in Taguig but since a Manila Bay dinner cruise was also included in our itinerary, we thought that it would be practical to just stay in Manila since there are a lot of hotels there anyway.

After surfing through different hotel websites, Mark and I finally agreed to stay at the Lotus Garden Hotel in Manila.

We were greeted by the hotel guard as we alighted the cab and he ushered us to the reception. The receptionist that accommodated us was all-smiles as she answered all our queries and handed us the leaflet with room rates.

Aside from the gym and spa, and the resort's relaxing ambience, Valentino Resort and Spa also has their own restaurant.

The rest of the group already had their share of the dining experience at the resort's restaurant over lunch, but Mark and I just had to skip having lunch with them since we brought our own food. :)

Come dinner time, Marwin suggested that we go out since they already had their lunch at Valentino's restaurant. Unfortunately, aside from a kambingan, there wasn't any restaurant nearby, so we just went back to the resort's restaurant.

While waiting for our food. Galit galit? :p

Mark was on a diet and was prepping up for a competition, so he just ordered their grilled chicken. Mark and I were both expecting a char-grilled chicken, but the chicken looked like it was fried. I guess it was grilled using a turbo broiler. The dish had a generous serving of chicken breast and it also came with a garlic mashed potato and sautéed bean sprouts. Mark enjoyed his dish and was captured by the taste of the mashed potato that he ordered another serving for take out. :)

Grilled Chicken with Garlic Mashed Potato and Sautéed Bean Sprouts

I was on a meal plan that time and was only allowed to take in vegetables for dinner, plus whey protein, so I just settled for their chopseuy. Another generous serving, the dish also had some kikiam and pork slices in it which I just had to set aside. :p I was also very keen in setting aside the sauce because I was actually allowed to have only raw veggies, or steamed/boiled at the least. :p

Chopseuy

I wasn't able to jot down the price but as far as I remember, Mark and I only paid less than Php 500 for our dinner (which included 4 bottled waters).

Our accommodation includes free breakfast, American and Filipino breakfast were the ones I remembered, which also come with a choice of coffee, hot chocolate, or juice.

Mark had coffee while I chose to have the hot chocolate. I guess it was a bad choice for me. The hot chocolate was just, uhmm, too sweet. It actually tasted like chocolate syrup (like the ones used in pancakes) placed in hot water.

Hot Chocolate

Everyone who ordered coffee was raving about how good it was, so when one of the servers gladly obliged when Marwin had his cup refilled and asked who else wanted a refill, I immediately asked Mark to get a refill for me. :p

My meal plan doesn't really allow me to have liquids other than water or fresh orange juice, but since I already deviated from my meal plan by having hot chocolate and coffee, I thought that I might as well indulge in Valentino's Filipino breakfast! :p The Filipino breakfast comes with a choice of tapang taal, daing na bangus, tocino, or longganisa; plus scrambled or sunny-side-up egg and steamed or fried rice.

Filipino Breakfast: Tapang Taal, Fried Rice, and Sunny-Side-Up Egg

Mark and I both chose the tapang taal. The tapa wasn't like the ones that I got used to but it was just delicious! It actually looked and tasted like the Filipino version of Beef Steak, or Bistek Tagalog as what we all know of. Although I was really enjoying the dish, my stomach just didn't want to take in that much food, so I was able to finish only half of my plate. The other half was devoured by Mark.

Filipino Breakfast: Tapang Taal, Fried Rice, and Scrambled Egg

He must have been very hungry that time that he got another order of the Tapang Taal meal, making him finish a total of 2 and a half meals!

All of us had a good dining experience at Valentino. Aside from the good food, their customer service is also commendable. There was this one staff who never failed to greet us each time we were in the restaurant. Most of them were also very accommodating especially with our (mine and Mark's) requests and numerous questions regarding their menu. :p

With food that are both palate- and budget-friendly partnered with good customer service, I guess I can just forget about the glitches in the resort's accommodation and that middle-aged lady. :p Over-all, I can say that I enjoyed my stay at Valentino. :)

VALENTINO RESORT AND SPA

Barangay Pinagtung-ulan,
San Jose, Batangas

Most of my close friends in the office had already ventured into different businesses, offices, and even other countries; and so our monthly get together (for the ones left in the country) have been our way of catching up. We usually have monthly dinners, but for our March get together, we planned of having a summer getaway.

We conducted a survey and I was overly excited when Eagle Point initially got the most number of votes. I've been wanting to go to the beach and out of town resorts with only swimming pools do not really get me as excited because there are a lot of them here in Antipolo, one of which is just a few walks away from our house.

So imagine how the excitement turned into dismay when a re-vote happened and almost everyone settled for the next choice which was Valentino Resort and Spa. I was supposed to back out, I even told Joie not to consider me joining anymore, but then again I didn't want to be the kontrabida so I just decided to set aside being a brat. :p

We met over at Makati and then started on our trip after everyone got to have their breakfast. We got to the resort after almost a 2-hour ride. Special thanks to Joie for taking care of all the reservations.

We arrived earlier than the check-in time so I was anticipating that we would have to roam around the place first. It was Joie and Je who were communicating with the receptionists, but I already knew that we were already allowed to check into our rooms because of this middle-aged lady who kept on saying how she gave us some favor and allowed us to have an early check in. Mark felt happy with the favor so he asked me to give the lady a box of egg rolls as a sign of gratitude. I actually got pissed and really didn't want to hand the rolls to her, but Mark insisted and even got mad at me for being selfish, but had he heard how the lady kept on insinuating that favor (which none of us really asked for, in fact we were all willing to wait for the check in time) I think he wouldn't have given anything to that lady. Apparently, I wasn't the only one who got pissed, Je also got irritated. Mark, see? We should have just given all of the rolls to our driver! :p

With Gretz and Me-anne on board a golf car from the reception area to our rooms :)

Their deluxe rooms are cozy. It was clean, had a decent bed with basic toiletries and clean towels,

a clean bathroom,

a good working aircon, a desk and a couch,

a small TV with a not so good reception, and a small walk-in closet.

It really wasn't that impressive, but at a Php 2600 rate per night with free breakfast for 2, I think I just got what I paid for. :)

After having a quick lunch in our room, Mark and I roamed around the resort. What I liked about our room is that in front of it is this gorgeous pool.

It has a jacuzzi at the corner an an infinity pool surrounded by lush greens.

At the side of the pool were small cabanas which guests can use for free.

Aside from the deluxe rooms, they also have bigger rooms which looked like houses in a village.

Multi-purpose hall

Also surrounding the whole resort were lush greens and colorful flowers.

An indoor gym and spa are also available at the resort, which unfortunately we weren't able to try.

Restaurant

A few walks from our room were a bigger pool and a kiddie pool.

They also have a small playground which the kids and the kids at heart will surely enjoy.

Although there was no beach and the room wasn't glamorous, and although this wrist band (that we had to wear all throughout our stay) was a bit uncomfortable,