Grand Villa Resort and Butterfly Center, Laguna ( Part 1)

               Two months ago we had an overnight stay at Grand Villa Resort and Butterfly Center. I was looking for an affordable swimming getaway for my nieces who really adore dipping in the pool and found this deal. A voucher cost P1,750 for 2D/1N accommodation for 3 persons, free breakfast (coffee, a small pancake and a piece of ham), use of resort facilities, Butterfly Garden tour and access to  the newly opened Aviary. Children below 12 years old are free of charge. There were 11 of us so I purchased 3 vouchers. We arrived at 11:00AM and we were too early for the 2:00PM check in time so we had to wait thinking our rooms were still occupied. It was 1:45 PM when I asked the staff at the front desk if we could get into our rooms already. The staff told me we had to wait for 15 minutes more. (They were really strict with time huh!) At exactly 2PM  they already allowed us to get into our rooms and we found out they weren't  previously occupied at all! There were more or less 14 rooms in that building and all were vacant and they had us waited for 3 hours! Geez! Such an unsatisfactory customer service!
               I liked the surroundings, they were nice but I didn't like our room and the ambiance outside our room. We were the only occupants of that building. I was having a hard time sleeping. I thought I was the only one who felt this eerie feeling the whole night. I was hearing creepy noises! I didn't want to open my eyes thinking  a ghost will just suddenly appear in front of me. lol! I mentioned it to my sister the next morning and was surprised to know she felt the same way! Food was kinda expensive. They were charging P500+ for whole fried chicken! We had to go outside the resort for dinner and we were able to buy 2 roasted chicken for P450. I may not like this resort much but It was the bonding moments with my loved ones which mattered most and more importantly, the kids enjoyed swimming coz this trip was for them!

 With my  superkulit nieces

 

 

 

 

Are you familiar with the movie Bahay ni Lola? That was how we called this building. lol! It looks like an old school building. I think there were only 3 occupied rooms in this building that time.

The room I shared with cousin Rome and my 2 nieces

Make a wish!

Sunken Bar

Linking to:

Isdaan Floating Restaurant, Calauan Laguna

             Four months ago, we visited  Isdaan Restaurant in Tarlac  and we really had a wonderful time so we decided to check out the Laguna branch. It was Sunday and the restaurant was jam packed with people. We arrived at exactly lunch time so we had to wait  about 20 minutes in order for us to be seated. The bamboo cotttage that was provided to us was quite small for the 12 of us. Service was slow but the staffs kept apologizing. Most of our orders were not available so we just replaced them with the 3 same viands that we had last time at the other branch.  Not having most of our orders was  such a disappointment! With the flock of people coming to the restaurant they should have everything available or they should  update their menu.
            When I first set foot in this restaurant ( Tarlac branch ), I was wondering why they added statues of Incredible Hulk, Batman, Iron man and the likes. They look out of place with all those giant buddha statues around the restaurant. But after seeing my nieces screaming in excitement when they saw the angry birds and their favorite Disney characters, it made me realize that Isdaan has no definite theme but it  was designed  to attract people of all ages specially the kids. There are lots of fun activities for the kids. They can go biking, enjoy the plastic play structures such as slides, swing sets and see saws, have their faces painted, watch magic shows and acrobatic shows, go boating etc. We thouroughly enjoyed the surroundings and I loved the overall design concept of the restaurant compared to the Tarlac branch but the place seemed to be congested, or maybe we came at the wrong time.
 Food Verdict: Some were good, some were ok, some so so but I recommend marinated grilled spareribs and kinalabasang hipon! I loved the fruit juices! We shouldn't have ordered the mango and melon sago. They were just like the fruit juices with sago pearls and we ordered 7 glasses! uggh! The Tarlac version was more icy! There is no free drinking water! You have to buy bottled water!  another uggh! Isdaan Tarlac offers free drinking water! hmmmp! Anyway, despite my negative comments, you may still want to pay Isdaan Laguna a visit after you see these pictures (specially the photo enthusiasts!) heehee!

Mermaid Buddhas at the parking lot

Giant white gorilla statue

 with the Angry birds

Kutuhan sa sulok

The eggs just hatched!

Please scroll down for more photos

 

Assorted fried seafoods, marinated grilled spareribs,pinukpok na manok, pinatolang baka


 

                     Kinalabasang Hipon and Adobong kangkong

















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