Thunderbird Resort at Poro Pt. La Union

The radio ad sounded cheesy.  Thunderbird... resort?  Really?  Wasn't that the girlie bar on Timog?  I wasn't sold.  But the website was promising. And, coming from Baguio, it was a logical option.  So we took the Family Weekend Escapade  promotion (PHP6600 nett) and booked an overnight stay plus P1500 for an extra person.

I slept through most of  the hour and a half trip down from Baguio (via Marcos highway).  Upon arriving, the entrance was impressive.

driveway up from the main gate to the resort

driveway to the facade


facing the facade, the right wing


left wing

Stepping into the lobby was refreshing despite the heat.  It was wide and spacious and there weren't many people.  Checking in was easy, they had our reservations ready - but it was here we found out that: 1) our request (made upon booking) for 3 rooms beside each other couldn't be accommodated, 1 was on the 2nd floor; 2) the pool was still under construction, despite promises made upon booking that it would be done by Christmas and we needed to take a shuttle to the staff cottage where there was a small pool;  3) there was no beach - it was being "cleaned" and that we needed to take a shuttle to a nearby resort.  Right... but the golf course and casino were up and running... Right...

lobby ceiling

 
lobby

 
more lobby

 
lobby - terrace- hey, that's my daughter's head!


 
hallway to the rooms

The rooms, were very nice - well appointed, good furniture, huge bathroom. 

 
by the balcony

 
2 queen size beds good for 2 adults and 2 kids

 
dresser, desk, tv (w/ minibar underneath)

 
sink and mirror

 
the works - lemongrass scent didn't smell too good though

 
hey, i'll call you when I'm done, oh no need to wait...

 
shower - interesting floor, it wasn't tiles... and there was no drainage just a row of rocks... nice

 
closet, a bit small for 4 people then again, if you're only staying a night or 2, don't really need it

quite a number of insects, mostly outside the room but there was at least 1 mosquito inside


Welcome cocktails  - lemongrass something - aahm, pass

Well, I thought, nice room, maybe we'll just stay in, forget the pool and the beach... so where's yaya's bed?  You know, the extra P1500?  "We don't have extra beds"  Whut?  I felt like an idiot, asking why they don't have extra beds?  Apparently the charge is just for an additional person and her breakfast but no bed.  I think I'll put yaya in the closet.  Oh wait, she'll sleep with 1 of the kids, let's put hubby in the closet?  Ah, no, too small.  Hello?  Needless to say, they waived it.

 
In fairness, the pool was done by Christmas, wala lang water
the beach - Oh I see, they will clean out the rocks and boulders.  o nga naman, no sand castles there

Cute pool at the staff cottage- Oy don't laugh at it, dead center of the pool was very deep, over 7 ft

Beach at Sea Park Resort - P70 per head, kids below 3 ft are free - Yeah, I paid...


Olives at the Olives Restaurant

Dinner at the Olives Restaurant was ok but pricey and not alot of choices.  We had pizza (about P400), pasta (about P300), salad (about P250) which included a small plate of olives for the adults and complementary bottled water.  No one had entrees (from P450 to P900+).

The simple buffet breakfast was good.  They had wonderful Tocino (Chef said from Pampanga) and pretty good sausage. 

Upon check out, I realized, they forgot to give us our package inclusions: one whole pizza, 6 cans of soda and 2 fruit shakes.  The fruit shakes didn't come, but we were leaving already...

What else was wierd was that there was an extra P6.14 on my bill - due to forex.  Huh?  The package was in PHP (PHP6600 nett), the confirmation was in PHP - where was the dollar figure?  Never mind, I shut up na, P6.14 was just too much to fuss over!!
There is one thing I really liked about this resort though, the staff were pleasant and nice -despite my yakity yak (or because of??).  Rianna, Charo, Jeff (the shuttle driver), the concierge peeps and the housekeeping guys were very nice.  Yeah!

The resort, well, I'll come back when its all done, maybe.  And I'll bring a mattress.  Perhaps, if you're a golfer or a gambler, it would be perfect and you wouldn't care about the pool or the beach or the food...

For more photos, see here