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
