It has been our family tradition to go on vacation during our anniversary. We figured celebrating outside the comforts of our home would be the best way for us to commemorate an additional year to our marriage. Normally, these vacations are planned two to three months before our anniversary. However, this year, our careers took center stage and spending our anniversary on a vacation cannot happen.
We don’t want to just eat out in our anniversary though. Hey, its another year of blissful marriage and this needs a celebration other than eating out (which is a must too). So we decided to have a staycation in the place close to home but still feels another place – Tagaytay.
Taal Vista Hotel is the only hotel in Tagaytay we eyed for a staycation. The place looks luxurious in their website, it offers great facilities, and there are a lot of nice reviews online. The only set back is the price. Taal Vista is quite pricey with an overnight stay starting at Php6200 during weekends. Good thing there’s SM Advantage! They have a promo of Php5500 during weekends with buffet breakfast for SM Advantage members (BDO Rewards included). We grabbed this promo and spent our anniversary weekend at Taal Vista Hotel.
Upon arrival at Taal Vista Hotel, we went directly to the reception area and chose to pay our bill upon check in (you have the option to settle your bill upon check out). Since we paid upfront, the reservations did not ask for a security deposit. This is something new to me as in every hotel we stayed at, we were always asked for security deposit.
The room we booked is a deluxe room at the Lake Wing (this is the new wing added to Taal Vista Hotel, the older wing is called the Mountain Wing). We were lucky since we have the Sky Ranch as the view as opposed to the other side which has the corridor view. Taal Vista is a big hotel spreading horizontally – so you have to walk a lot. But you wouldn’t mind this as the weather is very cool and the view of the Taal lake is very nice.
Now let’s start rating our stay.
Room – 4.5 out of 5. Taal Vista Hotel spells luxury. Our room, even if it is just a deluxe one, is very gorgeous. It has a view of the Sky Ranch and if you lean a little to the right, you can have a slight view of Taal lake. It has a king size bed and a day bed (perfect for Neo), an LED television, mini fridge (with complimentary water as content), work desk, electric kettle with complimentary coffee, a chair that can hold your belongings. It has a cabinet that has slippers, iron and ironing board, and safety deposit box. They offer bathrobes upon request (but the bathrobes are really old and worn out ☹). The room has a big book containing all the places in Tagaytay a tourist wants to visit along with how far it is from Taal Vista. The room has a separate toilet and bath (without bathtub, and I really love bathtubs in hotels… ☹) with complete toiletries from Natur (I love the ginger scent!). This room would have been perfect if it has a bathtub and the bathrobes were not worn out.
Amenities – 4.5 out of 5. Taal Vista Hotel has superb amenities and facilities. It has one of the best Taal Lake viewing deck I’ve seen, which I think made it so popular. It has restaurants inside: The Veranda and Taza. It has a gym, a kid’s area, swimming pool, and spa services. Every facility is well maintained. The only slight issue I have (which the hotel cannot do something about) is the location of the swimming pool. The swimming pool is located at the Mountain Wing. So, if you will stay at the Lake Wing, just like us, it is quite a very long walk. To go to the Mountain Wing from the Lake Wing, you will pass by the reception or viewing deck which has a lot of guests (in house or not). So better make sure you are wearing covers in your swimming attires, lest people will think you are modeling 😛
Staff – 4.5 out of 5. Taal Vista Hotel’s staffs are courteous, helpful and nice. They offer smiles to every person, guests or not. This is not just the in-house staffs, but also the guards. Every request we make through house keeping or reception are always given to us, in a prompt manner. However, the receptionist assigned to us when we were checking in (and she was the same one assigned to us when we were checking out), isn’t quite as confident in her task. Every question I asked would always be replied with a blank stare and an approach to her colleague relaying my question. I think she’s just new.
Food – 5 out of 5. We had our buffet breakfast at The Veranda. You will have the option of dining inside the restaurant or outside with a view of the Taal Lake. We would love to dine outside but every table has occupants (sayang, nahuli kami!). The Veranda offers a wide variety of food choices – with minimal selection. Am I relaying this to you right? Here’s a better explanation, The Veranda offers Filipino, American, and a little bit of Japanese dishes; it has a salad station, a noodle station, egg station, bread and pancakes, cereals, dessert, and everything you like for breakfast. But all these stations have 4 to 5 choices of food items only. Plenty of food variety but minimal selection in each variety. This is one of the best breakfast buffet we had – and even Neo ate too much. 😊
Location – 5 out of 5. Taal Vista has one of the best locations in Tagaytay. Having the best view of Taal Lake would be the number one factor. But it is not just that. Taal Vista is walking distance away Sky Ranch (it also offers discounted rates to Sky Ranch and a gate leading directly inside Sky Ranch from 9AM to 6PM). Taal Vista is also in front of Casino Filipino.
Value for Money – 4.7 out of 5. Taal Vista Hotel is a posh hotel. It has a good location, superb amenities, helpful and courteous staffs, and excellent dining. It may be a little pricey, but it sure is worth every penny.
Our anniversary staycation at Taal Vista Hotel was a very memorable one. We may not have spent it on a vacation but having a staycation in Taal Vista Hotel made that day an extraordinary one. So if you’re planning to celebrate something and do a staycation at Tagaytay, I highly recommend Taal Vista Hotel.
Disclaimer: We paid for our accommodation at Taal Vista Hotel and all opinions are mine.
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