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Tuesday, April 21, 2009

off to Batangas ...

for our summer get-away.

Instead of going to Boracay or Cebu, we've decided to go somewhere near and closer to home. And as we do cost saving measures this time, I've decided to bring the family to one of the premium resort in Laiya, Batangas. Tentative date end of April or 3rd week of May. My only problem, I heard the husband the other day doing some travel arrangements for Europe. Not sure yet if he will leave this coming May, but definitely he will leave for UK anytime this year. Anyway, going back to the Laiya resort, I browsed the web and checked the accommodation rates. Kinda steep for a Laiya resort, but I heard the place really nice and with brand new facilities. With infinity edge pool, excellent dive sites, jacuzzi and breath-taking beach view ... really a haven! Do check out http://www.acuaticoresort.com.ph/ for more details.



And for our annual teambuilding, we're off to the famous dive spot in Batangas, Anilao. We are booked this coming Friday and Saturday to Sombria Anilao (http://www.sombria.com.ph/). We reserved the entire resort for our team as we look forward to spending quality bonding time with our family on this day. More pictures and kwento to follow.

11 comments:

Aggie said...

Waaaah Jacqui inggit ako! Tell me how it goes ha. Super type na type ko sya from the pics!

Tinggay said...

jacqui ako din! parang ang ganda ng lugar!! let us know how the accommodation and service is :)enjoy!!

jody said...

I saw the pics nga from Aggie's blog before. I checked it also. Ang mahal nga lang ng accommodation, parang boracay resorts na! pero mukhang ok nga sya. a friend went there this summer, ganda nga daw. kaya naginquire din ako sa kanila before. problem, di kami makakuha ng date when kami libre.

Kitty said...

hi Jacqui! Acuatico is really nice!!! We were there just last week... sarap! As you said the rates are a bit steep but worth it sya puntahan. Sam will enjoy the pool. If you're up to it try renting a banca to take you to the sanctuary to do some snorkeling. Nice experience. My son even enjoyed it too. Di sya natakot even if it's open water. Kung pwede lang kita kwentuhan dito e... he he he... pero I'm sure you'll have fun.

Jacqui said...

Hi Aggie,

Not sure if I'll be going to acuatico na end of April or 1st week of May. I was told naka-pila ako sa waitlisted. Tipong pang-22nd pa ako! Kainis noh?! Basta buo weekend ng May mahaba pila. Ka-frustrate kasi si Mike di pwede weekdays, yun open pa daw.

But, I was able to reserve for my bday na lang ... June 12-13. Heard really good review about acuatico kaya medyo excited din ako to go here.

Yun sombria, tomorrow na kami lalakad. Balitaan kita dito.

Jacqui said...

Nikki,

Yup super nice nga daw acuatico kaya I want to bring the kids here. Parang tipid version ng boracay di ba! Hehehe!

If you plan to go here, naku mag-book ka na. Fully-booked na entire weekend ng April and May. Pila as in. Hehehe!

Jacqui said...

Hi Jody,

Ako din, last March nag-inquire. Like you problem ko din sked. Dami kasi Bayan events din, sabay pa ng magulo sked ni Mike. Hahaha!

Kaya I ended up reserving for my birthday, June. Bahala na. If ever, next summer na lang tayo punta. If type mo, as ealr as december pa-book na tayo with MBAPs. Hehehe!

Jacqui said...

Hi Kitty,

You're lucky nakapag-acuatico na kayo. Hirap mag-book! I guess kasi late na ako naghanap ng alternative options/place than Boracay.

Heard nice reviews nga about Acuatico, kaya excited ako. Will try to do yun boat ride suggestion mo. Mukhang fun nga yun!

Jacqui said...

Hi Kitty,

You're lucky nakapag-acuatico na kayo. Hirap mag-book! I guess kasi late na ako naghanap ng alternative options/place than Boracay.

Heard nice reviews nga about Acuatico, kaya excited ako. Will try to do yun boat ride suggestion mo. Mukhang fun nga yun!

Mich said...

wow! kainggit! di ko kaya rates dito. LOL. sarap ba food nila?

How are you buntis? :)

Anonymous said...

Factual, firsthand experience with Sombria:
A bunch of us (14 pax) reserved 2 rooms at this resort. We paid 3 weeks in advance the amount of P5,500. As things go, half backed out and so that left just 7 of us who wanted to go on with our outing. As soon as we had the final headcount we called up Sombria and told them that we would just be getting 1 room. This was more than a week before our outing. Well, this is when things got sour. In spite of the fact that there is NOTHING AT ALL IN THEIR TERMS AND CONDITIONS which mentions that we have to pay for all the rooms we reserved for, Angelica Aquino told us that we have to get both rooms or else forfeit our deposit. Wow. We politely asked for reconsideration. We even offered to upgrade to a cabana so that they could rent out the main house. Angelica said that both cabanas were taken. So we requested again if we could just get 1 room. To no avail. We told her that they were “mahirap kausap” and she got mad and raised her voice and said that no way were they “mahirap kausap”. Ok fine, whatever you say Angelica. She even had the nerve to tell us “magkano lang naman yung P5,000”, as if money was so easy to find. If it’s that easy to find, how come she’s insisting on letting us rent 2 rooms?! Of course we did not let the issue go. After all our hard earned money was on the line and we had already paid enough for 1 room. After a week, we get a text that we could have our outing but WE HAD TO CHANGE OUR DATE because as their general rule, they do not rent out the rooms on weekends. They usually rent out the whole resort. Why in the first place did they accept our reservation (which was a Saturday)!!? And to tell us to change our date???? Kudos to such excellent customer service! To cut a long story short, after much hassle, Angelica agreed to refund our money. Which we were happy to get because after such shabby treatment, nobody wanted to go to their resort anymore. However, up to this time 8/27/09 6:54am, OUR REFUND HAS YET TO BE DEPOSITED TO OUR ACCOUNT. We have repeatedly called and texted them. Now Angelica is threatening to SUE US!!! The nerve! She said we are harassing them!! She said we have falsified documents. Huh??!! In short, she is refusing to give us our money back, despite the fact that she told us she would. She has really achieved the height of unprofessionalism. We urge everyone to stay clear of this resort and its management, unless you too want have the same experience we are having.