A Day at Villa Escudero

Everyone needs a quick respite from the stresses of city life and what better way to do that is to travel. Well apart from committing to fixed schedule because of your airfare and accommodations, one also has to alot atleast 3 days to be able to enjoy the destination. Well, a good alternative is doing staycations (which I like) or a day trip to the many destinations near the metro.

Not that far from the city (a good 2 hour drive) is Villa Escudero. I know the place has been there for quite some time and I always see pictures of people eating at the foot of their famous waterfall so this made me want to check it out too.

For people bring their cars, the entrance to the resort is immediately after the arc welcoming you to Tiaong. Also the sign is quite small, my dad wasn’t even sure if we were at the right way since it’s not paved and there’s just an abundance of coconut trees on either side. Well after 5 minutes we did reach the gate welcoming us.

Villa Escudero offers accommodations for those who want to stay a night or two and just unplug. They also have a day tour package (which we availed) where you can enjoy all the amenities the resort has to offer.

Day Tour package includes:

• Welcome Drink
• Carabao Ride
• Museum Tour
• Lunch at the Waterfalls
• Use of the outdoor recreational activities

It’s best to make reservations or try and book online prior to your visit. I called in Sunday (plus points since you can make inquiries during the weekend over the phone) and since we were dropping by on a Monday, we were advised we could walk-in. Since I was with my parents, they were able to avail the 20% senior citizen discount on the day tour rates.

The welcoming drink (I hope they’d offer a bigger glass next time) was a refreshing cold gulaman juice.  

After getting our bags, first stop was the museum tour. The pink cathedral like building can already be seen once you enter the resort. Outside the museum is a beautiful landscaped garden complete with a fountain that adds charm and appeal to the place.

No bags and photography allowed inside but you can check your stuff outside (ofcourse make sure to bring your valuables with you).

 The private museum has 2 levels and houses many different artefacts and items. The 1^st level has many religious items as well as life sized saints on display. There’s also a collection of different butterfly specimens on display as well as other small Philippine wildlife. There is also some diorama of different Philippine sceneries together with Philippine artefacts. The 2^nd level displays a collection of old vases, china, and other artefacts together with a collection of traditional Filipino clothing.

 After the museum tour (which took me about 15 – 20 minutes), we had our Carabao ride going to the resort grounds. It was a leisurely ride and together with a guitarist and a singer playing Filipino folk songs, it made the country side feel of the resort complete. It’s actually a 2-5 minute walk (depends on how fast) from the reception area/museum to the resort grounds.

Lunch buffet starts at 11AM so first order of business was to eat! The famous waterfall of Villa Escudero is actually a small hydroelectric power plant and they turned the base into a dining area. There’s again a check-in counter to leave your bags as well as also a shoe rack where you can leave your shoes.

I must say, in pictures, the dining area looks big (probably just a matter of perspective of how the photo was taken). When I got there, it was relatively small. Word of caution, it is slippery and since it’s a river (ankle deep) there will be uneven flooring. The water cool and refreshing and would be nice on hot summer days.

For the buffet lunch, we had grilled tilapia, grilled liempo, lechon manok, beef caldereta as well as string beans adobo. There are sides like alamang, chopped tomatoes as well as achara. For dessert, there’s bananacue, watermelon and rambutan. Drinks aren’t included and are paid separately.

The food matched the ambiance (like grilled food is a nice combo while eating with your bare hands by the river). I liked the grilled liempo (ofcourse) as well as the caldereta, and I had second servings of both. Lechon manok was a little dry and the string beans a little overcooked. Bananacue was really good (I liked that it was covered with a lot of sugar, haha). The fruits were a treat.

After a very filling lunch, we were ready to relax and swim. Villa Escudero has 3 swimming pools for every age. There’s a kiddie pool complete with a little playground, another one, let’s call it a teen pool (hahaha) complete with a waterfall detail, and the adult pool (no kids allowed) which had several Jacuzzis.

Lockers are available at the shower areas to keep your valuables. Also, there’s café that serves coffees and snacks so you can have a quick perk me up or bite while poolside. Ample seating can be found around the pool areas (but I’m guessing during weekends it gets full).

I like the pools as well as the gardens surrounding it. The seating areas are shaded, perfect for just lounging, reading a book or just to people watch. The weather was unpredictable that day (mostly cloudy) but the gloomy weather didn’t stop us from having relaxing time. The adult pool had loungers so you can lie down at the pool and just relax.

Part of the package was the bamboo rafting however we weren’t able to do that anymore since we were pre-occupied with just lounging at the pool.

Ofcourse a trip wouldn’t be complete without getting something from the gift shop that sells different native handicrafts as well as goodies. One thing I got though was our souvenir photo while we were at the Carabao ride (costs Php 200).

I must say for the Php 1100 package price (price varies per month, visit the website for updates), it was value for money. All in all, our trip to Villa Escudero was an enjoyable one. It definitely served its purpose, a quick getaway to relax and re-energize. Will definitely come back and maybe this time, stay for a night.

For more information, visit www.villaescudero.com.

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