Photo Op: The Royal Mandaya Hotel

The Royal Mandaya Hotel is a 175-room hotel located in the downtown of Davao City. With its convenient location in the heart of the city, different tourist spots of the province are easily accessible. From the airport, it was a 30-minute drive to the hotel.

the reception area

an exhibit to "honor" the Mandaya tribe  

restaurant on the ground floor

room upon check in

turned down bed cover on my second day

For more information, please click here the view Royal Mandaya Hotel's website.

Back in Fort Ilocandia

I'm back in Fort Ilocandia Hotel in Laoag in Ilocos Norte to attend to some urgent business matters. We took the Cebu Pacific flight and arrived here at past 9 o'clock last night. Immediately, we met with our host for a quick briefing and some late dinner.

When I woke up this morning, I immediately stepped out onto the veranda to check my surroundings. This time around, I had a view of the pool. 

After breakfast, I ventured out to the part I wasn't able to see the last time I was here.

Fort Ilocandia's lap pool

After our meeting (which extended to a late lunch), I decided against exploring more of the ground and went back to my room as I couldn't stand the heat.

I stayed inside my room, glancing every now and then at the window to catch a glimpse of the sunset skyline. Alas, it wasn't meant to be. It was already 6pm and it was time to head to the airport to catch our flight back to Manila.

But just before checking out, I chanced upon this sight which was but a fitting end to a quick business trip that went well.

Photo Op: Pueblo Por La Playa

After our lunch in Silangang Nayon, we proceeded to the very colorful resort just a couple of hundred meters away. 

My Spanish boss translated the resort's name and said that  Pueblo por la Playa is Town by the Beach in English. 

It is a Mexican-themed residential and country club nestled on the coast of Pagbilao Bay in Quezon. 

For our "survey", we were first brought to the restaurant. I stepped outside and took a picture of this sight:

view of the hotel and the infinity pool

Next, we were ushered into the receiving area of the resort where the function rooms and 14 hotels rooms were located. We were also greeted by this view:

 picturesque infinity pool

We took a short tour of the building and I found the hotel corridor to be very colorful.

the festive-colored hotel corridor

We also viewed a couple of rooms but my pics aren't nice :(  But before I forget, here are the other shots I took:

view of the beach from the parking lot

Pueblo por la Playa as viewed from Silangang Nayon Restaurant

The resort is strictly for members only (or member-sponsored guests). According to the club and resort manager, a lifetime membership pass can be had for Php 300k.

For more information, click here to view their website.

Photo Op: The Sulo Riviera Hotel in Lucena City, Quezon

In most cases during our business trips, we do a "survey" of a hotel which simply means we take a look at a typical room layout. Sometimes, I tag along with our technical guys and I get my photo opportunity ;)

One such hotel that we recently surveyed was The Sulo Riviera in Lucena in Quezon. It is located in front of the Grand Terminal, a few meters off the Diversion Road of the National Highway.

I got the chance to check out the rooms on the second floor.

View of the hotel lobby from the second floor

Ambassador Queen Room for Php 3,500 per night

Ambassador King Room for Php 4,000 per night

... with a view of this pool

The Executive Suite 

... with its own sitting room ...

... and garden view

Regular Room

Regular Twin Room

All rooms are equipped with air conditioner, hot and cold shower, and cable TV. Complimentary breakfast for two is also part of the package.

The other facilities of the hotel are a restaurant (located near the pool and garden areas), function rooms, a wave pool and a Victorian-garden.

Victorian-inspired garden is a great venue for weddings

The wave pool boasts of a maximum capacity of 1,500 persons (whoa!)

To know more about their rates, click here to check out their website. For inquiries or reservations, their numbers are (042) 660-5400, (02) 250-8319 and (02) 584-4276.

On The Road Once More

I'm here right now where the air is cool and pine trees abound.

Business Trip to Palawan

I'm off once again on another business trip. Destination this time: Puerto Princesa, Palawan.

This is where we are staying

Wish I was in this guy's shoes though ...

Sigh.

Road Trip to Laoag

Our last business trip took us on a road trip to Laoag. It was sort of unexpected, as the original plan was for us to leave Monday night. However, due to conflicting schedules, we left Manila last Thursday night and drove to Laoag for 10 hours.

We reached the Fort Ilocandia Hotel at 5am on Friday. I was the only girl in our group and got my own room:

We freshened up and proceeded to a breakfast meeting at the hotel. After about an hour or so, I rested for 30 minutes and we were off again to another meeting. I was finally able to get some much needed zzzzzz's at 4pm until about dinner time at 8pm. Our group retired early for the night.

I woke up early on Saturday morning, with the sun just about to set. I opened the curtains and saw this view:

I stepped out to the veranda and took advantage of the tranquility.

After breakfast, I was able to take a few shots:

and take a quick look at the mini zoo:

Fort Ilocandia Hotel is highly recommended for families. There is everything for everyone here. No one will surely get bored. They have numerous facilities and offer various activities ranging from archery, billiards, shooting range, paintball, horseback riding, all terrain vehicle and even hot air balloon riding. They also have a casino and 2 different bars inside the property. Their golf course is located about 10 minutes away.

(Shameless plug: The hotel now offers free WiFi access to their guests.)

That afternoon, we took a short drive to Paoay

and had a late lunch at Herencia Cafe, which is right across the famous Paoay Church. The restaurant has an old Filipino ambiance, with antique wooden furniture. What caught my attention was that some of the table legs were actually that of antique sewing machines. We ordered the restaurant's Ilocandia Pasta and Ilocandia Pizza. The pasta was so-so, but I loved the thin crust pizza topped with slices of Ilocos longganisa

Herencia Cafe also serves the famous Pinakbet Pizza, but our group wasn't brave enough to try it, haha.

We went back to the hotel in time for another meeting. Afterwards, we were all drained and homesick. We had a couple of beers that night and ordered Crispy Pata for pulutan.

On Sunday morning, we finalized the renegotiated deal and fine details. We checked out of the hotel at 11am. We were finally going home!

A road trip to Ilocos would not be complete without a stop to Vigan

We had empanada and okoy for lunch

I also bought Vigan Longganisa and Royal Bibingka as pasalubong for my girls.

To avoid the traffic in San Fernando, La Union, we took a diversion road which winded just before the turn to Poro Point on the other side of the road. Our next stop for a quick cigarette break was on the side of the road somewhere in La Union

We made another stop in Rosario, La Union to gas up and stretch our legs. We decided to stick to the National Highway rather than take the alternate route in Pangasinan as it was getting dark. Luckily, Urdaneta in Pangasinan was not congested with traffic. For dinner, we stopped in Caltex along the North Luzon Expressway (NLEX). We were shocked with all the people who were there. The parking lots and restaurants were all full. We wanted to dine at Razon's but the line was too long and there were no vacant tables. We settled for Kenny Roger's Roasters instead. Because we were all homesick, we lamented that the other people were about to end their weekend while ours were just about to start ... boohoo.

I finally got home at 11pm. It was a 12 hour trip back.