Our initial plan was a resort with pool in Puerto Galera. But due to the rescheduling of my company's major product release and the bad weather in the past week, we let go of our first choice, and started looking for a place closer to Manila. We came up with a short list covering Tagaytay, Batangas, and Rizal. After several inquiries and my backing up, I convinced him to convince Nay to try Club Manila East. I was positive that Gabi, Nay, and Giselle would enjoy because I had seen the place during my Trend Micro years.
So it was a CME trip for Gabi's birthday last June 10.
Travel Mug:
From Robinsons Galleria, we rode a GLiner Bus going to Taytay, Rizal. After an hour, the driver dropped us at the main gate of Club Manila East. Since the resort strictly prohibits bringing of food inside, we decided to eat lunch first before going in. After a swift Chowking meal, we headed to the jeepney mini-terminal at the gate, and made a short ride to the main resort.
The place is definitely huge. It is designed to cater corporate events, family affairs, and other group activities. Aside from pools, CME has function rooms for conferences, conventions, parties, and other occasions. It also provides a 2-hour basic surfing lesson for P1,500 inclusive of the surfboard, instructor, and pool entrance.
- Cabanas - P2,500
- Huts - P2,000
- Beach View Cabin - P2,200
- Picnic Area or tents - P310
For overnight stay, guests can stay at one of the following villas:
- Doña Luz Villa - P3,300 (up to five persons)
- Don Renato Villa - P3,050 (two persons only)
CME also boasts the following oversized water facilities:
- Beach Waves
- Ocean Waves
- Easy River
- Lap Pool (for swimming lessons and training)
- Kiddie Pool with waterfalls and fountains (part of Fun Lagoon)
- Adult Pool with a giant 3-looped slide (part of Fun Lagoon)
- Boating area for kayaking (part of Fun Lagoon)
- Sun-screened Pool (part of Fun Lagoon)
- Bean-shaped pool
We weren't able to try the Lap Pool, Easy River and Ocean Waves, which only opens during weekends and holidays. Oh, guests are required to wear proper swimming attire. When we were there, those guests wearing something made of cotton, like shirts and shorts, had been requested by the lifeguards to leave the pool. That was a downer.
The resort has only one in-house restaurant that operates from 6AM until 9PM. But there are other available booths, like Jollibee, Chowking, Shakeys and Itallianni's. These booths, however, close at 6PM. As expected, the price of most items skyrockets by more than 100% inside the resort. Even the cake has a corkage fee of P50 for small and P100 for big.
Our food allowance per person: P100 (per snack, twice), P130 (per dinner, once), free breakfast!
Another not so-hot thing about the place is the customer service. I think they need more improvement in that department. The staff were not so snappy. We needed to ask (or wonder) first for some basic things, like someone who would usher us to our villa or a printout of their restaurant's menu for room delivery. I think, it would help if they could provide some sort of "freshmen kit", which contains a visual map of the whole resort, the opening and closing schedules of some pools, booths and the resto, and some suggested activities, to every registered guest (or in every room).
How many bean stamps?
8 out of 10.
Our kiddo was so enthusiastic the whole time. Nay and Giselle liked the place, especially our room. My buddy had several "great hug" moments with Gabi. I was trigger-happy on the first day, and enjoyed the beach waves on the second day. And I didn't notice that I would be taking a very, very long weekend. :D
*****
Happy birthday, Gabi! Love every bouncy bit of you.
And thanks for my neat SuperProxy tee, buddy ko. :-)
No comments:
Post a Comment