This is a true story.... no exaggeration, no sugar coating, just plain truth....
From the eyes of a customer... straight from experience....
This is not intended to ruin anyone's business whatsoever.... just wanted to help you out coz its for your own's sake
April 1, 2010
After like two weeks of waiting for this much awaited break... you see... we have a little business operating in a mall... it means im working 7 days a week... even Christmas and major holidays...
here in the Philippines... mall operates almost forever... except for Maundy Thursday and Good Friday. So you can just imagine how excited i am for this vacation.... just two days of no work... nothing but a quick R&R moment and some fun and adventure....
my blood is rushing with a thought of it a few days before that day....
i was with my mom... my yaya... peggy (cousin) and mai (friend)... even my friend was thrilled.... we took off from home (cavite) to batangas at around 8am... we thought since we CHECKED the map in the RESORT website... we estimated that we will be travelling for more or less 4 hours... just in time for the usual check in.
According to the MAP... the resort was quite easy to reach... and the photos in the website was amazing... we really couldnt help smiling just the thought of it...
so we head off... knowing that we left a bit early we even grabbed breakfast in the way.... had a coffee and some pastries....
so after that... off we went.... driving on a perfect day... just a little bit of sunshine... good weather... NICE
by the time we reached the so called town where the resort was located.... we got hungry... so we grabbed lunch at Mcdo.... knowing we are just a few minutes away...we could spare a few minutes...
after lunch... we went on with our trip. This is where everything started (well everything that sucks started....)
I called up the resort to ask for directions since the map is a bit confusing.... now that we are actually facing the roads and it doesnt look a bit like the MAP...
They gave out this landmark... BAUAN GENERAL HOSPITAL... so we searched for this.... we went in circles even made it to the little eskinita beside the port area... this was awful... we got sad for our sedan coz the road was a mess... holes, potholes everywhere....
then we felt like this is gotta be a huge mistake... i called up the resort... and like after 20 times of calling... some one finally answered telling us the same land mark.. this time i got pissed off.... I TOLD THEM THAT THERE ARE ACTUALLY TWO HOSPITALS.... one is BAUAN GENERAL HOSPITAL and the other is BAUAN DOCTORS GENERAL HOSPITAL...
after having a dialogue with the resort staff/person... i found out they were leading us the wrong landmark... they said BAUAN GENERAL HOSPITAL well in fact they should have said we were supposed to be riding along BAUAN DOCTORS GENERAL HOSPITAL....
so we had to turn back and look for that RIGHT hospital....
by the time we finally saw the hospital... we called them up again....
as per whoever i was speaking to.... i have to go to the road leading to MABINI then look for Sta Maria then when we get to SAN PEDRO bridge we have to turn right.... the ill just pass some hills... and shortly we will be at the resort already.
I asked if there are signs that we could look for... like resort posters or streamers... you know what i got for an answer? YES WE HAVE BUT UNFORTUNATELY ITS BLOCKED.... wow... just wow... thank you for even pointing me to BLOCKED streamer... now i have to search every blocked streamers to see if it was the resort's
so i just laughed sarcastically and just ended the call...
we were able to reach the san pedro bridge... we made right and let out a huge sigh... at last... a few more minutes....
we were WRONG... that seem to be HILLS... were actually mountains... we had to climb and go down and turn along this rocky and sandy road... our poor passengers had to get out of the car to lessen weight... the car was crawling.... and exhausted... and so we are....
MAI was on fire... I was steaming... and all of us were hungry...
after like 20 to 30 minutes of road disaster... i called up again to inform them that we are almost there and they could pick us up at the parking like what they promised.
when we got there we were surprised.. shocked... jaw dropped.
parking was for public use... meaning all the guests of all the resorts park there and there was a parking fee of 100... (according to the sign)
we had no choice... we parked our ca.. got our things and waited... then another shocking moment.
WE WERE PICKED UP at the PARKING SITE... with a BOAT... yes a freakin boat.
its either we walk a long stretch of beach side under the sun with all our things or we risk all our things of getting wet on board.
we chose the boat... praying for our things to stay dry. i brought my laptop... so i was praying really hard.
when we got to the resort... i thought it will be okay... in all fairness... the resort was clean... white sand... music... the resort restaurant and reception area was nice... there was a pool...
and our room... it was actually cute and nice... two beds (we just got an extra mattress) then had air conditioner, fan and the design was cute... i thought... at least... this wAS NICE
mai planned to take a nap first.... she was tired... i was tired too... so we just lounged there at our room... feeling the goodness of being in a vacation. conditioning ourselves for relaxation mode.
then... power shut down.... we felt like in a sauna.... steam.. hot.... argh....
we quickly got dressed and just decided to have a dip... i so wanted to swim and feel the ocean... then by the time we got to the shore... i jogged towards the sea... so excited!!!
BOOM... after just a few steps.. the shore was filled with coral (ouch to my feet), ROCKS and weeds... (eeeeeeewwwwwwwwwwww eeeeeeeeekkkkkkkk)
i turned around and walked in disgust.... headed to the pool... to just satisfy my craving to just swim...
to the pool!!! i said... then we all dived in.... (or stepped in coz we couldnt really dive the shallow pool)
then this resort staff approached us... ENTRANCE FEE for the pool? why? isnt that supposed to be included already in the accommodation?
FINE! I WILL PAY JUST LEAVE ME ALONE and let me be and let me have fun already!
but the pool couldnt really satisfy me.. i wanted to swim... salt water... ocean... sea... fish... corals.... i wanted it all....
by dinner time... we went to the restaurant and also... asked for the boat ride...
hmmm i dont know which one to tell you first... but okay here it goes...
first we ordered dinner (we didnt bring any food coz theres corkage fee) ....
the food there was expensive... we thought it was for share.... but NO... solo meal starts at 190. so maybe it was because of the exquisite taste...
we ordered chicken barbecue with side dish and rice... mai got the carbonara... YUM
or so we thought.... preparation time? almost two hours (im not joking)
then the food??? i should have eaten raw chicken. it was awful and so LITTLE... was that chicken? or maya?
Carbonara? just plain EEEEEEEEEEEEEEWWWWWWWWWW
oh by the way.... boat ride costs P2800 for 15 people... so what should the guests do if we were just 5 in a group?
RESORT SUGGESTION: Go out... look for a local boat man... (bangkero) and deal with them.
argh.... good service ei?
after dinner we got so pissed that all we wanted to do was to get out from that place... after dinner guess what we did... we SLEPT and hope tomorrow would rush in...
early that morning.... PEGGY got up early to search for a bangkero... luckily she did... we ordered breakfast.. well as a consolation... the breakfast was good ( made us think we should have ordered breakfast at dinner) but we got served with it after an hour!
after that at 9am... we went to the fish sanctuary...
this part of the trip actually made it worth while...
fishes were swimming around.... grabbing a piece of the bread were giving out.... amazing... God made nature so great... i couldnt get tired of it....
then with a smile on our faces... we headed back to the resort... NICE! it was almost time for check out, we had to take a quick shower first.... MAI was first... while we all wait for her... we decided to swim at the pool... then this happened...
MAI yelling from our room terrace... (or window... i dunno whats that called) WALANG TUBIG!!!!
wow... we called the attention of one female staff about it and did you know what she said? GO LOOK FOR A MALE STAFF AND TELL HIM ABOUT IT... wow... another good service... so i told her... DIDNT I TOLD YOU ABOUT IT? SO YOU SHOULD TELL YOUR MALE STAFF ABOUT IT.
after so many minutes... we finally got an answer why there was no water... the resort tank was not enough to supply all guests.... and now were soaked in a mixture of salt and pool water... almost dried.. waiting for water... till MAI totally lost her patience and asked the resort owner if we could just wash off at the pool side shower....
we shampooed our hair right then and there....
NICE
after SORT OF cleaning up ourselves...
we checked out... rode the boat... then to the parking site....
then another WOW... according to the sign overnight parking was 100... turned out it was 150... but we had no energy to argue.... we paid them and left....
Now to the rocky "HILLS"
THIS SHALL SERVE AS A WAKE UP CALL FOR RESORT OWNERS AND/OR OPERATORS....
Guests save up, prepare and look forward for vacations... they trust you that you give us the R&R we need.... we trusted you to give us service that YOU said youll offer.... we wouldnt expect something from you if you didnt put it out on your ADS, your WEBSITES or even through your booking agents....
IT IS NOT ENOUGH THAT YOU HAVE A ROOF BESIDE THE BEACH... you need to feed them good if youre gonna ask for that much... you need to give them power... (we didnt get the aircon room to stare at the equipment... we plan to use it too)... and we need water...(not because we are already beside the beach that we dont need it anymore... SALT WATER is far different from what we daily use... ) and do not mislead your guests... do not present your resort to be accessible... you need to present the truth one way or another.... but make sure you give them a good service to make the travel worth it...
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