Mystery Critic
The Best Restaurants Out There - And Much More!
|
|
Plantation Bay Resort and Spa, Cebu, Philippines GENERAL Philippines is not known to have huge resorts the way Thailand and Bali do; however, Plantation Bay is definitely an exception. It's HUGE! It's laid out like a true beach resort and it has all the usual facilities, from beach (a SMALL one!) to tennis to spa to kids club. But the real asset of this property is its footage of lagoons that are really swimming pools, which is truly unique and spectacular. There's so much to do here and around here that I wish we staying for one week instead of four days.... LAGOON / POOL - I have NEVER, EVER in my life seen a resort with such a gigantic area set aside for swimming and playing with water. Almost all lagoons there are swimmable and they are all different too - from various depth to fresh/salty to added fun like bar or slides - even a children-free area! Most of them easily accessible from the rooms too. Just a spectacular design by a genius. Spa - They have a truly awesome spa. The facility is beautiful and service is top, top notch. Slightly pricier than day spas but what the heck, you don't come to this spa every week. Service - Hospitality is at its best here. Very, very friendly and helpful staff, relatively quick service considering the area size of the resort AND everytime we ask for something they have to climb up to 3rd floor. Family-Friendliness - Super duper cool if you bring half a dozen people with you. Check out the end of the review.
CON AGE, or at least the appearance of aging - I would believe you if you told me the Spanish Conquistadores built this resort in the 16th century. It looks and feels old and worn out. Our room looks and feels old and all furnitures are squeaking. Bed sheets and pillows are shoggy. Windows rattle when a car drives by. Need I say more? Location - I wish it's slightly closer to Cebu, but it's practically at the other end of Mactan, kind of far from Cebu. BTW, Cebu is a wonderful city, full of culture and history, and pretty decent food. It's a must-do if you are in the Philippines! Restaurants / Food - I almost never complain about food at a resort or hotel because WHAT would you expect anyways.... But when you are stuck at an hour from real civilization and you can't just get a taxi at the gate, the resort better has decent food!! It's not bad, but given they are Cebuanos I expect a big more feasts rather than simple buffets with sleepy cooks who kept on saying "we ran out of this and that." BTW, the cooks do sing well. Noisy - Alright, so this one is not totally within their control.... The walls aren't that thick and surprise surprise, a ton of people came here to party. Music in the air almost ALL the time. We can also hear young Koreans having a good time in our "community pool" late at night (thought they had curfew for the pools). Beach - Another VERY tricky one..... They don't really have a REAL beach. It's a man-made strip of sand enough for about ten people. Then again, if you take a boat ride out in an hour you get to be on spectacular beaches or even more spectacular diving spots with live coral and a ton of fish.... OVERALL Plantation Bay and other travel websites are making a HUGE deal that it was selected to be on Conde Nast's top 25 resorts in Asia. I guess the judges either never went there or they didn't stay in my room! The truth is that this resort is indeed an amazing destination itself and you can experience the vision and inguinuity of its owners, BUT it's simply too old, too poorly maintained and too logistically-challenged to be a top-rated 5-star world-class resort. Bottomline? You and your family will have a fun and memorable time like we do if you stay there. Family-Friendliness Rating:  (out of 5) Pro - I almost cannot think of anything that is not family-friendly except our 3rd floor room without elevator - but only the parents were complaining.... The large family rooms are awesome and there's soooo much to do for small kids. Con - Nothing major. Few more real water slides might help to keep the older children happy.
|
