swimming pools

Costiera Garden Resort Malabon

July 11, 2019 / Filed Under: family, Malabon, resorts, swimming, swimming pools, travels

Summer may be over but it’s not over yet for me because I am not yet done in sharing what happened during “OUR” Summer. Sunflower theme naman kami dito.

After our Bolinao, Pangasinan vacay, we made reservations naman to a nearby resort in Dampalit, Malabon called Costiera Garden Resort. Isang tumbling lang from home and it’s a fairly new resort that’s frequented by all those who live nearby.

It’s open to everyone, you just have to pay an entrance fee ( ₱150/person) and rent a cottage for, like, ₱500 and you can go swimming in the heart of CaMaNaVa area. It has a small area at the back with a fairly large swimming pool which you can rent if you want a place all for your family. That’s what we rented for ₱15,000 the whole day. Medyo mahal ano?

It came with a private bathroom and an airconditioned place to sleep which has 6 small beds..

This is the view of the pool from up above the terrace… ayan, ang saya-saya ng mga kids…

SWIMMING TIME

Of course, there was some grilling involved.. Chicken barbecue, pork belly, and hotdogs!

Gabgab, my sister who calls herself Anney, Chellie, Djor, and Ykaie Bukaykay…

TWINKLE: Ang ineeett!!! Bilis naman sa pag-picture

Too bad not everyone made it to this swimming-slash-reunion even though it was already planned months before (hay nakooo.. *eyeroll*) It would have been nice to bond with my other cousins.

FINAL THOUGHTS:

I guess this is a nice place if you want to go swimming and you’re in a really tight budget. And you live in CaMaNaVa area especially if you live in Malabon, because you don’t have to spend a lot of money on transportation, toll fees, etc.

Or you need a quick place for family reunions, pool parties, team building… ganern.

What I Like About Costiera Garden Resort (private pool):

The area is big enough for large number of people. (maximum is 40 people)
The sleeping area is clean and airconditioned.
The restroom is clean.
There is a grill and the size of the swimming pool is fairly large.
Everything readily available. You can buy floaters, goggles, shampoo, soap, ice.

What I Don’t Like About Costiera Garden Resort (private pool):

There’s too much chlorine in the water.
Considering it’s a resort, the water in the restroom/sink/shower is very weak. Sobrang hina talaga that we decided to just take a bath at home since we live nearby.
No stove/cooking area. I think this is a must-have for resorts that accommodates large number of people.
It can be very crowded during the Summer. You have to go through the crowd before reaching the back. It can be a hassle kung marami kayong bitbit na food, party supplies, and other things for swimming.

Watch Our Crazy Video here:

Costiera Garden Resort is located at M. Sioson, Malabon

Treasures of Bolinao

June 13, 2019 / Filed Under: Beach, Pangasinan, resorts, swimming pools, travels

After checking out of Sundowners Vacation Villas, syempre kailangan may isa pa raw resort na puntahan. Bitin daw sa isa so nag-book pa si sis ng isang resort — Treasures of Bolinao naman.

READ: SUNDOWNERS VACATION VILLAS BOLINAO

OUR ROOM – DORMITORY TYPE

Slightly downgraded kami with our Dormitory room type which we booked for ₱10,000. It has three double bed bunk beds which can accommodate 12 persons. Ykaie called dibs on one of the upper bunk beds and Twinkle stayed with her just until sleeping time. The room has a personal ref, an electric fan, toilet and bath. They also give you some toiletries which includes soap, shampoo, and tissue.

3-in-1 coffee costs ₱60/cup. Good thing we have baon drip coffee (dahil maarte ako sa kape). No electric kettle in the room , though. Turns out you can “borrow” and electric kettle from the restaurant with a deposit of ₱300 and dinnerware and utensils for ₱200. They’ll refund you back if you return the items in good condition.

SWIMMING POOLS AND SWIMMING TIME

Treasures of Bolinao has two swimming pools — this one (above) which is located near our dorm type room and one infinity pool located near the beach.

Papa Sony, Mama Lucy, Twinkle, ME, Ykaie, and peanutbutter — Adarne Family

This is the infinity pool I was talking about earlier….

And this is the beach area…

The kids enjoyed swimming — well, kahit saan naman yata basta may tubig enjoy sila.

What I Like About Treasures of Bolinao:

I think the infinity pool is fairly new.. ganda and pool water is always clean.
Their Alaminos Longganisa at the restaurant is really good.
There’s lots of trees, closer to nature.
The staff are friendly.

What I Didn’t Like:

I think the resort is understaffed. Some parts of the resort especially the restroom at the restaurant are dirty.
I think they turn off the water at night ’cause there’s no water in the faucet and at the restroom — so no flushing at night. Imagine the horror!
Parking area is located outside — and there’s no guard on duty. Good thing we were allowed to park inside.

Watch our Bolinao Getaway 2019 here:

Treasures of Bolinao is located at Cape Beach Cres, Bolinao, 2406 Pangasinan.

Sundowners Vacation Villas Bolinao

June 2, 2019 / Filed Under: Pangasinan, resorts, Rooms, swimming pools, travels

I think Summer is the busiest part of my year, mainly because this is where everything happens — family vacations, birthday celebrations, and a lot more. Now that it’s June, I can finally breathe… ay wait, hindi pa pala because it’s the start of the school year.

Well, before everything starts, let me share with you our Summer escapades!

We always have at least mga three summer getaways every Summer. Last Summer, we were still able to go so Sunset Bay Beach resort and Thunderbird Resorts in La Union before my nanay got sick and became bedridden. Our trips cannot be refunded so we just had it rebooked. One of those trips that was rebooked was this… at Sundowners Vacation Villas in Bolinao.

READ:

We left Caloocan at around 7am at arrived around 2:30pm. Medyo matagal ang byahe because we had stopovers for breakfast and lunch. Pero sa totoo lang, ang layo naman talaga ng Bolinao no!

Medyo “twinning” pa si ate Ykaie and Twinkle with their outfits…

Our Villa – LOFT VILLA

We booked the Loft Villa mainly because it has its own private infinity plunge pool. We planned to have Twinkle’s 3rd Birthday Pineapple party celebrated here which didn’t happen last year. We still pushed through this year, though, parang advance 4th birthday celebration na lang (I’m gonna share it with you on my next post)

The Loft is moroccan style and the small dining area-slash-kitchen will welcome you upon entry. It has a fully equipped kitchen so no worries if you’re bringing your own food to cook. If you’re not, you can order room service or dine at Nykos Kitchen + Bar located at the resort entrance near the pool area.

If I remember correctly, sis booked this for ₱24,000 for two nights.

There is a small sleeping/resting area on the dining area.

This is the first floor balcony with the private infinity plunge pool. It’s located just outside that dining area.

This is the airconditioned open mezzanine style bedroom with one single queen sized bed and two single beds. It’s located on the second floor. This is where we slept together with my ILs.

Outside the bedroom is the second floor balcony with relaxation area…

and last but not the least, this is the airconditioned master bedroom with one queen sized bed. This is where sis, Chellie, and Shy slept.

Ang laki ng villa no? This has a minimum capacity of 6 pax and maximum of 10.

And this is how the plunge pool looks at night!! Bongga diba?

Swimming Pools

There are two common infinity pools for all the resort guests. The first one we went to was located at the other end of the resort where in you have to pass a lot of stairs going up and down bago mo pa mapuntahan because of the location of our villa.

We thought yun muna ang puntahan dahil nga medyo malayo sa amin.

Hingal na hingal kami pero sige, hala, pose!!

We stayed here for about an hour before we decided to go back up and check out the infinity pool near the restaurant…

Ito yun. Di na kami nagtagal dito dahil pagod na kami. We just went back to our villa and ordered room service .. LOL!

After that, since may kasama kaming seniors — my ILs. We just stayed here in our villa and swam in the plunge pool.

So here’s What I Like About Sundowners Vacation Villas Bolinao:

The place is really nice. Kita nyo naman how nice the resort is. It’s Santorini-inspired and it’s clean.
It has a fully equipped kitchen — fridge, microwave, rice cooker, pots and pans, glasses, plates, utensils. It even has a grilling area at the back.
They clean the room and change the sheets and towel daily. (we stayed there for two nights)
Mediterranean food is available — diba nga we love mediterranean food?
The plunge pool is also cleaned daily.

What I Didn’t Like:

It is not senior and PWD friendly. Not just going to our villa but going around the resort. We were with my in laws but we weren’t able to bring them with us when we went to the common infinity pool kasi it’s either hihingalin sila or sasakit ang mga tuhod nila.
There was fluctuation in electricity when we were there. The front desk didn’t even call us to inform us what was happening or reassured us that power will be back shortly.
We stayed there for two days and ordered dinner twice. A lot of the food on the menu is not available.
There is a P100 charge for pool towels (per piece ha).
The a/c on the 2nd room floor cannot keep the room cool except at night — pag mga midnight na when it’s cool na rin outside.

Hopefully next year we can try the new Sundowners Zambales naman…

Sundowners Vacation Villas Bolinao is located at Luciente 1, Bolinao, Pangasinan

Check Out Our Crazy Video Here: