Last friday, I was with my lovely fiancee and her side of the family for a weekend getaway. Her auntie from the States just got home and wanted to spend her weekend with her "anaks, manugangs and pamangkins" on a swimming field trip. We started travelling at around 4 PM after work, but unfortunately, my fiancee had to return a company equipment in the makati office which took us forever to go becuase of the short rain wherein traffic jams in every intersection in Manila happened.
At last, we started traversing the road of the SLEX (South Luzon Expressway), which by the way is definitely no match to the travel convenience of NLEX (North Luzon Expressway), and soon found ourselves in a turtle race with the others. Meanwhile, the second batch texted us that they're already at the rendevous point in Petron gasoline station. After 2 hours of pain staking driving in a "moon-like road, we finally arrived at Petron. I quickly grabbed a snack and drove off to the final place.
After a short drive, we arrived at Pansol, Laguna, the "private pool capital of the Philippines". Upon entering a subdivision-like area, two guys approached us and were asking if we wanted a private pool reservation. I quickly said yes and up they go on their motorcyle while we follow them. With 5 different resorts where they took us, we finally decided to settle for the 3,500 pesos (80$) which included 4 airconditioned bedrooms, 1 kiddie pool and 1 adult pool, cooking equipments, a refrigirator and a pool table. Not bad for 30 people. We shot pool till 3 in the morning and went swimming they day after. It was relaxing to unwind outside the busy streets and noise of Manila. I can't wait to come back...
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5 comments:
hi! can i ask where did you stay at pansol? i'm really interested because my budget is also limited and P3,500 for a private pool is okay for me. please e-mail me the details at get.hitchd@gmail.com. Thank you very much!
Hi Kevin, just read your comment today, and thanks for posting. First, if yu'e not familiar with the place where private pools in Pansol are great, you'll have to look for the "La Vista Pansol" signage along the road (It is located at the left side if you are coming from Manila). When you see this, there's an entrance sort of like a subdivision. Then, a number of guys will approach you upon entering. My advice to you is pick someone who you think you can trust. People from Laguna are generally kind and hospitable. Don't try to look for a resort on yourself as you'll just end up in circles in the area. The reason is, these guys already know the different resorts and their respective prices and you can ask them to scout as many resorts so you can choose the best looking one.
Once you are negotiating, first thing you ask the caretaker is of course, "How much?" Then ask the following:
1) How many room
2) Airconditioned or fan
3) Check in & check out time (12 hours)
4) Cooking utelsils & refrigirator
5) Videoke
For non-peak seasons, 3500 Php is already a good bargain for a 4 bedroom A/C/resort. For Peak seasons, it can go as high as 6000 Php.
My advice to you is to not include the videoke and other recreational facilities (billiards) first because they add a standard fee of 500 Php for every facility included in the resort price. What I do is, when we're already settled with our rooms and enjoying, I negotiate agian with the other facilites which I can get for a lower price.
Remember, you don't need to pay the guys assisting you to look for resorts. If you already made a deal with the resort owner, the owner will give the guys 5% of the resort fee. Be sure to bring a lot of bargaing words so you can get the best price. Enjoy!!!
hi, may i ask if you have the contact number and the name of the resort you stayed in? I would like to place a reservation if possible. Thanks! :)
Hi Marvin, I'm also curious as to what's the name of the private pool resort that you stayed in. Thanks! How can I contact you?
hi. whats the contact number of la vista pansol. let me know asap
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