Grand Villa Resort and Butterfly Center — Hotel in Bay

I must say that the bad reviews must have made a positive impact because my family's experience was an opposite of other people's experiences. I purchased a discount voucher for an overnight stay for 4 with breakfast, access to butterfly center and aviary. We used the voucher to celebrate my daughter's birthday last November. The location is quite far, we used the route via batangas at maharlika highway then to mak-ban geothermal. So if you're planning to go there, it would be better if you have your own vehicle (or rent a van, auv, etc.).||||Their staff were courteous and helped us load our things into their mini shuttle up to our room. The room given to us was one of the air conditioned rooms at the Grand Pavilion. The room had 4 standard sized beds, tv with cable, vanity, shower (hot and cold), cabinets, safe (electronic but we were told that the electronic function doesn't work anymore so we were given the keys to the safe instead). Room was kind of old but was clean including the sheets. Soap, toothbrush, toothpaste, towels were provided just like in other hotels. There was no fridge/mini bar and no wifi access in the room. Wifi access was available only at the reception area which was quite far so I never bothered to try, besides, we were there to get away from it all! The room had windows which you could not open. The Grand Pavilion was just beside the swimming pool, restaurant, sunken bar. It's also near the butterfly center. We were assigned 1 staff who was our guide in the butterfly center, grand aviary and pretty much the whole resort. They also have some people living inside the compound (who we think are stay-in employees/caretakers). Everyone was greeting us and smiling, even the gardeners, street sweepers, etc.||||Their grand attractions were the Butterfly Center and Grand Aviary which our kids found so enjoyable as they got to interact with the butterflies and the birds. These attractions are a must especially if you have kids. Our guide also explained stuff and answered our questions which made the tour educational as well. Kids got to touch the butterflies at the Butterfly Center and also fed the birds in the Grand Aviary.||||Lots of open spaces for the kids to play. you could ride a bike or jog in the morning. There was a paved path leading to the tree houses at the back of the resort compound and near the adventure kamp. It's a long walk to the tree houses and the adventure kamp, but the path had trees around so it wasn't a difficult walk. Adventure Kamp would be good for team building activities so the tree houses would be a good accommodation for groups who plan to go here for such events.||||Swimming pool had no slide but was quite big. Water was also clean and not too cold. There's a sunken bar. There were also cottages around the pool for those who're not staying overnight.||||I wouldn't say that the food was expensive. I think the prices were just comparable to your standard bar/restos around Metro Manila. For dinner, we ordered, Sinigang na Baboy (so delicious, i just tasted the soup and I could not stop myself from eating!), it was P250 per order and was good for about 2 to 3 persons. Sizzling sisig (not sizzling anymore by the time it arrived on our table), which costs P180 per order. They cooked the food somewhere else, not within the resto. Their rice serving was generous so for us, just 1 rice per person was enough. The complimentary breakfast was pancake and hotdog. The pancake was big (approx. equivalent to 2 pcs. pancake from your regular fastfood chain) as well as the hotdog (similar in size to the ones they serve at convenience stores. But my wife and I had to order tapsilog because our kids love pancakes and hotdogs.||||Overall our stay was quite pleasant and relaxing, though I would also say that the overnight stay wasn't enough to do all the things we could have done. I just wished we could extend our stay for 1 more night. If you're someone who also wish to detach yourself from regular life in the metro and refresh in a serene, quiet place, maybe this could be a good place. Nice place also for the kids. I hope that their service will continue to improve so people who come here will have the same pleasant...

when we arrived at the place. they asked if we have plenty of stuffs when we said that its not that plenty they never offer to used their shuttle and let us walk along the long long way through our room.and to let you know its RAINING they just borrowed some old umbrella to their staffs.we walked in the middle of the rain and of course some of our bags got wet.inside the room its dark the lights on the side of the cabinet was pulled out.the comfort room is very dirty,clogged drainage,the trash bin does not even have a plastic over it and its very dirty they do not even provide complimentary hygiene stuffs like soap and shampoos.when we asked to make-up our room the day after,the front desk clerk said that they do not clean rooms if there is no person left inside so it means their house keepers are not trust worthy. and the house keepers just have a broom LOL.if i not request to change our bath towels they will not replace it. and they even asked me if do they need to fix the bed-sheets.they not know what they have to do.now i am just thinking if the bed sheets we are using are already used jeez. when we go to the restaurant to eat for dinner we waited for half an hour for our food to be served even there is not so many people dining.their so called Olympic pool has a broken tile on the floor in the 3feet corner so beware,and they serve and you can drink liquors or eat at the side of the pool as long as you bought the foods to them,so do not be surprised if you see floating chips or rice on the water, eventually a drunk man puked on the pool.butterfly center is fine but it does not have a knowledgeable person to tour or assist you so you just walk in there and go out.the aviary the person the bald man who feeds them is quite nice but to be honest the aviary is nothing special.the other day we walked around the park we seen a very dirty pool with some frogs and tadpoles., then the time we will check out,i tried to call to front desk if there is any available pushcart i never asked for a shuttle because i know its impossible.unfortunately the guy told me: "meron po dyan mga house keeper paki sabi na lang po." he is quite polite though.so we decided to walk again carrying our luggage heading to the exit.and maybe 100meters away from the exit the shuttles are there and some of their drivers,but they never approach or meet us halfway to help us.its such a horrible place.i cant understand why some people find it nice according to their review.so if you are planning to go there soon. lucky you if you are...

With such great potential available at tho resort, the stay was disappointing. The room I stayed in was a Spa Graden view, which had no view due to the nailed down shutters. Rooms were so dark and cramped, with a tiny bathroom that had no warm/hot water. When we questioned about hot water, housekeeping's response was, 'it takes 10 mins for hot water to flow', after 15 mins no hot water! So two days of stay without warm water. As for the room they really need to update and modernise their rooms, nothing worth except the nice linens they had. ||||As for the resort itself, it is located in a very isolated street, it may take few mins to get used to the set up, however once you can it has a wonderful forestry feel to it, with a long stretch to walk with huts and seatings around the resort. Great farm scenery around the resort. ||||The swimming pool looks marvelous until a close up look is given with dirt and Sand settled at the bottom and hardly cleaned. ||||The greatest aspect of this resort is the scenery and the restaurant, Credit is given when due. During my stay in Philippines I have not had a great meal like I have had at this resort. A shody looking bar/restaurant but absolute Devine food was prepared by Chef Erwin. This is great as the nearest restaurants are far. The food was marvelous at great prices, perfectly made by your liking. Breakfast was prepared exactly to what I requested, rather than eating what I was given. 5 stars to the chef! ||||This place is ideal for a quick stop over or as I would recommend to come and have a meal at scenic spot. ||||If management can modernise their rooms and clean their pool this place would be a hot spot! Staff, Scenery & Food were...