La Joya Farm Resort & Spa — Hotel in Cebu

Summary: I think the farm resort has a lot of potential, it is very pretty and the location is convenient to access activities throughout Cebu island. I wrote extensive feedback to the negatives as I hope the resort can improve upon them to reach its potential.

Positive: Farm is extremely pretty Pool and lounge areas are nice and the fans in the outdoor lounge provides good cooling Location provides a good base for faster access to things like Moalboal, Kawasan Falls (other falls too), etc. Staff is very polite and nice Lots of privacy, seems to not be too full most of the time Rooms and rest of resort is clean and groomed

Negative: Food in the restaurant (after breakfast) can sometimes take up to 2 hours. I ordered a Nasi Goreng (fried rice) and waited 1h40m for the food. If I was at home, I could have gotten the ingredients from the store and made the whole meal myself in this time. Another time, we were told 30 minutes after ordering that the appetizer was not available. To me, this told me that the kitchen only started preparing the appetizer this late.

A lot of the meals on the menu are not offered for 1 portion but it doesn't say so on the menu. When ordering, we tried to order 2-3 dishes and were then told they are only available for big groups (in large portions). It was a bit frustrating ordering things off the menu only to be told that they can only prepare the meals for 3+ people.

On the topic of food, there are almost no fruit options and no juice options? On a farm on a tropical island... For breakfast we had the choice of powdered orange juice or coffee. I feel like some proper juice options would have been nice. The same goes for fruits: it seems like the options are very limited which in the Philippines should not be an issue.

The room is not properly sealed off, and the farm (in the rainforest) is full of wildlife. If you are faint of heart, maybe avoid this resort. We saw everything from large spiders to lizards to big insects. We were not bothered much by this but I know people who would completely freak out.

You have to sleep with mosquito spray. On the first night, we arrived quite late (it was very nice that the hotel accommodated our late check-in), and I went to sleep without mosquito spray. I checked the room beforehand and it seemed to be mosquito free. I woke up with roughly 50 mosquito bites, my arms and hands (which were above the blanket) are currently still covered in tons of bites.

A lot of the resort is still under construction, as its pretty new, so the shop and some other areas have ongoing construction.

The service seems to be understaffed and not working together so well. Every individual staff member was very nice, but we often had to ask for things like napkins often. Some other situations in which we were a bit confused:

We ordered room service but nobody came to collect the tray/dishes after we had eaten. The rooms have no phones and the reception is not the closest, and I felt like if I was walking anyways it would be weird to not take the tray with me myself. (leaving it outside overnight would attract all sorts of wildlife)

We ordered a car pickup to the airport at 8am for our 12.20 flight. Overnight, they changed the pickup to 7am because of traffic, but failed to inform us. Instead we were woken up by the staff who were telling us the driver is waiting for us.

In general, it felt like the staff were very nice but sometimes I didn't feel understood well.

The wifi is a bit weird here, the guest wifis dont work well in the rooms and the restaurant, but guests dont have access to the other resort wifi which has full connection everywhere. I had an eSim with lots of data but the data speed inside the room was also slow. It wouldn't be too bad if there was simply bad wifi, but I thought it was inconvenient that I was not allowed access to the obviously stronger internet connection and therefore had to do much of my work from outside my room.

There is no proper Spa even with Spa...

An introvert's space for rest and recovery. 💯

Unsolicited tip - Book your stay during week days.

Immerse yourself with the quiet environment. 🕊️ Enjoy delectable food and drinks. 🥗🍹 Take a dip in the pool during night time while star gazing. 🏊🏻‍♀️🌌

If you want to use public transportation, here's my solo traveler experiment result:

Ride bus to Carcar from Cebu South Bus Terminal between 6am to 2pm. (The road from Carcar to the farm resort really gets dark. I was protected and blessed because the bus driver and conductor arranged a rider for me to arrive safely.)

Drop off at Grand Mall Carcar then walk towards the motorcycle riders who station beside the traffic junction.

Look for a rider who drives to Barangay Rosario, Aloguinsan where La Joya Farm Resort & Spa is located.

Ask how much is the fare. As per Sir Otik (a Carcar resident who is a rider in the area), he charges P150 per trip. La Joya front desk staff said the rate is usually P100. (I booked him for both going to La Joya during that evening and the next day morning back to Carcar.) I chose to pay him a little bit higher since I am not a resident of the area and preferred supporting their livelihood. You can choose by negotiating with the rider.

If you can drive, use Google Maps because it accurately gives directions + there are road signage installed by La Joya when you have reached Barangay Rosario. You can arrive there safe and sound.

Also, when you book a reservation please ask if you need to prepare P3,000 cash for an incidental deposit. If you carry cash cards or credit cards they also have PayMaya card terminals + their Starlink internet provider. Payments are better...

Very easy to locate; best to come via private transpo. Security is guaranteed, even the guard in the main gate knows about your arrival. The service was amazing. From the welcome lobby, the waiters, the lifeguard, the tour guide / in house agriculturist and the housekeeping--even the masseuse! They are all kind and will guide you thru all the services they provide--the kids said this is the most important thing. We stayed at the Dome Tent which is a one of a kind experience--it's a glamping geodesic tent; inside it's like you are still in a hotel room, replete with the amenities of a very comfortable stay. The food was superb and I must warn about the quantity of the Filipino dishes--us family of four could not finish them as serving is good for 4-5. All meals are taken there, as there are no nearby restaurants. The kids loved hanging out in the game room and they had a fantastic time swimming. The Farm Tour is a must. We sadly forgot to do the Bojo River Cruise coz we got to enjoy the resort so much. The beds were huge and comfy. If I got it right, they were 2 of 54x75 beds with 4 goosefeather pillows in each bed! Breakfast on Saturday morning was plated; and Buffet on Sunday. Did I say the food was superb?! My daughter's request--hope the jacuzzi works in our next visit haha! Overall, it's a great, great...