Green Canyon Leisure Farms — Hotel in Mabalacat

Green canyon Review:

We had a weekend getaway with our dog in a 4star rated resort (June 29-July 1) We arrived at the place after a minimum of 1.5 hour drive from manila and are required to leave a valid I.D. before entering the gate. We checked-in earlier than the standard check-in time around 8am so we paid half of the day.

The resorts facilities appeared true from the resort’s website photos. The hotel facade, design and art works looks exceptional and I felt the nature of the surroundings. Stayed for 3days/2nights. Check-in was seamless but there’s no bellboy to escort you with your things to the room. Basic amenities are toothbrush, shampoo, conditioner and towels/hand towels. No hairdryer and slippers. The wifi connection was fairly good.

Our room (deluxe room 113) on the ground floor is accessible passing through an exit area of the hotel. The air conditioning was not working, so we are transferred and our room was upgraded to a suite room on the second floor (room 214) which you have to use the stairs. This was the time someone helped us with our luggage and bags. The AC there wasn’t cooling well after 4 hours, so we decided to move the bed in front of the AC. The room and bathroom was clean but the rain shower head was defective and squirting water from its edges.

The following day we are transferred again to the next room (room 215) because the AC stopped working after a short power outage. It was an exhausting and hassle experience transferring twice.

All rooms and furnitures are clean and well maintained. Curtains with sheer inside the rooms could’ve been functional and useful to guests who wants to sleep at day time if the curtains make the room dark. I’m quite doubtful of the wooden pet bed provided, the couch in the room and the soil surrounding nearby lobby entrance because I am sure we had some flea bites. So I advise travelers with pets to wear shoes when going to a walk, cover your legs during your stay, bring your own pet bed and bathe your pets with medicated pet shampoo because we don’t know where we got the flea bites.

Spacious and bright entrance add to Palette restaurant’s ambience. It is beautiful with a koi pond surrounding it. Flies may appear but they provided some candles to repel the flies and other insects but most of the white dining chairs near the entrance needs some cleaning. We had beef kare kare and pork sisig. The dish could be better because the beef needed more time to cook it wasn’t tender enough as well as the pork sisig which doesn’t have egg on top and chicharon. But the flavors are good.

In-room dining was great and we had Bulalo and Pancit Canton. It all tastes great specially the Pancit and the Bulalo was tender. Free a la carte Filipino breakfast with drinks (coffee and juice) are included and Buffet breakfast (tocino, corned beef, fried dilis with tomato salad, chicken adobo, scrambled egg, pandesal, banana) coffee and juice are available on Sundays.

The Serenity pool is customized and a beautiful infinity pool but needs cleaning specially the chair tile designed on the water. The wave pool is always clean, the area is great and has a scenic view.

Over-all experience - some things

Satisfactory: Clean facilities, Clean rooms, sufficient number of pillows, good quality of duvet covers and big mattresses. Most Staff smiles and greets you every time. Security officers left a good impression with genuine smile and concern. Front desk offered a solution to my problem. Pet friendly hotel and pets are allowed on the wave pool on Sundays. Foods are tasty and flavorful. Peaceful and Quiet place, a place of Nature and a work of Art.

Unsatisfactory: No bellboy to escort you upon arrival. Air conditioning units must be checked regularly and curtains must be replaced. Reception didn’t call/follow-up after resolving a problem. Different kinds of insects are present outside the hotel. Flea bites are unexpectedly surprising. Foods are a bit pricey. A bit secluded place and there are no other restaurants or...

We've been looking for a resort where we can bring our dogs but has a wider space where we can walk them in the morning. We found Green Canyon as a place near manila that cater dogs and spent 3D2N accommodation with our 2 dogs, a medium size lhasa apso and a mini dachshund.||The Good Stuff..||1. The place is really nice. It offers 2 pools, technically 3 if we'll separate the lap pool and the actual pool and the wave pool. The land size is huge and your dogs will definitely enjoy the morning and night walks. Don't mind the mosquitos as this is normal for a forestry place.||2.The lobby and even the the area where the rooms are located are museum like with all the art pieces displayed. You will be amazed of these artworks and will give you a museum kind of feel everytime you are at the lobby.||Area for improvement...||1. We booked via agoda. We did expect a fee for bringing the dogs even if they transparently says in their website that they are a dog friendly resort. However, it doesn't say anything about the cost. We were surprised that we have to pay 1000 pesos per night. Since we book 3D2N, we have to pay 4000 pesos on top of our booking fee. I didn't mind paying the amount however, proper expectation setting through adding that info in their website of even in agoda would be great.||2. Breakfast isn't buffet for a 5k+ per night resort. They offered corned beef, egg anf tocini which took sometime to cook, in the 1st day and danggit, egg and longganisa on the 2nd day. On top of this, the dinner and lunch food options are slightly expensive.||3. The reception girls seems to be new or in OJT mode. Very unapproachable and doesn't even greet or smile. ||4. The wave pool doesn't wave and no one is there to activate it. The pool is even dirty. They do allow dogs to swim there every Sunday and since we booked Friday and Saturday, we can't, which is fine but with the looks of the pool, would be great to have the dogs swim...

The pictures on every review we saw was great and enticing plus the fact that it is a pet friendly resort - these made us decide to go for a 3 day 2 night weekend get a way.

Getting to the resort is pretty convenient, a good 1.5 hour drive from Manila. So location for us is a 5 star.

We arrived at 8 in the morning while standard check in is post 12 noon, we were offered a half day rate just to get into our room - understanding that it is a business, we took the offer.

When we get to room 113, the place seem ok, we settled in took a quick shower and getting ready for a quick rest however the A/C is not working - we were soaked in sweat before they transferred us to another room.

We get to room 214, a little bigger that the first room and what do you know, the A/C can not support the entire room capacity so we ended up pushing the bed near the A/C just to get a relief from the heat. The next day the A/C completely shut off. They again transfer us to room 215 and it was only then that A/C situation gets resolved.

The place is ok but it badly needs a good maintenance i.e. the shower on each room is not working, the beddings are a bit dusty, the Symphony pool needs TLC.

The food is pricy but the flavors and taste is just simply not there. You are better off buying fast food.

The staffs are very transactional, no customer delight at all.

But i must say that the wifi is really good.

Overall, I do not see the value for money in paying top dollar to this place. If you have other options which will give you the same amenities, I suggest you bring your business else where.

Also, a word of precaution, since this is a pet friendly place - I got a good taste of fleas bite so better cover your self if you decide...