Casa Cecilia Heritage Hotel & Restaurant — Hotel in Taal

A couple of friends and I decided to stay at Casa Cecilia for our Taal trip despite it not being in the city proper, mainly because of the good reviews (or should I say review, I see there is only one here on TripAdvisor). For 2,500 pesos (2 pax per room) you were entitled to an over night stay at the beautiful Casa Cecilia and a free breakfast at their much raved about restaurant. Man, were we wrong. ||||The lobby was OK, not overly bright and it was well decorated. We let pass the fact that the furniture were dated, bordering on worn out, since it was aligned with the image they wanted to project as a heritage hotel. Checking in we had no problems - which was strange. They didn't ask for any identification, especially since we made a reservation by phone. I just mentioned my name, signed the form they gave me, and they handed me the keys; no questions asked. ||||We climbed the grand staircase to the second floor where all the rooms were. My room was, if I'm not mistaken, "Michaela". It was the first room to the left of the stairs. I entered the room and felt relieved; for 2,500, the place looked decent! However my luck turned sour when I took of my shoes and socks - the floor was dirty. There was dirt everywhere - not dust, dirt. It felt like someone had walked in from the rain and proceeded to march inside the room with their shoes on. Another issue I had was with the bathroom - the bathtub was also dirty. At first I thought, no problem, I can turn on the tap and clean it myself; however, after countless scrubbing with my foot and with a towel, the black grime wouldn't come off. Simply put, it was disgusting. Also, the bathtub doesn't work because the plug doesn't go all the way in. The room in general was poorly kept; the walls had large visible cracks, the design was outdated, even for "heritage" standards. ||||The morning after, we decided to avail of our free breakfast at the restaurant (as clearly stated on their website and on the "handbook"/menu in the rooms). We were surprised when upon ordering food, we were told that we did not qualify for the free breakfast. I concluded that the waiter could have been new and not yet fully acquainted with the hotel's packages and so decided that I would raise this with the receptionist as we concluded our stay. Either way, we decided to order because we were hungry and we wanted to try Casa Cecilia's much celebrated restaurant. Local celebrities had claimed that their food service and ambiance were spectacular - there were several "golden" plates strewn across the floor near the reception, with positive comments and best wishes from the likes of Kris Aquino and Noli de Castro. Sadly, the food, while decent, did not come close at all to being spectacular. The same quality of food could be had for much, much less at the public market.||||We checked out an hour earlier because we wanted to transfer to a different hotel/hostel, one that had clean rooms. When I mentioned the breakfast issue we encountered at the restaurant, I was told that they had changed their packages and that their published rates no longer included breakfast (despite having the same price). I asked her about their website and the "handbook" in the rooms and she admitted that those were outdated. Unacceptable. I told her off saying that their hotel is guilty of misinformation. The receptionist just frowned and nodded, but did nothing to try to resolve the problem. Not wanting to ruin our excellent impression of Taal as a tourist destination, we decided to just pay for everything (a fried egg set us back 40 pesos. In the Philippines, that's the price of 8 raw eggs). We left and honestly I was happy that we did not choose to stay another night.||||Casa Cecilia is a sad example of an establishment that has rested on its laurels and has failed to step up its game and keep up with competition. If you want to visit Taal, I suggest you stay at one of the real heritage homes in the city proper. Some of them might not have TVs or ensuite bathrooms, but at least they will not rip you off and on the plus side you get to experience Taal as it is meant to be experienced. If the comments of their special guests (those whose names appeared on the plates) were indeed true, then I guess it is only fair that the same quality of service be afforded to non-celebrity paying guests. Pared down to its basic meaning, heritage is more than a fancy word devised to attract tourists. It is celebrating the positive side of the people who have passed this on to the...

You get just a room, no safe, fridge, tea or coffee, hair dyer, tissues or hand towel, from what I can tell this hotel is good by Filipino standards but by international standard it is poor to average. ||We stayed for 3 days and during this time there was not room service at all if we need something we had to see reception. ||The road can be noisey if in a room facing the street. if you have a balcony it is nice to escape the A/C. ||||Internet ok||Upon check in there were at least 6 staff at the reception desk and there were all totally unorganised. This was a them to the rest of the stay were there was staff everywhere but they were always hit and miss. Meals and drinks changed or where unavailable depending on the day and which staff where on. the last morning my husband was told he could not have a coffee, no one could explain why and when asked if it was because no one knew how they just disappeared. ||The room and bathroom was at least clean, but just looks tired. Be aware that the electric outlets are very old, they only have the two flat pins and if you intend on using a travel adapter then check it as our did not have that...

This is the first time i went to this hotel. I would say that it has a decent accommodation. I slept well because of the comfortable queen size bed and the aircon was working perfectly. It has a small sized flat screen tv with a respectable number of channels. It also comes with a small balcony. Wifi was a bit erratic, but you don't expect a class A connection in this part of the country. And with this kind of hotel, there are some room for improvement. 1. Consistent hot water (or is it because the faucets are a bit rusty on the inside that it had a hard time balancing the cold and hot water?). 2. The strong scent of detergent on the towels and linens. 3. Thicker windows (because it is along the highway, it was noisy all the time). 4. No electric kettle to brew the free coffee and tea. 5. Bit expensive.||Anyway, may i add that the staff are very friendly and courteous, and the tapa breakfast was delicious. Now, the question is... Will i come back? Maybe. Why? If they lower the price from the 3k+ range to...