It was thirty minutes to midnight when we arrived at Taal Vista Hotel’s front porch and there’s a chill in the weather, typical of evenings in Tagaytay. Tired from dodging the weekend traffic and the long drive from Manila, we mightily slumped ourselves on the comfy couches littering the lounge. A singer was crooning out sonnets for long lost loves and a fire was quietly smoldering at the fireplace. Some minutes later, a menagerie of food were slid on our table. Welcome to Tagaytay, it said.

TAAL VISTA TAGAYTAY’S ICONIC FACADE

Taal Vista Hotel is one of the pioneer Tagaytay City accommodations. Its history dates all the way back to the end of the thirties when then President Quezon expressed his desire to develop the area as a tourist destination. Eventually, the same guys that did Manila Hotel constructed a Tudor-inspired lodging on a ridge overlooking Taal Volcano.

THE GARDENS OUT BACK

The iconic structure, with its easily recognizable gables, survived the ravages of the Second World War—the hotel even served as an officer’s quarter for the Japanese Imperial Army—but apparently, not time. Age crept up and eventually it was renovated in 2004. The amenities and rooms have adjusted to a more modern time but its spirit and style retained its Tudor roots.

MODERN AND POSH LOBBY

After a filling dinner cum midnight snack, we shelved off our plans for going out for a bit of a drink along Magallanes, we were just too doggone tired. So, off we went to Taal Vista’s Lakeside Wing and straight to each of our rooms.

GOING TO OUR ROOMS

Initially, I was expecting our rooms to be somewhat outdated, knowing how old the hotel was, but I was pleasantly surprised to find our Deluxe Queen Room to be tastefully contemporary. There wasn’t much in terms of decors, but the dark wooden furnishing, the wall trims, simple textured panels, and soft lamps more than made up for a handsome minimalist look.

OUR DELUXE QUEEN ROOM, PRETTY SNAZZY

We were nine in the group, including a hyperactive five-year old kid, and we perfectly fitted on three rooms—each one having a queen-sized bed and a solo bed. The toilet and bath, accessed by a sliding mirrored door, has its own lockable shower and toilet stalls—perfect for the morning bathroom rush, lol.

TOILET AND BATH WITH SEPARATE STALLS

Even with Tagaytay’s normally chilly weather, the rooms are air-conditioned and have all the usual amenities; flatscreen cable TV, fast and free WiFi, and a mini-bar.

CRAFT BEERS AND WELCOME TREATS, THEIR PAN DE COCO IS REALLY GOOD

Yes, that mini-bar. Unable to sleep just yet, we checked it for booze, but wasn’t able to find any. There’s a menu lying around, and that’s where we found gold—they have beer available 24 hours. A few minutes later and we’re guzzling San Miguels, Smirnoffs, and Pedros. Pedros? Apparently, the have craft beer too!

BREAKFAST BUFFET AT THE VERANDA RESTAURANT

The next morning came late. The complimentary breakfast at Taal Vista’s Veranda Restaurant was almost over when we arrived. Quickly, we gathered strips crispy bacons (bacons!), links of longganisa, piles of corned beef, crunchy danggit, bowls of sardines, runny eggs, and platefuls of custom-cooked fried rice on our dainty dining nook overlooking a manicured garden.

SILOG GREATEST HITS FOR ME

It was like a greatest hits of every silog I’ve ever known—the tocino would come the next day—and it was everything I hoped a Filipino breakfast buffet could be. Heck, they even have champorado!

THE TAAL VOLCANO FROM TAAL VISTA’S VIEWING DECK

Planning this trip, we agreed on hiking to the Taal Volcano after breakfast and even visiting the derelict Fantasy World Castle near the borders of Nasugbu. But the weather has its own plans, turning schizo on us the whole time we were at Taal Vista. It would lash rain one minute, turn sunny the next, and then fog the whole area. Then repeat. All our plans went with the mist.

A CLOSER VIEW OF TAAL LAKE

There really was nothing left to do but turn our Tagaytay getaway into a staycation. And it’s not such a bad thing, really. The view of the lake is just right outside the lawns of Taal Vista, there’s the Tagaytay Sky Ranch immediately right beside it, there’s three excellent restaurants right within the hotel, they have a gym and a swimming pool, and more importantly, they have beer.

ALCOHOL AND AFTERNOONS

And beer the day away was what we did after another filling buffet at the Veranda. We sipped the afternoon away at the covered al fresco seats of the restaurant, taking in the view of Taal and swapping old stories while waiting for dinner. The life, eh?

DINNER AT THE LOBBY LOUNGE

Later that night, regrouping at the Lobby Lounge for a superb dinner of burgers and pasta, we decided on checking out a food park a few minutes away by foot from Taal Vista. It’s actually one of the things I like about the hotel, it’s located on a quieter part of Tagaytay but it’s still very accessible to many of the usual hangouts in the city—Mushroom Burger and the Mahogany Market bulalohan is actually just a holler away.

THE NEARBY BARRACKS FOOD CAMP

Our shirts still hugging our bulging tummies from dinner, we went out into the night to check out the scene at The Barracks Food Camp. This place is new to me, and I think this is the first food park to sprout in Tagaytay.

BEER NIGHTS IN TAGAYTAY

A two-story affair with a central seating area, it has a quite lot of food choices. Beer is reltively cheap too at PHP300.00 a bucket of Red Horse Stallion. There’s a band out front, and one of our friends—who’s not even drunk enough yet—went onstage to render a song!

CLOSING OUR EVENING WITH SONGS ~ PHOTO BY EATS IN THE PHILIPPINES

Wanting to sing a few songs too sans the crowd in front, we transferred to Seafood Bali for a few hours of videoke session. We round-robined on the mic while finishing a case of beer. At one in the morning, we were promptly kicked out of the KTV room. Time’s up!

BREAKFAST AT THE TĀZA RESTAURANT

And you can guess what happened the next day. We woke up late for the breakfast buffet. Good thing, we have reservations at TĀZA Fresh Table, the hotel’s third restaurant housed on a separate bungalow along its grounds. Our supposedly breakfast turned into a mighty brunch of steaks and burgers. It was absolutely the best meal we’ve had at Taal Vista, quite the perfect way to end our weekend Tagaytay staycation.

~ TAAL VISTA HOSTED OUR TWO-NIGHT STAY IN TAGAYTAY. VIEWS & OPINIONS, ALL MINE.

 

Taal Vista Hotel Tagaytay
Address: Kilometer 60, Aguinaldo Highway, 
   Brgy. Kaybagal South, Tagaytay City, Cavite
Contact Number: +63 (2) 917-8225 | +63 (46) 413-1000
Email: reservations@taalvistahotel.com
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GPS Coordinates Map: 14.095389, 120.934293