In celebration of my parents' 28th wedding anniversary, I booked us a place at Tagaytay via Airbnb. For the unaware,
Airbnb is "an online marketplace that enables people to list, find, and rent vacation homes for a processing fee" (from wiki). Pretty much like an online hotel booking system, except you're not booking from hotels, but from locals. I highly recommend it because it's a cheaper lodging alternative, and if you get to rent a nice condo with complete amenities, and a trustworthy host with good reviews, I swear it's better than staying at a hotel.
Looking for the best place to stay at Tagaytay wouldn't be so hard if I weren't so maarte with the interiors. Most of the listings I saw are filled with surplus couches and horrible draperies, so I skipped those. Char. In fairness to Tagaytay, there are tons of places to choose from if you're not as maarte as I am nga. But anyway, it didn't take me long to find the perfect place, I enjoyed gawking over at Airbnb naman and filling my wishlist in the process hehe.
We stayed at
Norman and Joanna's unit overlooking Taal (Citiland Tagaytay Prime Residences) and boy was it worth it! The photos are nice, the reviews are good, the view is amazing, and the room is complete with everything we needed and more, even bath towels are provided. Also, the price point for a Sunday is really affordable at ₱2,000/night (varies depending on the day and season) so that's really sulit for the four of us. :D
Orayt, pic spam!
Cabled TV, wifi, and landline phone: check. That wall was actually a major selling point for me, and I wasn't even disappointed when I learned it was just wallpaper.
Another angle with the bedroom divider in view. The unit is some 30sqm big, spacious enough for four adults. My parents slept in the bedroom, and my sister and I stayed at the sofa bed. My goodness, that sofa bed easily became my favorite part of the stay because you know what? It extends to queen size without having to push the sandalan! Soooo perfect, you know those sofa beds that are a pain against the wall 'cos they can't be flattened against it, and when you want it turned to a bed you have to push it forward to give space for the sandalan to be reclined? Gaaaahd, not for me.
This sofa bed, which I learned is actually an IKEA Karlstad 3-seat sofa bed, is my dreeeeaaam bed. Unfortunately, the model is already discontinued and only the sofa version is in stock at their warehouses. I became so obsessed with it because look how functional it is:
It starts off as a big boring couch
But when you pull out the underside,
It reveals a slatted bed base that also doubles as a storage compartment for bed linens
And when you fold out the seat cushions, you get yer bed!
Now just lay out the sheets and throw in some pillows and you're ready for a movie marathon. I love this sofa bed huhu. Any ideas where I can buy one or have one customized?
Okay, back to the room tour.
Here's the bedroom. My parents loved it.
Kitchen: check! Ref, microwave, electric kettle, single top induction cooker...
Pots and pans, rice cooker, cooking utensils, 16oz imported looking Starbucks mugs (char)... check, check, check! I mean they're not really in my checklist but you get my excitement? haha
The kitchen may be small and I wish we had more countertop space, but it's good enough for us. My mom was able to cook nilagang baka for dinner, and I was able to prepare tapsi for breakfast (na pinag-puyatan ko 'cos I had to tenderize the beef and cook it in boiling water to make it soft). We're that family who likes to bring baon and buy fresh food from the market whenever we go out of town. For this trip, dinner and breakfast is courtesy of Mahogany market yey.
Another angle
Aaaand the bathroom! I love how the toilet and shower areas are separate but are essentially in a single room divided by a half wall.
Clean and cute, and with heated shower yey.
And now, the view.
From the balcony
From my selfie stick, struggling to get a wider view of the living room. Don't you love that fake brick wall?
At the viewing deck, 24th floor. You can also jog here or simply chill out watching the sun rise or set. I was busy preparing breakfast so I wasn't able to watch the sunrise but my parents did and it was sooooo foggy. Sige romantic na rin daw. :P
I came to the deck after breakfast and was glad that the fog has cleared out already and the lake is visible na. So pretty.
Here's the view from back side of the condo, facing Tagaytay Executive Village. Still a pretty sight if you ask me specially if you're on the higher floors, and units are significantly cheaper than the lake facing ones. In case you're interested in getting a condo unit haha.
As for amenities, there's not much aside from the viewing deck, only a decent sized 4ft deep pool that's good enough for a light swim. That's all. Not complaining though 'cos even if they had more areas to play with, we wouldn't have the time to try them all. On our next visit, we're probably gonna try SMDC Wind 'cos they have bigger pools and lots of courts haha. Yep, will check-in longer too!
Overall we enjoyed our stay, it's even bitin cos we checked in at 2pm and next thing we know, we have to check out already at 11am. The only downside is the TV wouldn't recognize my hard drive or any of our USBs. I'm figuring it's a format issue but oh well.
Now, if you haven't tried Airbnb, go ahead and sign up so we'll both get incentives hehe! Sign up using my link:
www.airbnb.com/c/ybirog and get ₱850 off when you take your first trip worth ₱3,500 or more! :)
Tip: you need to have a credit card to pay for your accommodations. But if you don't have one (like me), and is only travelling locally, you can ask the host if they accept offline payments. Mine did, so I paid via bank deposit and they blocked the date for me. Downside is, the trip will not appear on your profile. :)
Lately, Airbnb has become my new Pinterest for interior design pegs. Will probably share my wishlists soon! :D
Have you tried Airbnb? How was it for you? :D
