GetGo hails TravelBook.ph as Digital Marketer of the Year

TravelBook.ph was awarded Digital Marketer of the Year by Cebu Pacific’s Lifestyle Rewards Program.  GetGo during their second anniversary celebration last March 31, 2017 at the Blue Leaf Events Pavilion in Taguig. TravelBook.ph bested three other competent nominees including other travel service providers and banks.

The Digital Marketer of the Year Award was judged based on the partner’s active participation in promoting the partnership’s proposition by creating effective contents using different relevant digital channels, not limited to SNS. As the future of travel gets more exciting with the continuous thrive of technology, these efforts to actively inject useful information and connect with members online definitely helps the journey of every traveller.

Travelbook.ph has been a GetGo lifestyle partner since 2015 in accord with their objective to provide quality leisure services through traveling. In its campaigns, Travelbook.ph has created weekly features for GetGo that was featured in their website, newsletters, and official SNS.

The joy of successful partnership. From L to R: GetGo GM Nik Laming; TravelBook.ph team: Karen Luminario, Cyra Penol, General Manager Takumi Nakazawa, Business Development Manager Pinky Librada, Steffi Manikan, and Aldo Reyes; and Cebu Pacific Chief Executive Adviser Michael Szucs.

The Digital Marketer of the Year award was received by Ms. Pinky Librada, Business Development Manager of Travelbook.ph. It was awarded by Mr. Michael Szucs, Chief Executive Adviser of Cebu Pacific, and Mr. Nik Laming, General Manager of GetGo’s Loyalty Division.

Other GetGo lifestyle partners that were awarded were Robinsons Land Corporation (Outstanding Promoter), Petron (Customer Whisperer), Citibank (#TheSocialTrendsetter), and BPI (Promo of the Year).

Review: Magallanes Square Hotel Tagaytay

Before 2014 ends, my fiance and I had an impromptu overnight getaway in Tagaytay.  Well, it's not really impromptu but somehow it is unplanned.  We received a gift certificate last Christmas for an overnight stay at a Deluxe Room in Magallanes Square Hotel in Tagaytay (You may check their room rates here).  Validity of the GC is only until December 31, 2014 and it cannot be used on a weekend and holidays.  We were quite in awe since after Christmas, December 29 is the only day left that falls on a Monday and not a Holiday.  Unfortunately, upon checking Trip Advisor for the availability of the deluxe room, there's none, even in other rooms.  I even tried other dates after Christmas and it seems the hotel's already fully booked.  I tried my luck by calling the hotel directly.  My first choice of date was December 29-30 to conform with the conditions of the GC.  But there's no available deluxe room on that day and the date that th hotel offered me was December 30-31.  I told them that my GC is not valid on a holiday but they didn't say anything about it so I proceeded with the reservation.  A last minute reservation and relaxation for the  year 2014.

Magallanes Square Hotel is a small hotel located in, as the name implies, Magallanes Square (Magallanes Drive).  If you're not familiar, Magallanes Square is near the vicinity of some famous restaurants in Tagaytay like Leslie's, The Grill by Antonio's, RSM Lutong Bahay Restaurant and many others.  There are buses that makes Magallanes as one of their drop off point.

Sofa at the reception area

Coffee area at the back

Our deluxe room is located on the first floor.  Their key is a magnetic card where it is also used to turn on the electricity of the room.  Its quite wise for them to provide only one card key so that the electricity will be turned off once the occupants leave their room.

Hallway to our room

Our room number

Our room have queen size bed, glass bathroom, hot and cold shower, business area, closet with safe, mini ref, electric kettle with coffee sachets, LED TV, carpeted room (except near the toilet) and complimentary bottled water.

What I love about this hotel is the smell of their linens.  It seems to be very clean.  The pillows however are not too fluffy and quite flat.  I guess it already needs to be replaced.

I find their glass bathroom quite unique.  Normally the shower area is the only one that is made of glass.  But theirs was the enclosed area of the bathroom made of glass.  Well, not really the whole bathroom but specifically their door and side panels.  The bathroom is clean but the shower area seems clogged as water gets too long to be drained after shower.  Their toilet also has bidet.  Towels and a few toiletries were provided.

I also find it unusual for a small hotel like this to have a safe and carpet.  The carpeted floor covers most of the room except the area outside the bathroom.  The safety box is just small.

Our accommodation includes buffet breakfast.  But they are only serving garlic rice, egg, tocino and longganisa.  Orange juice, water and coffee are the available drinks.  My fiance and I love their garlic rice.  It seems to be cooked in butter.  You can taste and smell it on the rice.

Below is the hotel's room rate for 2015.

I find their rate without discount to be expensive.  With the discount, its quite reasonable already, although my fiance still finds it a bit expensive.  He thinks the hotel is very basic.  No special or additional amenities for the rate.  Well, its quite true but additional things like carpet, safety box and card key, for me, was the "added" feature of the hotel.  Nevertheless, the hotel is recommendable due to its proximity to famous restaurants in Tagaytay.  What's more, they accommodated and allowed us to stay on a holiday even if it is not valid as per GC.  The staff were also approachable and they replied to my inquiries quickly.  Not bad for a free, quick, last 2014 hurrah!

Should you wish to book this hotel for your staycation, you may go to this link.

A Review: 5R Rooms For Rent in Tagaytay

Following my blog on our impromptu trip in Tagaytay last weekend, here is where we landed, 5R Rooms for Rent.  Good thing I previously researched on various budget accommodations in Tagaytay (see related post here).  So I just choose among these.  As mentioned, my first choice was Java Jazz Lodging House.  But since contact details were no longer available in the site I've posted, it would really be a walk-in style to find an accommodation.

Unfortunately, when we got there, Java Jazz Lodging House is already fully booked since they only have 3 rooms available.  So we walk further and found Keni Po, 5R Rooms for Rent and Little Falls Inn.  We tried our luck in 5R thinking that Keni Po is fully booked (which happens all the time whenever I inquired from them).  And yes, we were lucky.  There were a lot of rooms available in 5R.  Rooms available then were at Php 1,200 and Php 1,500.  According to the receptionist, the only difference is the bed size but still can accommodate 2 persons.  So we availed the cheaper one.

entrance to 5R with ample parking space

Our room number is 8 and we were located at the back of the building, second floor.  I'd like to compare Famous Inn and 5R since I find some similarities on both accommodation.  For reference, you may refer to this blog on my review on Famous Inn.


The room and toilet
5R and Famous Inn's room and toilet size are almost the same, though Famous Inn is slightly bigger.  Both have mirrors on the side of the bed, again, a motel-like accommodation in Tagaytay.  Both toilets have some drainage problems.  I've experience clogged drainage in the bath side at Famous Inn while clogged sink at 5R.

mirror beside the bed

5R's room is somehow cleaner than Famous Inn since we don't get to see any ants or insects crawling.  But the bedsheets and pillows seems clean on both lodging house.  The airconditioning on these two were just right.  Famous Inn, however, have a standby electric fan in case you wouldn't want to use the aircon.

Toiletries
In 5R, the towels provided were much thicker and seems cleaner than in Famous Inn.  Toilet paper was new and not left over.  A small soap was also included in 5R.

 

blanket, towels, tissue and soap

narrow toilet of 5R

Other amenities
5R have a swimming pool located at the other side of the building at the back.  Around the swimming pool area are cottages where you can stay and eat.  I saw somebody grilling but I'm not sure if its part of 5R's amenities.  There is also parking lot in that area.

entrance at the pool area with parking space

the pool at 5R

panoramic view of the pool area

The area of 5R is much bigger that's why it can accommodate more guests due to a lot of rooms available.  The only downside is that there is no wifi in 5R.

Overall, our stay at 5R is ok.  I prefer 5R over Famous Inn but my boyfriend prefers the latter.  The reason I prefer 5R is that its cleaner with no insects crawling.  The towel provided is "useable" than that of Famous Inn.  Added points is the swimming pool although we were not able to try it.  Similar to Famous Inn, if sleeping in a motel-like accommodation is ok with you but with added amenities such as swimming pool and  you're on a tight budget then I recommend 5R.  But if your budget is below Php 1,000 then you can opt to stay in Famous Inn than 5R.

I hope this review can help :)
You may check 5R's new website here for contacts and further details.

Backpacking in Tagaytay: Impromptu Trip

This weekend, my boyfriend and I had an impromptu trip in Tagaytay.  We don't have any reservation and we just decided to just scout there using the information I have posted before.  I have blogged about budget accommodations in Tagaytay last year.  So it won't be difficult for us to search for accommodations when we arrive there.  Just for assurance, we called up Famous Inn, where we stayed last year, a few hours before we arrive in Tagaytay.  Luckily, they still have available rooms.  But I wanted to try other accommodations in my list, so our choices where Java Jazz Lodging House and 5R Rooms for Rent.

Before I continue, let me just add information on our transportation.  Last year, as posted in my blog, we rode vans in Pasay, at the street before Metropoint coming from Edsa southbound.  This time, we rode vans in Alabang.  This is near the market and it is actually bus and van terminal.  All are southbound (Laguna and Batangas).  The van we rode is routed in Sta. Rosa, Nuvali, Tagaytay, Picnic Grove.  It can also drop you Enchanted Kingdom.  Travel time is about 1 hour.  Fare is Php 75 per person but if you will be dropped off to Picnic Grove, you will add Php 20 per person.  Even if we will not alight in Picnic Grove, we still paid additional Php 20.  We alighted near Java Jazz Lodging House.

Java Jazz is actually a coffee shop but they added some lodging to better accommodate tourist.  However, they only have 3 rooms so when we got there, it was booked already.  It is also interesting to know that Java Jazz Lodging House is not connected to Agoda.com.  I wonder how they were included in agoda upon my research last year.  This is what I saw posted on their door.

And to all my readers, finally, here's the Java Jazz Lodging House contact number, 0917-4837399 or you can email them at javajazzcoffeetagaytay@gmail.com.  I already lost my phone book before so I apologize to my readers when I cannot give them contact details.  It seems like travelbook.ph have revamped their website and some contact details were gone.

So the next we inquired was at 5R Rooms for Rent.  Luckily, they still have a lot of rooms available.  You can read my review on this lodging house here.

Here are other information I would like to add:

• Java Jazz Lodging House is located before T House Bed and Breakfast if you're coming from Sta. Rosa Exit.  This is at the left side of the road.
• From Java Jazz Lodging House, Keni Po and 5R Rooms for Rent are just walking distance.  They are all on the left  side; Keni Po first then 5R Rooms for Rent.
• You can easily see Keni Po and 5R Rooms for Rent as they both have big sign boards.  Maybe competing with each other as both have pools and open 24 hours.  They just really beside each other.
• Little Falls Inn is in front of 5R Rooms for Rent
• Overlook Inn is just beside Bag of Beans

I hope these additional information will be helpful.  The weather when we went there is still cool.  The sun still shines with all its might come lunch time but the wind is somehow cool.  In the evening, it gets chilly on some nights.  Maybe because this weekend, there were slight rain experienced in Tagaytay.  For me, Tagaytay is still your best getaway not far from Manila, yet cool enough to beat the summer heat.

Updated (11/20/2016): contact details of Java Jazz

Backpacking Trip in Tagaytay: Review of Famous Inn

It's my first time to stay overnight in Tagaytay at my own expense (previous trips were care of my company where we had team building and planning sessions).  My first choice was actually at Keni Po since this is the same hotel I recommended to my friends which unfortunately I wasn't able to join them.  I recommended it due to good reviews and very affordable accommodation.  Since Keni Po was fully booked on my chosen date, we opted to stay in Famous Inn after several search on cheap accommodations in Tagaytay.  You can read them here.

As what the name implies, Famous Inn is a small hotel providing lodging and food for travelers.  It has 2 floors with about 15 rooms.  They offer fan and air conditioned rooms good for 2 up to 8 persons.  True to what they've posted on their website, the hotel is painted in bright yellow and their rooms were well painted in bright color as well.  (As of this writing, they've already changed the design of their website but you can still view their rooms from here).

We reserved for a fan room since it'll be cold in Tagaytay on our travel date due to the rainy weather.  The rate is Php 800 per night.  The room offered double size bed, small tv, fan, small table with 2 chairs and a bathroom with hot and cold shower.  They have a small restaurant and parking space is provided.  I was surprised that the room they gave us has air conditioning unit.  I thought maybe all their rooms have it.  I just learned upon check out that the room they gave us was indeed for an aircon room when the receptionist was charging us Php 1,000 for the aircon room.  Well that's no longer my fault.  And besides, we never used the aircon due to the cold weather (we even turned off the electric fan).

Now for my review... To get to Famous Inn, you still need to walk 300 meters from the main road.  But from the main road, it is about 5 minutes away from Picnic Grove.  I didn't expect the room to have big mirrors beside the bed as it was not in any pictures of the room I've searched.  It was like motels in Manila.  It felt awkward and it really didn't seem like a romantic room (honestly, some motel rooms in Manila were better than this).  The headboard of the bed have some black ants crawling that it can get to your bed.  Towels were provided but it was really thin as if it shrunk due to frequent wash.  Good thing we brought our own towels.  No toiletries were provided except for toilet paper which were half consumed (see, motels in Manila were better! haha!).  The receptionist told us that blankets will just be delivered to our room.  It didn't came so we just use their thin blanket on a cold night.  The water from the shower is strong and you can adjust the temperature.  The only problem is that the bathroom can get clogged but the water subsides after a few minutes.  Wifi is provided up to the room though there are certain areas when the signal is weak.  We were not able to try their food but their prices are quite cheap.  By the way, breakfast was not included in their rates.  Even if the inn is walking distance from the main road, it's not scary to walk there at night as there were lights alongside the houses.

If you don't mind sleeping in a motel-like lodging and if you will just be sleeping there, then Famous Inn is ok.  It's cheap and somehow clean.  Just bring your own towel.  Overall, I'll give this small hotel a 6 rating out of 10.  I personally didn't like the mirror and the towel.  All the rest are ok.

Budget Accommodations in Tagaytay

In search for a very budget friendly accommodations in Tagaytay, I found these inns, hotels, apartelles, room for rent that are less than Php 1,500 per night.  All rates indicated are good for 2 pax.

Tagaytay Econo Inn
Location: perpendicular to Sta. Rosa-Tagaytay Road
Budget Room - Php 1,500 with breakfast
Website: click here

Java Jazz Lodging House
Location: along Tagaytay-Calamba Road (left side coming from Sta. Rosa), about 300 meters away from Picnic Grove
Standard Room (fan room) - Php 980 with breakfast
Website: Facebook Page
Notes: very responsive in text messages
(please see my updated blog post about Java Jazz Lodging House here)
UPDATE (2018): This was renamed to Balai Ma-yi

Top Hotel
Location: along Tagaytay-Calamba Road (right side coming from Sta. Rosa), about 100 meters away from Picnic Grove; opposite Southridge Estate
Standard Room (fan room) - Php 1,461 from agoda.com
Website: click here

5R Rooms for Rent
Location: not along the highway but on the left side coming from Sta. Rosa
Fan Room - Php 800
Aircon Room - Php 1,200
Website: click here
(please see my review on this accommodation here)

Crisanta of Tagaytay (Crisanta's Bed and Breakfast)
Location: in front of Tagaytay zoo
Fan Room - Php 800 with breakfast
Website: No longer listed in travelbook.ph but found contact number at +63 932 8657165

Overlook Inn
Location: Tagaytay Rotonda
Budget Room (aircon) - Php 1,200 to Php 1,500
Website: click here

Viewpoint Inn and Restaurant
Location: Tagaytay-Nasugbu Highway
Non-aircon room - Php 1,200 (24 hours)
Aircon rooms - Php 1,500 to Php 1,800
Website: click here

Little Falls Inn
Location: along Tagaytay-Calamba Road, right side coming from Sta. Rosa
Couple's Room - Php 1,518 from agoda.com
Website: click here

Famous Inn
Location: in between Southridge and Tagaytay National Science High School but 300 meters away from the main road; 5 minutes walk to Picnic Grove
Non-aircon - Php 800
Aircon - Php 1,000
Website: click here
Notes: quick response in text messages
(please see my review on this accommodation, mentioned below)

Golden Rooms for Rent
Location: along Aguinaldo Highway, walking distance to Olivarez Mall
Fan room - Php 893 from agoda.com
Website: click here

Villa Julia Seminar and Retreat House
Location: along Aguinaldo Highway
Kubo room (Ligaya Kubo) - Php 1,500 with aircon
Website: Facebook Page
Notes: quick response in text messages but they will call you instead

Keni Po Hotel
Location: along Tagaytay-Calamba Road
Standard room - Php 1,200
Website: click here
Notes: gets fully booked quickly

Most of my references are from travelbook website and in agoda.  There are a lot more accommodations listed on those sites and you can search depending on your budget.  Agoda is also helpful as it comes with reviews from latest travelers.  We ended up staying at Famous Inn.  Check out my review on this small hotel.

Update (11/20/2016): Some links have been updated. You can also check more affordable Tagaytay hotels here.

I have another blog post on other budget accommodations in Tagaytay. You may read it all here.