Resort Feature: Solomon's Paradise (Bolinao, Pangasinan)

Solomon's Paradise main building

Native-style accommodations

Solomon’s Paradise Bar Grill Resort, along the 3-km. long Patar Beach, is operated by the nice and friendly Australian Brett Solomon and opened last March 2008.  

This place truly lived up to its name, being located in a short but very private white sand cove between towering, wave undercut rock formations. Both rock formations have two sea-sculpted caves and each had small huts on top where one could do quiet contemplation while enjoying the invigorating sea breeze and admiring the huge South China Sea waves crashing against the rocky shore, a scene truly reminiscent of the movie “Wuthering Heights.” 

The resort has a main building with roof deck (where you can watch the sunset or dine al fresco) and a well-stocked bar.  Behind it are accommodations for guests consisting of a native-style rowhouse with 3x4 m. fan-cooled rooms (PhP1,600-2,000 for 2 people and PhP2,500-2,900 for 4 people) with common verandah.  

In front is a beach volleyball playing area.  Common toillets and baths for guests are located at the main building.  The resort is a 3-min. drive from Cape Bolinao Lighthouse.  During calmer moments, guests can swim at private coral-lined "bathtubs" and explore the sea caves.  

Solomon's Paradise cove

Solomon's Paradise Bar Grill Resort: Patar Beach, Abrac, Brgy. Patar, Bolinao, Pangasinan. Mobile numbers: (0905) 398-1470 (Globe) and (0928) 474-8845 (Smart). E-mail: solomonsparadise@yahoo.com.  Website: www.solomonsparadise.multiply.com.

Resort Review: El Puerto Marina Beach Resort and Spa (Lingayen, Pangasinan)

Date of Stay: March 30-31, 2016

RATING (Scale of 1 to 10)

Location: ********

Rooms: *******

Condition and Cleanliness: *******

Staff Performance: ********

Room Comfort: *******

Food and Beverage: *******

Other Amenities: *******

Value for Money: ******

El Puerto Marina Beach Resort & Spa

The bungalow's interior

El Puerto Marina Beach Resort and Spa in Lingayen, owned by Roland Versoza and Flordeliza Bernal-Versoza, offers rustic airconditioned native-style bungalows, superior and de luxe rooms, superior beach view rooms and 1-bedroom suites, all of them airconditioned with cable TV and toilet and bath with hot and cold showers.  

Its rustic pavilion offers a menu of Asian, Continental and Filipino favorites (includes the healthy pinakbet, honeyed crispy chicken, sizzling bangus belly and cholesterol-rich  binagoongan pork or lechon kawali).  It also has a bar with wi-fi and Dream satellite TV.

The resort pavilion

Swimming pools

Building housing de luxe and beach view rooms

This quiet, family-oriented resort, opened in 2005, is also a haven for fast and slow-paced activity with its two swimming pools, (adult and kiddie with jacuzzi), an all-terrain vehicle (ATV) track as well as other indoor (billiards, pingpong, chess, darts, etc.) and outdoor (fishing, beach, volleyball, surfing, kayaking, skim boarding, etc.) facilities.  

Tours to Hundred Islands (which we availed of), Bolinao and Manaoag Shrine can also be arranged here.  After a full, active day, a steam bath and a soothing, full body massage is highly recommended at its spa. A nice touch is its mini-zoo and koi pond, also home to 2 big South American arapaimas.   

Lingayen Beach

One of the resort's resident arapaimas

The adjoining, gently-sloping beach is something else, with its clean, fine and gray sand, cool breeze and picnic huts. 

The ATV track

El Puerto Marina Beach Resort and Spa: Don Martin Domingo St., Pangapisan North, Lingayen, Pangasinan.  Tel: (075) 542-5328.  Fax: (075) 542-2285.  Mobile: (0917) 867-3908 and 3906. Manila tel: (632) 852-3404, 986-3404 and 775-6789.  Fax: (632) 824-7384.  E-mail: inquiries@elpuertomarina.com.  Website: www.elpuertomarina-pangasinan.com. 

Resort Feature: Arthur's Place Dive Resort (Mabini, Batangas)

Arthur's Place

Arthur’s Place, opened in 1984 (with two rooms) by the late Arthur Abrigonda was, together with Aqua Tropical Sports (opened in 1967) and Aquaventure Reef Club, the first to open resorts in the area.  

It now has 12 rooms with bath (two of them airconditioned), a restaurant, dive shop, picnic tables, shower rooms and offers two boats for diving trips.   

Offshore is a dive site aptly named Arthur’s Place, gradually sloping from five to 21 meters with plenty of reef fish, small coral heads, soft corals, feather stars, hydroids, anemones and sponges. Diving is good all year round but the best season is from November to May. 

Arthur's Place Dive Resort: Anilao, Mabini, Batangas. Mobile numbers (Ms. Estelita M. Abrigonda): (0919) 716-7973 and (0919) 312-3938.  E-mail: arthursplace_ph@yahoo.com.  Website: www.arthurs-place.com.

Resort Review: Matabungkay Beach Resort & Hotel (Lian, Batangas)

Date of Stay: March 23-24, 2002

RATING (Scale of 1 to 10)

Location: *******

Rooms: *******

Condition and Cleanliness: *******

Staff Performance: ******

Room Comfort: ******

Food and Beverage: *******

Other Amenities: ******

Value for Money: *******

Matabungkay Beach Resort & Hotel

This upscale DOT-accredited “Class AA” resort had its beginnings in the 1980s.  A brainchild of the Levistes of Batangas, it is the largest beach resort and hotel in the Lian/Matabungakay vicinity.  The resort was recently named as the “Most Outstanding Beach Resort of 2002” during the 17th Annual Parangal ng Bayan Awards and the 2002 National Consumer Excellence Awards.  Proofs of excellence are seen in its 57 combinations of fully-airconditioned superior and executive guest rooms with private bath and spacious veranda plus 12 suites (junior, senior) and villas (Parkview and Seaview).  Some rooms have 24-hour satellite TV and in-house movies and minibars.

A fleet of balsas

For gourmands, there are four food and beverage outlets.  The Café Caballero, open from 6 AM till midnight, offers sumptuous, a la carte, local and international cuisine with live weekend entertainment.  The beachside Ihaw-Ihaw Bar & Grill, open 7 PM till midnight, offers char-grilled dishes (including seafood).  The Cogon Bar, open, 10 AM till midnight, offers a wide variety of beverages and concocted cocktails.  The 50-pax Poolside Bar offers light refreshments and cool drinks.   

For private dining, parties, social gatherings and company outings, the resort offers the 500-pax Fiesta Area, the 170-pax Pavilion I & II, the 30-pax Wishing Well and the 35-pax Inakaya Private Room.  For conferences, seminars, meetings and team building,  there are 4 fully-equipped, airconditioned function rooms; the 100-pax Batangas Room, the 50-pax  Matabungkay Room, the 40-pax Balayan Room and the 40-pax Lian Room. 

For the active sports buffs and sun worshippers, the resort has a private 15-m. wide beige sand beachfront, a “Nestea” swimming pool, basketball court, badminton court, 14-hole minigolf, mini-soccer, two floodlit tennis courts, a volleyball area and a giant chessboard area.   The resort also offers scuba diving (there is a well-equipped dive shop) and fishing. Tired of the sun, stay indoors and visit the Gift Shop (handicrafts, beach wear, etc.) and the Gotcha Club which offers darts, billiards, table soccer, card games, table tennis plus a videoke which offers 7,000 songs, computerized in five languages (Filipino, English, Japanese, Chinese and Korean). 

The resort is also kid-friendly.  Aside from its outdoor playground area and kiddie pool, the hotel was also the first to introduce the “Children’s Paradise” indoor play area (open 8 AM-6 PM) where Playstation, V-tech games, playhouse activities, Barbie dolls, Mattel and Matchbox toys are offered to children guests under the supervision of a nanny (at no cost to in-house guests).  The resort also hosts a Hash House Harrier Run (special trekking, running and walking while enjoying nature’s scenic views) every last Saturday of the month and other fun-filled activities during peak seasons.  

Matabungkay Beach Resort and Hotel: Brgy. Matabungkay, Lian, Batangas.  Manila office: Unit H, Garden Floor, LPL Towers, 112 Legaspi St., Legaspi Village, Makati City.  Tel: (632) 819-3080, (632) 752-5252 and (632) 751-6685.  Fax: (632) 817-1176.  E-mail: mrb@matabungkay.net or inquiry@matabungkay.net.  Website: www.matabungkay.net. 

Resort Review: Sabin Resort Hotel (Ormoc City, Leyte)

Date of Stay: April 14-15, 2000

RATING (Scale of 1 to 10)

Location: *******

Rooms: ********

Condition and Cleanliness: *******

Staff Performance: *******

Room Comfort: *******

Food and Beverage: ********

Other Amenities: *******

Value for Money: *******

Sabin Resort Hotel

Our de luxe room

Sabin Resort Hotel has 60 spacious airconditioned rooms with cable TV and private bath, some with verandas facing the pool and the sea (superior, de luxe, premiere,   executive suite and presidential suite).  

The resort has a unique, huge and ectomorphic swimming pool with its sunken poolside bar at the center accessed by a bridge. The pool is well lit at night.

The resort's private beach, along Ormoc Bay, has waters were so clear you could see your toes underneath.  An added spectacle was the magnificent sunset also best seen from a view deck beside the resort.  From here you could also see the city's port (a 5-min. drive from the resort) with Hotel Don Felipe prominent in the background.

The resort's unique pool

Its Mario's Restaurant serves Spanish and Filipino cuisine and also has a nightly live band.  The third floor Club Andone, on the other hand, serves fine wines.  For conferences, conventions or small group gatherings, the resort has the 400-500-pax grand ballroom (Rose), the 100-150-pax Garvie Hall and two 30-50-pax conference rooms.  

Arch. Roy Perez help conceptualize the design of the hotel while Cebuano Doro Barandino did the interiors.   

Sabin Resort Hotel: Brgy. Bantigue, Ormoc City, Leyte.  Tel: (053) 255-3801 to 03.  E-mail: info@sabinresorthotel.com. Website: www.sabinresort.com. 

Resort Review: Coral Cay Resort (Carles, Iloilo)

Date of Stay: December 26 - 30, 1997

RATING (Scale of 1 to 10)

Location: *******

Rooms: ******

Condition and Cleanliness: ********

Staff Performance: *******

Room Comfort: *******

Food and Beverage: *******

Other Amenities: ******

Value for Money: *******

Coral Cay Resort in Balbagon Island

Coral Cay Resort, on the 42-hectare, 1.5-km. long Balbagon Island, is located near Gigante Sur Island and is a 20-min. boat ride from the island’s Brgy. Lantangan. 

Its 10 airconditioned cottages, with its bamboo-cladded interior walls and exterior walls cladded with split coconut logs, has its own tiled bathroom and verandah.  

This  Class “A” resort also has 25 fan-cooled cottages with bath and a coffee shop/restaurant.

A Balbagon sunset

The resort offers torch-lit dinners, served al fresco under the stars, along its dazzling white sand beach lined with prickly aroma trees. The island's 3 km. long shoreline can be circumnavigated in about 30 mins., passing by a rocky shore where sea birds roost as well as the nearby barangay.

NOTE:This resort is currently nonoperational due to a fire that burned down all the cottages. 

Coral Cay Resort: Balbagon Island, Brgy. Lantangan, Carles, Iloilo.  

Resort Review: Club Paradise (Coron, Palawan)

Date of Stay: February 23 - 27, 1995

RATING (Scale of 1 to 10)

Location: *******

Rooms: *******

Condition and Cleanliness: ********

Staff Performance: ********

Room Comfort: *******

Food and Beverage: *********

Other Amenities: ********

Value for Money: *******

Club Paradise Resort

Our cottage

The DOT-accredited Club Paradise Resort, on the idyllic Dimakya Island, is a beautiful 19-hectare rock island paradise on the northwest coast of Busuanga Island in Palawan. 

The exclusive, Class “AAA” Club Paradise Resort, opened in 1986, was expanded in 1990 and now has 26 non-airconditioned  cottages with bath (9 de luxe, 17 standard), 14 airconditioned family cottages and 20 airconditioned apartment-type rooms.  

It has a shimmering 700-m. long, powdery white sand beach, a magnificent and colorful coral reef (including large colorful giant clams) and crystal-clear, turquoise water.  It also has a saltwater swimming pool and a spacious clubhouse with a 120-pax, al fresco restaurant (Kanog), 2 bars (Dugong and Jungle Bar), lounge with indoor sport area (pingpong, billiards, darts and board games), video/videoke room, cable TV room, boutique shop, beauty parlor, 24-hour clinic and mini-library.  

Tellie relaxing at our hammock

There is also a jacuzzi, children's playground, tennis court and a well-equipped dive center.  

The resort also offers dive and dive courses,  waterskis, sit-in kayaks, wakeboards, ringo tubes, windsurfing, Hobie Cat sailing, banana boats and snorkeling as well as island hopping, bottom and troll fishing trips, Coron town and island trips and Calauit Island Wildlife Sanctuary “Safari” tours.  It can accommodate about 150 guests at one time. 

The resort’s rustic non-airconditioned, beachfront cottages, made of rattan, bamboo and nipa, had double beds (plus an extra one for me), a marble bath and a veranda with a bamboo sala set and an enticing  hammock for relaxing. 

Lounging along the island's white sand beach

Club Paradise: Dimakya Island, Coron, Palawan. Mobile number: (0917) 827-9852. 

Metro Manila booking office: 41/F Discovery Suites, 25 ADB Ave. Ortigas Center, Pasig City 1600. Tel: (+632) 719-6971, (+632) 719-6972, (+632) 719-6973 and (+632) 719-6988. Mobile number: (0917) 568-4863. Email: reservations@cp.discovery.com.ph. Website: www.clubparadisepalawan.com.