Plantation Bay - Cebu, Philippines Review

My review of Plantation Bay, Mactan, Cebu Philippines

Price: $$$ (very pricey)
Staff/Service:  5 Star (excellent)
Accommodation:  If you don't mind sharing room with another couple any of their standard rooms can accommodate 2-4 people as there are two (2) Queen size beds in every room.
There are variety of rooms to choose from depending on your budget.  Their website will give you the details.  They have a Quantum Villa that has 4 rooms a big gathering area, your own small lagoon, sitting area - this is very well suited for family reunion.
Cleanliness: 4 Star
Location:  4 Star (if you want seclusion and far from city activities); 2 Star If you are looking for a place close to Cebu City. 

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Independent Review:

I am a traveler, I have stayed to different hotels ranging from No Star to Five (5) Star.  If the establishment claimed that their hotel is a 5 star, I already have formed opinion in my mind as to what to expect.  The first thing I checked is how the hotel is kept then my room.  I checked every corner especially the bathroom.  I literally use my hand to swipe the carpet to test its cleanliness. Cleanliness, ameneties, construction, beddings, art work down to stationery - I checked all of them.  Oh if it's worth mentioning I used to be a mystery shopper for hotels I have a long list to go through, it was a great experience I was able to get some money for something I enjoy doing.

Rooms  I have stayed in Pool Side rooms and 1 Bedroom suite in Plantation Bay.  Both rooms are very spacious and clean.  Again, if you share the room with another couple the price won't be that bad.  But why would you share a room eh?  Choose a pool side room that is close to huge man-made swimming pool, you are just few steps to it and convenient.  All rooms though are just walking distance to pool, lagoons and the beach.  During my stay, I only saw few guests that use the beach.  The beach is near Galapagos, the sand is not buttery soft and I suggest you use sandals.

PB (Plantation Bay) has the following rooms:
Poolside rooms (standard rooms)

Clubroom loft (good for family, it can accommodate up to 8 people)
River Boat House (with 2 rooms, right on the water with a meeting area or somewhat like a living room that is on the water - I personally like this room)

Quantum Villa (4 Rooms, good for reunion)

Ameneties are the same in every room - spacious bathroom, separate tub (marbled floor, marbled tub and marbled sinks).  Slippers are available but you have to pay for it.  Each room has a small fridge, with expensive drinks, coffee maker, free coffee.

Activities:  There are few activities to do that are free.  Billiard (2 Pool Tables), mountain climbing, games, fitness, bicycles.  There's a firing range which we tried but you have to pay about 20 some dollars for number of fires (not by the hours or minute).

Food:  Having been to different 5 star hotels (my favorite is Shangri-La) their food is not a top notch in my opinion.  But if you have no plan on going to the city or nearby 5 star hotel you are stuck on their restaurant food.  There are I think 3 Restaurants (Italian, Savannah Grill, the Buffet Restaurant) all are pricey, for the amount you pay, you expect something great, it was good but not great.

Services:  This is where they excel, everyone that we've met or run into are very courteous and always ready to help with their beautiful smile.  They have a small shuttle that you can ride around the entire area.  It is walking distance but if you have luggage let them take care of it.  No tipping which is great but everything else is expensive.  If you plan your vacation you may be able to pull it off.  We ate late breakfast ordered ala-carte instead of buffett, one order good enough to share then a light dinner.  Maybe 30-50 USD for food which is still hefty. 

Area:  If you are looking for serenity, this is the place to be.  The man made lagoons are the highlights, for those that are afraid of deep water, their lagoons are not deep but there is an area where you can do diving.  Swimming pools are everywhere and in most rooms just few steps away.

I do not like the main entrance though - it looked like a swamp it probably is a fish pond or similar but it surely did not look good.  The lobby is an open lobby so during summer you'll only get air from the big ceiling fans.  They have an annoying parrot, I complained about.  If you are meeting someone at the lobby it is difficult to hold a conversation without being interrupted by the super-loud-abnoxious parrot.  Some kids enjoy them but I heard there are complaints about it.

Over all rating:  3.5 to 4 Stars.

Frustration Over Cebu Pacific Online Booking

I am a fan of E-Commerce and I shop on-line on anything I can imagine - in fact going to the malls for me is mainly checking out things and would end up getting it on-line.


It took me nearly two (2) hours to book my Hong Kong/Cebu/Hong Kong flights in Cebu Pacific (http://www.cebupacificair.com/) and hooray finally got this;

Yes, confirmed finally!  I'm not sure how much case sensitive the credit card system is because the only thing I changed is making my address all upper cases as opposed to lower and upper cases.  On the other hand, I am glad to be able to get my booking confirmed. 


The price of our tickets are very reasonable compared to Philippine Airlines which tripled the price.  We just have to make sure that we are not packing beyond 15 kilograms/33 lbs or the excess baggage fee is ridiculous.  Also choosing seats far in advance comes with a hefty price depending on the seat area.  This reminded me of Ryan Air (Ryanair.com) that serves European countries, tickets are very cheap but after adding everything you are better off buying a regular ticket from different air lines.  People (like me) is a sucker for cheaper rates but the frustration starts when unwated fees added up.  I still check different air lines and compare.  I do my homework before making a decision unless a decision need to be made right away (emergency).  I have organized travels in the past (not just my own) and no matter how frustrating it can get I have to admit I enjoy doing it.  Travel is one of my passion and I am living it - I pretty much live in my suit case this year, as long as my laptop is with me I can travel at a short notice.

Recent Asia Trip

I am so glad to be back blogging again.  I sorely miss writing on my blogs hopefully this time I'll be able to help bloggers like myself on my writings.

Recently, my fiance and I made a trip to Asia for our wedding prep.  We met in Hong Kong International Airport - this airport is awesome!   I've been to this airport several times and the place is simply astonishing.  I just wish there's a bunk bed somewhere so I don't have to stay in a hotel for a 10 hours wait till my next flight.  I love to watch people and this is definitely the place to be, Asians, Europeans, Americans all colors you can imagine and I wonder what is going on in their heads.  Some are rushing to get to their gates, you'll see tourists so happy to take their photographs in front of Louis Vuitton or signature store.  I'm a gadget person so I frequented Sony Store and though I did not buy anything prices are too high for me, I indulged myself checking out Sony's variety of products.  I also love bags in any form, love TUMI bags I owned one and I dearly love it.  If anyone interested on fashion, gadgets or anything you'd like to know shoot me an email.

It was a long flight (the longest flight I've ever been) 16 hours from Newark New Jersey to Hong Kong.  Continental Air Lines was a nice airline, they fed us good airline food not so quality food I may say but good enough to get us to our destination.  We landed on time and going through HK immigration was quick, got my luggage and off to B2 counter where Marriott Hotel agent is waiting.  Told the guy my name and was told to wait for the shuttle the max wait is 10 minutes.  I took my blackberry storm (verizon) out of my pocket and hoping that it will work just fine so I can call folks that I arrived safely.  Dang!  Phone is tried to roam but did not work at all.  I was very disappointed and there's no way I will call Verizon without getting big bills.  5 minutes of waiting the agent told us (there were two of us) that the shuttle was ready.  I was expecting a shuttle bus but to my delight a brand new mercedez benz was parked outside complete with uniform chauffeur, wow!  I settled in the passenger seat still smiling and I told the other guest that this was unexpected he agreed.  The guy was from Australia and he traveled via ferry from Guam he told me he was a speaker in some kind of event I forgot.  He stayed in a somewhat like a Venetian Hotel in Las Vegas, he did not like his room as it was smoking as opposed to non-smoking that he requested. 

Marriott Sky Hotel is about 7 minutes from the Airport so the tour was quite short hehe well did not get to see anything as it was late at night anyway.  Approached the counter and the guy was so nice he liked my last name so he bumped up my room one notch.  Got to my room big big king size bed, great table for office work, very modern-sophisticated bathroom and the only downside is I won't get to enjoy it but a 7 hours.  I had to work so I only had 2 hours of sleep then off to Airport again to meet fiance.

At Hong Kong Airport, went to Terminal 2 where the check-in for Philippine Airlines (PAL) is, saw fiance patiently waiting he did not see me coming, he was sitting in front of 7 Eleven store, I snuck up on him and you should have seen the surprise on his face!!! We kissed!  Hmmm Okay don't further your imagination hehe.

We had 4 hours to kill so we went to Burger King for lunch, actually I went to one of the chinese chain restaurant and Kev got himself a burger, he said he's been eating chinese food for 3 weeks time to get Americanized hehe while I have been eating Western food for months time for me to get Asian-zed hehe.

Now off to Manila then to Cebu - we stayed at Heritage hotel in Manila again another overnight stay then
back to Ninoy Aquino International Airport for our Cebu flight.  Wow, talking about travels, I have no idea where I get my energy.. top it off with working at nights for my US job and little sleep on daytime.  Well, I doze off on the plane for 30 minutes then so anxious to be back in Cebu.  I can see from my seat the beautiful Cebu Islands nestled with coconut trees, the pristine blue beaches and the blue skies just made this scenery absolutely breathtaking, just think about it we will get married in this island, I cannot wait!

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