Secluded in a province a few hours away from Manila is this hidden gem: The Cabin Resorts. With tons of activities and only a handful of guests, it was a great 3-day getaway for our little family, who has generally been on self isolation for most of the pandemic.
However, I was left with the impression that it wasn’t really made for families with young kids (or the elderly) in mind. Read more to find out why.
The Cabin Resorts
The Cabin Resorts is located in San Miguel, Bulacan.
Traveling during the pandemic is a bit tricky but we chose this place because it was very open and had a lot of outdoor activities! Plus points that the place looked modern and very aesthetically pleasing!
Getting There
Once you book, the Cabin Resorts will send you an SMS for the directions. It was a bit complicated and we had to pin 3 different locations throughout the ride. I won’t type the exact instructions here anymore as they will send you the information upon booking anyway.
But here’s the CRUCIAL PART:
On the last leg, they said we should call them once we see their sign that has the logo of “The Cabin Resorts.” This is because we will be passing through a narrow dirt road to make sure no other vehicle was passing through from the opposite direction.
Problem was, we couldn’t find the sign! We kept going and going and we realized we must have passed it by already. Long story short, we called them and they told us to go back until we see the sign. We finally saw this tree but look at that tiny sign. Haha I didn’t expect it to be this small.
It would be great if they could make it a bit bigger! But happy we found it and we were finally there!
Loft Cabin
There are 2 types of accommodations at The Cabin Resorts. We went with the Loft Cabin because we are a family of 4 and the maximum occupancy on their Deluxe Cabin is only 3. The Loft Cabin can house 6 guests comfortably.
This is the living area (sorry it’s full of our things, I forgot to take a photo before we settled in hehe) It’s very spacious and opens up to a beautiful veranda.
For me, this is the highlight of the Loft Cabin. It features a wonderful dining area overlooking the lake. We spent many hours outside hanging out and having some of our meals there.
Beware though as there are cats waiting for leftovers! And because the staff asks you to leave your finished plates outside (they can access this area from the back,) we saw a cat jump on our table and lick the plates and leftowers the moment we got inside!
We didn’t use it for dining anymore after that. Haha.
Bathroom
Bathroom is small and what I liked least about our cabin. Some reasons why:
- On our first night, there was no hot water (!!!) and reception was unavailable because they were only open up from 8am-5pm. They were able to fix it the next day.
- No place to hang clothes (no hooks behind the door!)
- Sink countertop was so small you can hardly put your toiletries.
- Water had a weird taste so we used bottled water whenever we brushed. Also, on our last morning, water turned brown so we didn’t even use it to wash hands. No clue why that happened! BRING YOUR OWN CLEAN WATER IF YOU CAN.
Oh and random photo of my son with the Ant Man poster: there are movie posters on the walls around the cabin, and to our big surprise, one of them was an Ant Man poster. My youngest son is a big Ant Man fan! (In fact, he asks everyone in the house to call him Ant Man instead of his real name haha)
Bedroom (2nd Floor)
You climb up steep stairs to get to the loft where the beds are. Note that the bathroom is located downstairs so you have to go down every time you needed to use it. Not something I would go for especially with kids.
There are 3 sets of double beds and can comfortably house 6 guests. Actually they say the Loft Cabin can house 8 but I would say 6 is the ideal number.
Aesthetics are cute with the A-frame design, but practicality wise, the sun shone too bright early in the morning for non-early risers like us. I wish they had an option to cover the windows whenever needed!
My kids also kept bumping their heads whenever they stood on their beds (but it was really because they’re just not used to the design haha)
The Clubhouse
One of the reasons why we chose this place as one of our “pandemic destinations” is because they allowed for room service! I love that because I didn’t have to worry about mingling with other guests in the same public space and I didn’t have to sanitize our area each meal (yes we’re that kind of people, because my husband has anxiety but that’s another story haha)
But if you are ok with eating at a public space, their clubhouse is actually pretty nice! It’s open-air and since they only have a limited number of guests each time, it doesn’t feel crowded. We dropped by to look around during sunset the view was wonderful. They also had a pool in the area!
Food
One of the things we loved about this place was the food! We were so pleasantly surprised! Here are some of our recommendations:
- Their sisig is amazing! We tried the pork and tuna sisig and both were great!
- Make sure to ask the dish is spicy if you are sensitive (or if your kids are) because a lot of times they were when I didn’t expect them to be.
- Breakfast is included for all guests in your party: we tried a different dish for each of us so that we could sample it all. They were all good but we loved the Tocino the most.
- Skip the coffee (bring your own instant one if you MUST have one, like me) because it really tasted awful. Huhu. Go for the chocolate drink instead.
Activities
The Cabin Resorts really stands out when it comes to their activities.
Boat ride
We had a sunset boat ride and it was cute! The view was gorgeous and it was nice to have a quiet time in the lake. (Well, a few seconds of quiet, since we were with the kids haha)
It was a little muddy inside the boat based on our experience so make sure you wear clothes you’re ready to mess up. Hehe. My little one had boots on which were perfect!
Fishing
On our second morning, the boys tried fishing. If you catch a fish, you could have it cooked with a fee. We were hoping to catch our lunch!
The staff set it up at our veranda inside the cabin itself. We stayed for a while but the fishes just kept on eating the bait! And so, the boys eventually gave up. Haha. It was a nice experience though!
Bonfire
The bonfire/s’mores can be availed with an extra fee. Since it’s our kids’ first time, we tried it and they enjoyed it a lot! It was set up in front of our cabin. Each cabin had their own bonfire. The boys loved eating the crispy mallows. Hehe.
Archery
They had an archery area where you can shoot with real arrows. My son has been taking archery lessons so he enjoyed this little practice. We brought our own bow for personal use, but The Cabin Resorts has one that you can borrow for free.
ATV
You can also try riding their ATV at an extra cost. You can go out of the premises to get better views. We got a little scared with the little one in front so my husband didn’t go out anymore. They just rode inside for a few minutes. 😀
Swimming
The sunset pool was beautiful and is situated in between the deluxe cabins.
Note that there is no lifeguard on duty and there is a deeper part in the pool that may be deep for most kids so, just be careful. 😉
Other Activities
There are other activities that we didn’t really avail of anymore such as:
- Fruit picking: The mangoes were not ripe for picking yet when we were there but you could do so if they were!
- Picnic: They can set up a special picnic set up for you. I’ve seen the guests avail of this and it looked aesthetically pleasing.
- Biking: You can borrow their bikes for free.
They also had two little “pabos” or turkeys running around. So cute.
Things That Can Be Improved On
Generally we had a nice stay but there are lots of things we wish they could have improved on. Aside from the notes I mentioned above, I also added these to the feedback form they had us fill up after our stay:
- No trashcan in the living room area: Good thing we brought our own garbage bag that I hung on one of the stair rails. The nearest trash can was at the bathroom and it was so small. I had no desire to keep going to the bathroom each time I needed to dispose of something.
- We woke up to LOUD RAVE MUSIC at 6am on our first morning: Staff told us that it was outside of their premises so they couldn’t really do anything about it but oh wow what a bummer. I wish they could do something about it. And because no blackout curtains and sun was shining down on our windows, we could no longer go back to sleep. Huhu.
- Reception is not 24/7 and there’s no reply when you message after hours. I understand and they did inform us, but I wish they had an emergency number you can call in case. Like when we found out our hot water wasn’t working, maybe if we were able to contact the staff they could have assisted us on how to turn on the switches outside our cabin so we can use hot water.
Overall
Some final thoughts:
- Overall, it’s a beautiful place, lovely activities and pleasant staff!
- Great place if traveling with friends, not so perfect if with young kids (but I guess it also depends on your family lifestyle) but still, the kids loved the experience and enjoyed the activities!
- Don’t forget to bring your own clean water to be sure (read comments above on bathroom!)
You can book by visiting their website.
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