One of my goals for my family is to have at least once a quarter trips or vacations for family bonding. So far, we already had four in the past seven months of 2017. One of these vacations was during my birthday last April. I love birthdays! It’s a perfect excuse for family time and bonding and to splurge a bit. I’ve been working hard on managing the house, taking care of the kids, homeschooling them and on my business. I know that I deserve a wonderful vacation and my birthday would be a perfect time for that.

Since my birthday was in the summer, Tagaytay was my top of mind choice. Baguio is too far and we’ve been to Baguio last Christmas only.

I checked some of the hotels with good reviews and for this Tagaytay vacation, I’ve decided to try a new hotel.

The main reason that I chose this hotel is the fact that all their rooms have a wonderful view of the Taal Lake and Volcano. Not all hotels in Tagaytay can offer this.

Another consideration is that it should have a nice pool because my husband and boys love to swim.

The third consideration is that their restaurant should have good food or there should be restaurants with delicious food nearby.

Last but not least, the overnight rate should not be more than P10,000.

The Lake Hotel met all of these criteria.

So, on April 6, I went to Mass early in the morning before we set out to go to Tagaytay. I got fresh flowers and chocolates from my boys. My eldest son, who usually wakes up late, even went to morning Mass with me.

We had early lunch at Twin Lakes. It was our first time to go there and we tried a restaurant that we haven’t tried before even in their other branches. We had a great time bonding over lunch at Bon Journo! while enjoying the weather and the view. I loved their pasta! We loved their furniture also at the al fresco area.

Then, we checked in at our hotel. Check-in was fast. The hotel personnel was friendly and efficient.

We loved our room! There were two queen-sized beds. We just added an extra bed for our eldest son. The room was clean. There was a bathtub in the bathroom.

Best of all, we loved the view from our room and our veranda.

On the veranda are two chairs and a table where guests can chill over food, read or simply relax.

We can also see part of the swimming pool from our room.

We rested for a while in our room before our boys went to the swimming pool to swim. While we were resting, I got a text message from one of my new clients. My client informed me that they have just deposited their down payment for my HR project with them. Nice! I earned while on vacation! It’s like I received a birthday gift from my client. I love my job!

The Lake Hotel has two swimming pools, one outdoor and indoor. Sadly, the indoor swimming pool was closed during our stay.

I liked that their staff provided towels and there was a staff on standby to mop the wet floor near the pool area which also leads to the lobby.

We spent most of the afternoon by the pool. Although it was chilly, our boys didn’t want to stop swimming. hahaha

After swimming, we’ve decided not to go far for our dinner. We ate dinner at their restaurant by the lobby. One of the foods we ordered was Bulalo since it was chilly. They had big servings. The soup was enough for our family of two adults and three kids. The meat was tender and the vegetables were crisp and fresh. The soup was flavorful. We loved it! Since it was my birthday, they gave me a complimentary slice of chocolate cake.

We went back to our room to rest for the rest of the night after eating our dinner. My eldest son and I read the books that we brought with us. We also watch a movie together before sleeping.

The following day, we had buffet breakfast in their other restaurant. I always look forward to buffet breakfasts whenever I stay in a hotel. I was delighted that The Lake Hotel had a good breakfast spread. there were a number of foods and drinks to choose from. The foods were delicious.

Aside from a TV, they also had a piano inside the restaurant. My eldest son was glad to see one. We asked permission if he could play on their piano. He was allowed and he played a number of songs after we finished eating. My two younger sons sang while my eldest accompanied them. It was fun watching them! Too bad, the videos and photos on my husband’s phone while we were at the hotel were erased when our youngest son accidentally caused my husband’s phone to reboot. At least, we can still fondly recall those memories of our good times together during our stay here in this hotel.

After enjoying our breakfast, the boys went swimming again before going to the playroom.

One of the things I liked about this hotel is that they have a playroom or play area for kids. The kids simply need to register at the front desk and wear socks while at the play area.

It would have been so much better if they also offered babysitting services. Parents could have an hour or two to themselves while the kids played. I hope this suggestion would reach the hotel’s management and they would consider offering this service. I’m sure families without nannies would love that and would choose this hotel over the others that do not have baby sitting services.

So, I watched over our boys while they played. My husband packed our things and got ready for check out.

While checking out, I also requested to view their function rooms. I asked a copy of their corporate packages as well. I was happy and grateful that they accommodated my request right away even though I was not able to inform them ahead of time. Their function rooms were well-equipped for seminars and workshops and their corporate packages are reasonable. I would love to recommend this hotel to my corporate clients for my training programs and workshops.  If this is your first time to read my blog, I run a consulting and publishing business.

Since it was already lunch time when we checked out, we’ve decided to eat lunch at the restaurant just beside The Lake Hotel, Charito by Bag of Beans.

The food was delicious and they had big servings also. We ordered fish fillet for the kids. It was big enough for all three of them. My husband and I had pasta and salad. We also loved the view.

Service is quite slow, though. Probably because there were a lot of people eating there. All in all, we had a pleasant dining experience. We enjoyed bonding with each other by taking photos.

It was a truly relaxing and memorable summer vacation for our family at The Lake Hotel. We’d love to go back there again in the future. I highly recommend it, especially to families with young children.