One of my goals for our family is to have quarterly vacations. It’s our chance to relax in a different environment and forget our worries for a short while to focus on spending quality time together, have both we-time and me-time and to make beautiful memories.
I always look forward to these vacations. Our kids look forward to these getaways as well. It’s funny that most times, they would ask when we would come back to that hotel or resort again even before we even check out.
Our youngest child would ask me every now and then when we would check in to a hotel again.
It just shows that he likes these vacations and he had pleasant experiences during these vacations.
Last year, we were able to accomplish that goal again just like in the previous years when I started to make it one of my family goals. During the first quarter, we went back to Paseo Premier in Laguna. During the second quarter, we went to Island Cove Resort in Cavite. (You may read about our stay and my review of this place here.) During the third quarter, we checked in at Canyon Cove in Batangas. Then, in the fourth quarter of the year 2018, we were blessed to stay at Casa San Pablo in Laguna after Christmas Day.
I first heard about Casa San Pablo from the mom of one of the students who rented our condo unit before. She said that the food is good there and that they had their company team building there. I made a mental note that I will check out this potential team building venue in the future.
If you are new in this blog or you don’t know me yet, my main job or business is consulting. I provide management, human resource and training solutions to my clients. One of the things that I do as a consultant is to conduct training programs and workshops, including team building workshops for my clients. That’s why I’m always on the lookout for possible team building venues. used to work full-time as an HR professional. You may read more about my work as a
But it took some time before I got visit Casa San Pablo. I was glad that my assistant last year was able to get in touch with them and we got to arrange a stay for my family this Christmas season.
We checked in at Casa San Pablo on the day after Christmas Day. It had been raining in the past days leading to Christmas Day. It was drizzling at some points of our travel going to the place. There were time when we encountered lights rain showers on the way as well. But we kept praying for a better weather so we can make the most of our stay.
God heard our prayer!
My kids and I, being the bookworms that we are, read some books as soon as we got into our room. I read some Christmas stories to them while we were cuddled in one of the daybeds in our room. After that, the older boys read on their own while our youngest took a nap. I also played chess with one of my older kids.
We rested a bit after checking in. The trip was quite long. Thanks to Waze, we got to the place as soon as possible and we got to save valuable time by finding out the fastest route. I was also thankful that the
While inside our room, we discovered that one of the toilets was clogged. We reported this to the staff and they sent some people to fix our toilet within our hour or two. I also smelled cigarette smoke inside one of the toilets in our room. It was coming in through the exhaust window that is connected to the room beside us. I informed the staff right away.
I was told that they have a no smoking policy in all their rooms and that they will remind the guests in the other room about this. Someone whom I think is a supervisor checked our toilet, too. I asked if it is possible for them to replace our towels because it was exposed to the cigarette smoke. I know very well the dangers of second and third-hand smoke and I do not want my family to be exposed to them. I also requested them to send someone who can spray a disinfectant and air freshener in our toilet to counter the smell. I was grateful that they granted my requests.
The older boys were giddy with excitement and could not nap so they explored the outdoors with my husband. My eldest son was delighted that there are bikes that he could borrow for free. He loves biking. So, he was happy to borrow one. My second child likes to bike also. But the bikes are still big for him. I hope Casa San Pablo would invest and provide smaller bikes for their younger guests in the future. I’m sure the kids and their parents would appreciate these. I also suggest that they provide helmets to protect bike-users in case of accidents.
After biking, the boys decided that they wanted to swim already. Our youngest has been looking forward to swim in a pool again while on vacation. Sadly, he suddenly had a fever that afternoon. I stayed with him in our room while I had my precious me-time re-reading an inspiring book. It was also great that there is a drugstore that is just walking distance from Casa San Pablo. My husband was able to buy paracetamol for our youngest child before he accompanied our older boys to go swimming.
Before sunset, I asked my husband to take my place in watching over our sick child so I can watch the kids enjoy the pool and so I can take some pictures as well. I discovered that they had two swimming pools. I think this is good because one pool might get crowded, especially in the summer months.
Our boys and I went back to our room around 6 PM. They took a bath then, we headed to the restaurant inside Casa San Pablo to have our dinner. The restaurant is just a few steps away from our room. It was very accessible.
After placing our order at the restaurant, we noticed that there were bookcases there with a lot of books. My little bookworms wasted no time and got their hands full immediately. My husband also found some board games including a Game of the Generals set. He readily got it and introduced the game to my older kids while I read books to our little one who was feeling better by dinner time.
Our two older kids played the Game of the Generals with their dad. Sometimes, I would help as an arbiter. It has been decades since I last saw Game of the Generals set. My kids liked it so much that they even asked the staff if we can borrow it and bring it to our room. They were delighted when they got permission to do so.
I liked that there are books and game boards that guests can busy themselves with while waiting for their orders. These are helpful especially for parents like me who have young children. These do not only help while away the time but they also foster bonding or quality time between family members.
The restaurant offers mostly Filipino dishes. We tried their fish escabeche. Our boys had chicken with sesame seeds rice bowl. The rice bowl is big enough to be shared by two small children that do not have a big appetite.
After dinner, we excitedly went back to our room to relax some more. We played Game of the Generals again. This time, I played against my husband. The last time I played this game was when I was still in elementary! We
We shared about our high points for the day and prayed together before we went to sleep.
I’d like to share that the staff brought a pitcher of water and some glasses to our room that night. We were told that it was one of their standards. That’s nice.
Our room had one queen-sized bed and two daybeds. It was bit enough for our family of five, especially since our youngest child who is four years old still co-sleeps with us.
The following day, we had breakfast at the restaurant or cafe. During check-in, I was asked what we preferred for breakfast. We chose Tapatan (beef tapa served with salted eggs, tomato and onion bits and fried rice) and Longga Bongga (San Pablo longganisa or local sausage served with dried biya, sunny side up and fried rice.). These breakfast dishes are served all day and they have big servings. They are actually big enough to be shared by kids. You may find more choices here in their menu.
While having breakfast, I asked if we could use their hammocks. These were one of those things that we really looked forward to use when we read more about Casa San Pablo on their website. The hammocks were removed because it had been raining in the past days. I’m thankful that it no longer rained during our stay. Thus, the staff granted our requests and my kids and I got to try them out.
We had a hammock at home when I was growing up. My younger brother and I loved using a hammock. We do not only use it for sleeping. It was also one of our favorite playthings. We had many different uses of our hammock. We imagined it to be many things. 😉
My little bookworms liked lying on it while reading a book.
While my husband and kids enjoyed the place some more by playing board games again and reading in one of the daybeds, I explored the place with the help of one of their staff.
The place is big. I liked that it had a number of open spaces where kids can run around or where participants of a team building can have some games or activities. They even have function rooms of different sizes. One of them can accommodate hundreds of people.
I initially thought of extending our stay. Good thing that I did not book for another night because our youngest was still feverish. So, we headed home already after checking out the rest of their facilities.
I’m thankful to God for this “sponsored” mini vacation of ours. It was short but sweet. My kids kept asking when we’re going back to Casa San Pablo again even before we left the place.
I recommend this place to families who like to commune with nature and to tap into their creativity. Casa San Pablo has some activities that you might want to try. These include clay making, painting and cooking. The place also supports artists and encourage their guests to connect with the artist within them.
I also recommend this place to companies, particularly those based near in or near Laguna, and those who prefer team building activities that are not the norm.
Do you also want to have “sponsored” vacations for your family? Do you want to learn how to start a blog and earn through it? I would love to teach you how and share with you my experiences. I coach people who want to start blogging. You can read more about my short-term coaching packages when you click here. You can also sign up for my iHOPE online coaching program. I designed this online coaching program so I can help more parents design their lives into a life that enables them to support their families but at the same time spend quality time with their children.
I also recommended that you watch the video talk iHOPE through Blogging and answer the worksheet that comes with it. This will help you get started on blogging and become a hands-on parent while earning through blogging. This talk was given by my friend Martine de Luna who was one of the speakers in the first H.O.P.E. Summit that I organized. She is also an award-winning blogger like me.
I’m excited to plan our next family vacations. One of my goals this 2019 is to get more “sponsored” family vacations through my blog and through my work as a consultant.
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