La Luz Beach Resort

I will be truthful to this review as I can be. My partner and I went to La Luz on a weekend to unwind after a very long and tiring week. I tried to book on the same day (Saturday) and called them. Someone on the other line said that they were full already so I tried calling other resorts within the area and I received a call again from them saying that they have an available room due to a cancellation. So I took it, they forwarded their policies. The person said that the room is approximately at 8k and that there is a 20% discount. When I received the quoatation, I was confused bec the total is still at 8,000 despite the discount but she told me that she also included a 600 peso voucher for each person. I was asked to pay 50% deposit and that the rest can be settled in the resort after. Due to a series of events, we arrived at the resort at 530pm and they said that we can settle the balance in the morning since the front desk is already closed. Here is the breakdown of our review: ROOM- the room that we got has 2 twin sized beds with an additional extra bed on the room already. The cabinets are old. The lights on the shower area was busted. They provide basic toiletries. And there is a mini fridge on the room. FOOD/RESTAURANT- Food is reasonably priced and that serving is huge (like good for 3-4 persons) already. However, food serving time took longer than usual serving time ass there was a mix up of our orders with other tables. They compensated by giving a free sliced cake that was just okay. Don’t expect much from their breakfast selection as well. STAFF- The staff are all very respectful and accomodating EXCEPT for the guy on the front desk during our checkout. He was rude and was blaming us for not paying the balance when we arrived. And the initial room that he charged for us was at 10,500 which was very different from the initial quotation that I got. So the problem came during checkout, since as I have mentioned, the room charged to us was differently priced. But the manager/supervisor was able to sort it out and gave an additional 20% discount for the room. Now another problem is that, they keep on messaging us that we have to pay the 1,200 meal voucher since we did not pay the balance upon arrival and that the voucher is only valid if we did pay during the arrival. I messaged them back that we were ready6 to pay then but was told that the front desk was closed already. It was not also mentioned to us about that condition for the said voucher.

On July 2, 2023, Sunday we have our summer company outing at the La Luz Beach Resort and Spa located in San Juan Batangas, Philippines. This is going to be our second time at this resort, if I remember right we have our company outing in 2016 and now 7 years after we are back, It brings a lot of wistful thinking and feelings of melancholy that most of the people I am with back in 2016 are no longer with the company. However, let us set aside this gloomy feeling as today is supposed to be for us to recharge, relax, destress, and unwind. Looking back now, 7 years ago, there were so many changes that happened, and one of that major changes or probably an upgrade for La Luz is their infinity pool. The pool was very wide and had a very picturesque spot overlooking the sea. The rock formation near the resort is still there and it perfect spot for you to take pictures for every occasion, in my thought the spot is best for prenuptial photoshoots, commercials photoshoots, and the whole nine-yard. The infinity pool is the best spot as well for pictures which I and friend and officemate enjoyed. The facility looks the same, I remember their room accommodation is cozy, their AC is working perfectly fine and the water in each of the rooms is strong which is a plus for me in every accommodation I have. Nonetheless, since our company outing for this year is only for Day Tour Package, I didn't get a chance to check out their room accommodation now, although it was good 7 years ago, I am hoping that it is the same case now since there were able to even upgrade there facility and add a swimming pool. The downside, however of the resort is their shower area, I think they NEED to have a MAJOR change in their shower rooms, it was dark and grimy looking, and most of the door of each of the shower cubicle is dirty looking, although the water is strong it is disappointing. The urinal is not working, and some of the toilet bowls don't look good although it has bidet just the same you cannot do number 2 in those sad-looking washroom cubicle, I can't help but compare the shower rooms of Aquaria Resort when we have our company outing there, it looks and smells clean, the shower room is nice and perfect, the water toos is strong. The washroom near the front desk was also sad looking, even the single cubicle in the men's room have no light, it was dark and flooded with water but yet again the bidet and the water is strong but doesn't compensate for the grim experience you will get, so I hope the management will pay attention on this. The food is so-so, guess the food for every guest is different, it was good, but it was not great, but that's ok. Overall our stay turned out still enjoyable, apart from some significant issues we notice, the experience is just the same, we still get to unwind and destress, and that's the most important thing but that doesn't mean the issue will be ignored, if fix, those may add up to a perfect beach resort experience moving forward.

We were very excited at first because we saw some renovations and upgrade in this resort, since this is not our first time here. But when we enter in the room we were reserved it was very old and dirty. The food is not great, served us cold meals (breakfast) and the staff in the dining area were not accomodating and they seems irritated when you ask for water etc. It is very frustrating and then the aircon brokedown twice, no intercom or emergency genset. We will never go back to this place again. Waste of money.