Another year to be thankful for. To celebrate, the husband suggested that we have my birthday weekend out-of-town. Where else to go but Tagaytay? I asked my BFF Aileen if she knew of any good places to go spend a couple of nights at. She suggested Balai Indang, or the swankier Wilson’s Place by the same owner. They have no website, but the photos in a post by Anton Diaz over at Our Awesome Planet convinced us to try out the latter.
Wilson’s Place is a Bed and Breakfast in Tagaytay City. I called their listed mobile number and looked for Christy (as suggested by Aileen) and booked us a room for two nights. She asked us to make a deposit of Php 1,500 to their BDO account and then we made confirmations via SMS. It was a pretty smooth transaction. Just remember to bring the deposit receipt with you because I didn’t.
We left Pasig at around 5:30 am early on Friday and headed South. We had to be out of Manila before 7am due to the car coding scheme. By 6:30 am, we were already at the NLEX and had breakfast at the Pancake House near the Petron Station. There were several buses carrying teens from Colegio San Agustin. I remember getting annoyed at the teenage girls casually cutting in the queue in the ladies’ room. Kids!
Within an hour, we were on our way to Tagaytay via the Sta. Rosa, Laguna exit. The directions that Christy gave me weren’t so clear. Had she mentioned Maglabe Drive instead of Sotogrande, we would have saved a few minutes’ travel time. Thankfully, Waze came to the rescue (and helpful strangers). Christy came out to meet us after I called to let her know that we couldn’t find the black gate. Turns out we were still several houses away.
The pool looked so inviting! This was the view of the pool from our room at the second floor of the main house. The structures in the picture are the family rooms, while the building at the left is the shower room. It was a sunny day, but the water was always cold. And so while I took a dip a couple of times (husband couldn’t take it), we stayed away from it for the rest of our trip which was really too bad. I wish the pool had a temperature control. Hee-hee.
We lounged around until lunch and took more photos of the place. Below are some shots we took of the main house’s interior.
The entire compound itself is modern-artsy, and there were several sculptures around the pool area.
The rooms for two people (price ranging from Php 5,000 to Php 5,800 per night) are in the main house, while family rooms (about Php 8,000) are outside surrounding the pool. Hot water is available in the bathrooms.
Our portable devices found a wifi hotspot in the pool area and I did obtain the password from Christy, but we never got connected to it. I have no idea why.
The best thing about this place? The food! The meals always include 3-4 courses so if you’re a big eater, you’ll love it. The rates include breakfast and dinner so I think the price is just right.
For dinner that night, we had a salad for starters. I love the Japanese-Caesar dressing. It is not too overpowering.
With the salad, we had toasted wheat bread with eggplant paté that the husband absolutely enjoyed. Christy was kind enough to share the recipe with me.
For our main course, we were served cereal prawn balls and chicken wrapped in bacon, and a cup of rice.
We were already stuffed around this time (we usually don’t eat much, nor any rice, at night) so a lot of food went to waste. You can let them know ahead of time if you prefer lighter meals so that they can adjust. I did tell Christy not to serve us any pasta the next night but they still did, so that also went to waste.
For dessert, we were served apple crumble with ice cream on top. It was good; sweet, as expected. We ate only a little of that as well. We had calamansi juice with bits of mint and it was really good too.
Our breakfast the next morning started with tuna-apple sandwiches (which I really loved!), longganisa with fried eggs and rice, tuyo, and their peach ensalada.
I love a big breakfast and felt really bad that we still couldn’t finish the entire meal. Husband was served his brewed coffee while I had sweet tablea to drink.
Dinner the next night consisted of a salad, pumpkin soup, baked tortillas with eggplant paté (requested by the husband) and pasta with smoked salmon that the manager insisted we try (we shared one plate but we didn’t even get to finish it). Dessert was creamy maja blanca.
Breakfast on our last day consisted of a cup of fruits with cream, fried breaded bangus/milkfish and tapa with garlic rice, their mango ensalada and our usual drinks.
We had lunch outside for both days that we were there so I can’t really say how the lunch is at Wilson’s Place. Christy did mention that night though that they will be serving our dinner menu to their guests coming in for lunch the next day, curiously enough.
We couldn’t find anyone in the compound during the day, and the only means to get in touch with Christy is by calling her on her mobile. Perhaps they can have a corner where they served coffee or tea throughout the day, and a bell at the reception area to call on the staff.
Other than that, we had a lovely stay at Wilson’s Place. The weather was cooler at night that we had only the a/c fan on. We could have left the windows open during the night but it would gotten too cold. Their a/c couldn’t handle the heat during the day though, so it’s best to stay on the ground floor.
Christy said she will leaving her post there soon so get in touch with the manager, Marge, for booking.
Their numbers are: 0921 623 1254 (Christy) and 0915 864 5706
Wilson’s Place is a Bed and Breakfast in Tagaytay City
Directions from Manila:
Take Sta. Rosa exit and follow the Sta. Rosa-Tagaytay Road. Make a right at the Tagaytay-Calamba Road and follow the Tagaytay-Nasugbu Highway. Drive straight until you see Bag of Beans at your right, then slow down. You will pass by Sotogrande, a private subdivision. The next road is Maglabe Drive which is where you will take a right. The arch will say “Welcome to Brgy Asisan”. Drive 3+ kilometers in. You will pass by Flower Farm, and through another arch. Wilson’s Place black gate is not visible from the road, and their sign that says “Bakasyon Grande” is old and worn, and barely readable, so best to ask them to meet you outside. They will ask you to drive to the next road at your right to access the driveway at the side of the compound.
