Showing posts with label Staycation. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Staycation. Show all posts

March 10, 2025

Day 2 in Da Nang Vietnam

This school year is about to end and it also means, vacation na naman and I am supposed to plan for our travel itinerary but here I am, tinatamad na naman mag-umpisa. Ang hilig ko lang magcram. Hehehe! Anyway, last month I finished making our Da Nang Vietnam Photobook so this reminded me that I haven’t finished my Da Nang blog posts so I am pressuring myself to finish this series na. 


Day 2 in Da Nang Vietnam

We just stayed in the hotel for our second day in Da Nang, ate, and rested. We decided not to join the Hue City Tour because we wanted to rest and recharge. This was the supposed itinerary for that day. It was a whole day itinerary and binabasa ko pa lang napagod na ko. #signsofaging. 

Hue City Tour - $69 per person  

Inclusion: tour guide, transportation, lunch, seafood dinner, entrance fee, and tips  

- Stop at Hai Van Pass, Lap An for photos 
- Visit Thien Mu Pagoda; the oldest pagoda in Hue 
- Visit the Imperial Citadel; one of Vietnam’s seven UNESCO World Heritage sites.  
- Visit Khai Dinh King’s Tomb; the tomb of the 12th king of the Nguyen Dynasty  
- Lunch and seafood dinner at a local restaurant  

Buffet Breakfast at Table 88 







Since we had no tour for that day, hindi kami nagmamadali na magbreakfast. In fact, late na rin kami nagpunta sa restaurant para brunch na rin. We took our time eating and we just enjoyed our food para busog kami hanggang lunch. Hehehe! Table 88 serves Banh Mi and Pho and you can enjoy this popular food every breakfast. 




After breakfast, we explored the Sheraton Grand Da Nang Resort & Convention Center. This resort has a 250m infinity pool and the longest pool in Da Nang. Unfortunately, because of the weather, we could not enjoy the pool. Feeling ko magkakasakit lang kami kapag nagswimming sa lamig so we just stayed in our room. 





My son was busy doing his school assignments and I spent my time crafting. Yes, I brought my craft projects on our Vietnam trip so just in case wala ako gawin, magcraft na lang ako. 

For dinner, my son and I decided to stay in the hotel and we just ordered food “room service” na lang. We ordered fries and pizza while my husband and his colleagues went to Hoi An again for dinner. 



Sheraton Grand Da Nang Resort offers a shuttle bus to Hoi An and vice versa but the schedules are limited so they travel via Grab. 

Hoi An - Da Nang Shuttle Bus 

VNV80,000 net per person 
Complimentary for children aged 12 or below 
The shuttle bus is good for 14 seats only so book in advance. 
Arrived 10 minutes before the departure time. 

Schedule 
10AM - Da Nang - Hoi An 
12NN - Hoi An - Da Nang 
14:00 - Da Nang - Hoi An 
16:00 - Hoi An - Da Nang 

February 27, 2025

Courtyard by Marriott Bangkok Hotel

Just this month, my husband went back to Bangkok Thailand. I was checking my blog and seven years na pala ang nakalipas since our last visit. My husband's last visit was in 2018 when they had a team building and stayed at Modena by Fraser Bangkok Hotel. This year their company had a kick-off meeting held at Courtyard by Marriott Bangkok Hotel. 

Courtyard by Marriott Bangkok Hotel was the 6th accommodation that my husband has tried in Bangkok. It is a 4-star hotel located in central Bangkok. It is near Skytrain Station, restaurants, and shopping malls like Amarin Plaza, Big C, and Platinum Mall. 

This hotel is about 25 kilometers away from Suvarnabhumi Airport. They do not provide shuttle service but they have alternate transportation for THB1,800 per way. Their company arranged their round-trip transportation. 

Courtyard by Marriott Bangkok Hotel Room 

This hotel offers 314 contemporary guest rooms and 2 suites. The room is equipped with a working desk, couch, mini fridge, and coffee/tea maker. 



The bathroom has no bathtub. 



Since this was a company event, my husband just stayed inside the hotel for four days, so they ate breakfast lunch, and dinner at the hotel. 

MoMo Cafe 

The complimentary buffet breakfast is served at MoMo Cafe. It is an all-day dining restaurant that offers Thai dishes and international cuisines. The restaurant is open from 6:00 AM-11:00 PM. My husband enjoyed his breakfast and according to him, their buffet spread is much better than the other hotels he had tried in Bangkok, with more food choices.








This hotel has a fitness center, outdoor pool, and spa but my husband was not able to visit these amenities.


Courtyard Bangkok Marriott Hotel 
155/1 Soi Mahadlekluang 1, 
Ratchadamri Road, 
Bangkok, Thailand, 10330 
Tel: +66 2-690-1888

February 13, 2025

Anniversary Staycation at Nawa Wellness Calatagan

Since last month, my mom always asked me where we are going to celebrate our wedding anniversary and I always say, hindi ko alam baka kakain lang kami sa labas. And now February is here and we still don’t have definite plans. 

I was contemplating if we would have a weekend getaway or food trip. Pero kung weekend getaway naman, wala na ko maisip na puntahan na resort. I even checked the list of exhibitors of the recent PTAA Travel Expo baka may magandang puntahan pero ayaw ko naman pumunta sa travel expo because I still can’t forget our last visit kasi kaya tinamad na ko. 

For the past few years, we celebrated our anniversary at Chateau Hestia, La Chevrerie Resort and Spa, and Nawa Wellness Calatagan. And now, I realized that I haven’t shared our Anniversary Staycation at Nawa Wellness so let me do a throwback post. 


Nawa Wellness is a new eco-luxury holistic wellness destination in the Philippines. Before kasi, when we say wellness resort, The Farm at San Benito ang naiiisip natin but now, meron ng ibang option. My husband just inquired and reserved our room via their Facebook Page and to guarantee the reservation, 100% deposit for the first night is required. 


Calatagan, Batangas is not that far but we still traveled early because I wanted to eat Breakfast at La Creperie - Twin Lakes. Then after our breakfast, we went straight to Nawa Wellness. This was the third resort that we visited in Calatagan, Batangas. We have tried Golden Sunset Resort and Stilts Calatagan before but only for a day trip. 

On our way to the resort, we were surprised na may harang, so need pala namin magbayad ng Ecological Fee. I thought sa San Juan, Batangas lang ito, meron din pala sa Calatagan. The small booth is about 15 minutes away from Nawa Wellness so kaya pala hindi namin naexperience sa ibang resorts na bandang unahan. 

Ecological Fee

PHP30 - Adult 
PHP24 - Senior, PWD, and Children 

Anniversary Staycation at Nawa Wellness Calatagan 

A few days before our trip, the staff asked for our arrival time and my husband said, 11AM but we arrived at 9:30AM, sobrang napaaga. When we got there, we realized na one-way pala yung daan so mahirap kapag may kasabayan kaya pala they asked for our arrival time so they can prepare. 


The guard asked us to wait while the staff are preparing, so dahil napaaga kami hindi pa sila ready. They have a “Welcome Ritual” for all the incoming guests pala. So may pausok and sinabitan din kami ng lei. 


At the reception, they served our welcome drinks and gave us a brief introduction about the resort, activities, restaurant, and others. We already paid for our accommodation but there is a PHP6000 cash deposit. 



Check-in time is 2PM so we were surprised when the staff informed us that our room was already ready. Yes, early check-in. Before we went to our room, we ordered our lunch. The place is not that really big, pero sumakay pa kami ng service on our way to our room together with our butler “Jaspher’.

If we need anything, we can just message our butler so yung mga order namin na food, paschedule ng spa and activities, sa kanya kami nag-iinform. 


Escolta Room (Superior Room) 

As of this writing, I checked their website, iba na pala name ng rooms nila. So I was assuming yung Escolta Room namin is under Superior Room. Last year they had packages but since I’m not fond of body treatment or massage, I told my husband na Room with Breakfast lang kami. Escolta Room is PHP5,600 for 2 persons and PHP2,000 for extra person. 

This is the room. 


The bathroom is small. 


There is a water dispenser, gazebo area and small swimming pool in this building so pwede na kung ayaw mo maglakad ng malayo para sa malaking pool. 




For our food, you can read the “What to Eat at Nawa Wellness” post. I shared on this post what we ate during lunch, dinner, and breakfast. 



My husband and son also availed of the Banana Body Wrap, PHP2,600 per person and it is only 45 minutes. My husband said, “Okay lang” so nanghinayang yata sa PHP2,600 niya. Hehehe!



Nawa Wellness Activities 

Prior to our visit, I thought we would just eat and rest at Nawa Wellness so I was really surprised that they offer activities too just like our experience at The Farm at San Benito. 

7AM Guide Walk 
7:30AM Breathwork 
9:30AM Mandala 
3:15PM Meal Prep 
4PM Hiking 
6PM Reiki 

Make sure to book in advance because slots are limited. We were not able to experience the Reiki kasi fully booked na. 

There are also paid activities. During our trip, there was “Hilom and Likha” and I was lucky to try this activity. The activity is from 3 to 6PM, so I did not join the Meal Prep and Hiking activities.



For Meal Prep, the chef taught them "how to make 3 kinds of juices using cucumber apple, watermelon, banana, turmeric juice, honey and lemon". 


For Hiking, nakakapagod ito, 250 steps daw yung inakyat nila. Buti na lang may free bottled water. 


The following day, we joined the Breathwork and Mandala Activities. 



After the Mandala activity, we went home already. Overall, we enjoyed our short weekend getaway. The service is good from the reception, restaurant, and all the staff na makakasalubong mo. 


Nawa Wellness 
Brgy. Bagong Silang,
Calatagan Batangas

January 14, 2025

Christmas Staycation at Clark Marriott Hotel

I was busy crafting during ber-months so I forgot to plan for our Christmas Holiday. A week before Christmas, I was planning for our menu, mag-order lang ako ng food since I didn’t want to cook. But I changed my mind because ang mahal din pala ng magagastos ko kung mag-order ako ng food for our family get-together plus our Christmas dinner. Tapos kakain pa kami ng Christmas breakfast somewhere in Tagaytay (our tradition for the past several years). 

So I suggested to my husband na magstaycation na lang kami ng Christmas and advance na lang namin yung Christmas Family Get-Together sa bahay. Malakas lang ang loob ko na magstaycation because I knew na free yung accommodation namin care of Marriott Bonvoy Points.

We’ve been to Sheraton Manila, Sheraton Manila Bay, and Sheraton Mactan so ang pinagpipilian namin are The Westin Manila, Manila Marriott Hotel, and Clark Marriott Hotel. And the winner is Clark Marriott Hotel kasi hindi pa namin napupuntahan.

Christmas Staycation at Clark Marriott Hotel

This is our first Christmas Staycation because normally, sa bahay lang talaga kami at kakain sa labas ng Christmas breakfast. We left early to avoid the traffic and arrived at Clark Marriott Hotel before 9AM.



The staff gave us 2 options kung magpay kami ng deposit or pay as order na lang sa restaurant, we chose the latter. And since we only used our points for our accommodation, breakfast is not included. The staff informed us that we can avail the Buffet Breakfast for PHP1,200/person kasi yung sa restaurant pa daw kami mag-avail, PHP2,100/person daw yung rate. Since it was our first time, I had no idea sa buffet rates nila. Plan ko sana na magroom service na lang kami but in the end, we availed the breakfast and the staff gave us vouchers and keycard. Yey! Early check-in. 


Clark Marriott Hotel Deluxe Room - King 

We prefer 2 double beds but it is not available so siksikan kaming tatlo sa king sized bed. We have a couch, mini fridge, TV, complimentary coffee/tea maker. 



Marbled bathroom. The toilet has a bidet. 



Clark Marriott Hotel Dining Options 

Clark Marriott hotel has Goji Kitchen + Bar, Smoki Moto, Wu Xing, The Lounge, Urban Coffee, Pool Bar and Noodle Inc. You can also visit the restaurants of Swissotel and Hann Resort. These 3 hotels are connected so you can just explore the area. Sa dami ng pagpipilian, hindi ka talaga magugutom, nakakabutas lang ng bulsa. Hehehe! 



We had lunch at Wu Xing, breakfast at Goji Kitchen and for dinner, wala gusto sa amin magdinner na kasi may leftover kami sa Wu Xing and madami din snacks na binigay ang Marriott so we just ate Gelato at Oma’s -Swissotel Clark. Our initial plan is dinner at Smoki Moto kaso hindi na natuloy but I hope next time, we can try this restaurant kasi maganda yung review. I will share our food trip in a separate post. 



Complimentary from Clark Marriott Hotel 

We got a complimentary chocolate bar, cake, snacks, and may Christmas gift sila na towel with Marriott logo. So wala man silang Christmas events or activities, may pagift naman. 






Clark Marriott has spa, fitness center and swimming pool pero wala kami pinuntahan. We literally ate, rested, and slept last Christmas. No late check-out so we went home early at sa bahay na kami naglunch kasi marami kami leftover from our family get-together. Hehehe! 


x

Clark Marriott Hotel 
5398 Manuel A Roxas Highway Clark Freeport, 
Pampanga, Philippines
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