Lost in Batangas: Punta Verde Resort

I always feel envious of my friends who have all these crazy out of town company outings and team buildings. I have been part of the corporate world for almost a decade and sadly, I've only been to one outing throughout my whole stint. To be fair, it was a fun trip to Bluewater Maribago Cebu. But I wanted more. So I'd find myself tagging along with R during his company outing. And this year, his team went to Punta Verde Resort.

Hello, Punta Verde Resort.

R and I were so excited to visit this place after seeing lovely photos from guests. And the best part is that it's a pet friendly place!

It's about 3 hours away from Manila but we ended up getting lost and instead of arriving around 10 am, we got to the pick up point past 1 pm. 

The road to the resort is very narrow so buses won't be able to pass through. We had to coordinate with Punta Verde and have its service jeepney pick us up from the parking lot. 

Lunch was ready as soon as we arrived. It should be given that we were supposed to arrive before lunch time. 

I wasn't able to take photos of the food anymore as everyone was famished. Also, the food was rather mediocre to below average. It's more of the kind of dish you eat in order to survive the day and not to enjoy it. 

The fun games started after everyone had their late lunch. Unfortunately, I couldn't join any of the water games that day and decided to sulk with Halo-Halo (PHP95) instead. 

It was not good too as they seem to use sugar instead of condensed milk. 

At least the kusilbang saging was good.

Dinner was pretty much like lunch. It was underwhelming. But the ambiance was pretty nice. 

The breeze was cool and calming. While others sing their hearts out, R and I sat on the lounge chairs by the pool with the dogs while staring at the vast dark sky.

Our Superior Room (PHP3,500/night) comes with a king size bed, a small powder area, bathroom with shower heater.

The website mentions that it offers a lovely view of the sea and that it has a balcony of its own. However, it's not exactly true. The sea view can be seen from the other side of the resort which is literally across the street. The cottage is not high enough to have a good vantage point. Also, the balcony is actually more of a veranda, a common area for the whole cottage which is shared by a couple of rooms. 

However, despite the hiccups, we did have a good night sleep.

I woke up quite late the next day and was not able to check the beach out anymore which is a bit of a walk down from the resort. But I got feedback that the beach is a bit too rocky to be enjoyed. The water's clean though.

Breakfast was better than lunch and dinner, but again, no photos as I wasn't expecting it to be good. Options for breakfast were tocino, longganisa and this local fish in Batangas which I forgot to take note of.

The staff also do not seem to know how to smile. Everyone was frowning and hardly engage with the guests. But they are responsive to requests. 

Punta Verde may offer affordable accommodation and a nice view to match but doesn't seem to be ideal for company events as its common area is a bit small for groups of a hundred or more. It also needs to train its staff to be more accommodating as that's something that could make or break a resort. And investing in a few culinary lessons would give them a better leverage.

Would I go back to Punta Verde? Not anytime soon.

Notes: 

-Punta Verde follows a Pay As You Order system for its food and merchandise. However, take note if you have change as they don't exactly give change if not reminded. 

-I was also told that the people in the kitchen tend to hold some of the food we already paid for. For instance, instead of offering 20 plates of fish, they'd only hand out 15. They keep the rest and will only give it out when asked. So best to keep track of your pre-paid orders.

-They also do not allow dogs inside the dining area. But they don't seem to strictly follow this as we were able to have our dogs join us for dinner and breakfast. 

-There is barely any signal in the resort. So better check your emails before heading to the place if you need to have some work done.

-Plus point: Despite all the plants and trees around, we didn't see a single mosquito!

Punta Verde Resorts is located at Lobo, Batangas. Visit www.puntaverde.ph for exact location. For inquiries, yo may contact them at +632 899 8276, +632 219 5959, +63906 529 3614 or email them at puntaverderesorts@gmail.com.