Bali of Batangas: Villa Jovita (A Review)

No doubt, I was able to spot this resort due to viral facebook posts. They were able to replicate the bird’s nest, the swing and other fixtures that I often see to almost all tourist who went to Indonesia. And the photos were really great! So when a friend from abroad came home and we needed a short getaway together, this resort easily won as a suggestion. Here are some important details and my final verdict in this resort.

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HOW TO BOOK:

It was fairly easy. We just sent a message to Villa Jovita facebook page and asked for the rates of overnight rooms. At the time of our trip, only Nipa Hut Rooms are available.  To reserve the room, we need to send the following details and eventually deposit P500.00 thru their BDO account within 2 days of confirming our interest to book. The rest can be paid upon checking in.

Details needed to book:

Preferred Date:

Full Name:

Contact Number:

No. of Guests: Accommodation:

HOW TO GO:

 It was easy to commute too. All it takes is a bus and a tricycle. Back and forth.

  • Go to DLTB Bus Terminal in BUENDIA STATION  and buy a ticket going to Lemery Batangas. We paid P204.00 each  for the bus.
  • Upon arriving in the DLTB Bus Terminal in Batangas, you can easily spot tricycles around. Just mention Villa Jovita and they already know it. We paid P100.00 and that’s already for four of us.

DAY TOUR RATES: 

The following rates are updated as of this writing (March 11, 2019) . 

DAYTOUR : No Reservation for cottage
Daytour: 8am to 6pm

A. Weekends and Holiday Rate
       👉Bali Corner P250
       👉Riverside Pools P100
       👉All Pools P150
       👉All access P400

B. Weekdays Promo
    👉Bali Corner P250 (Free Riverside Pool)
    👉Bali Corner + upper pools P300 (Free Riveside Pool)
    👉All access P300

C. Cottages are rented seperately
    👉Table (P500)
    Good for 10-12 person
   👉Table (P600) River side
   Good for 10-12 person
  👉Open Hut (P800)
   Good for 10-12 person
  👉Umbrella (P300)
   Good for 3-4 person

OTHER NOTES
👉No CORKAGE Fee
👉No Reservation and Room Accomodation
👉First Come First Serve

KUBO ACCOMMODATION FOR OVERNIGHT:

We got a  KUBO for 2-3 persons for the price of P3000. We were four in the group but they allowed it since they think we would still fit in there. It has two bedrooms, one was an ordinary room, one was a mezzanine type room which was quite small. They provide two electric fans. It has no own C.R.  

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It comes with  bedding and blankets. However, the towels were by request. There were  no free shampoos and soap. So remember to bring them. 

RESTAURANT and STORE

I love their adobo binalot! I ordered it as dinner and breakfast. They also have silog meals, cup noodles and frappe.

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BALI CORNER

Of course, we came here for their highlight feature and took a lot of pictures.  Here are the outputs. This would show a glimpse of the things you can see here.

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PHOTOSHOOT RATES

I didn’t avail the photoshoot rates since the photos are non-formal and for fun. But since I saw debut photos in their fb page, I asked anyway.

A. Riverside Pools+Upper Pool+Bali Inspired Corner (Swing/ Nests) + Resort: P3000
Inclusive of:

👉 4hrs Duration
👉 6 Persons FREE on Entrance Fees
👉 1 Cottage

B. Riverside Pools+Upper Pool+Bali Inspired Corner (Swing/ Nests) + Resort: P5000
Inclusive of:

👉 4hrs Duration
👉 6 Persons FREE on Entrance Fees
👉 1 Airconditioned Room
👉 2pm-6pm

MORE BALI CORNER PICS

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RIVERSIDE POOLS

This is not the only pools available. They have a pool with a slide but I was not able to take photos on that one.

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Comfort Room

This is what I least like I suppose. I guess since this resort is popular and given the price, I expected something more. There is no any mirror in it where they could have easily install it with the big space in the sink area. There is only three shower area and one of them is not functioning. But their toilet has bidet so they got points for that. Overall, I won’t say it’s super dirty but it’s not that clean either. Their CR needs upgrading.

Final Verdict

❤️ What I like: the Bali Corner is really great for photoshoots and play-pretend you were in Indonesia. I also like that someone is closely monitoring the people in there for safety. I seriously love their binalot available in the restaurant. I also like their riverside pools because of the relaxing nature views. Additionally, It’s near Manila and easy to locate.

😠What I don’t like: They seriously need to upgrade their CR. I think with the overnight fee for the Kubo (P3000.00), they should have at least provided free shampoos or soap just like other resorts.

🙋 Gurezu rating: 3 out of 5 stars!

Hope you enjoy my another travel blog. It’s been more than a month since my last blog. February was a busy month for me and I got a lot of stories to tell. I hope my mind and hands could catch up!

Till next time beshies!

You are all awesome,

GUREZU ❤


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El Nido Adventure- Tour C (Palawan Day 4)

and  Before we jump into the last day our Palawan Adventure, here’s our Day 1, Day 2, and Day 3.

Hidden Beach

Off to our first destination is the Hidden Beach. Our journey going there made me realized why it was named this way. We have to swim, make our way through curves and giant rocks to reach this place. Actually we “cheated” the swimming part. The tour guides just instructed us to float and he pulled our life-jackets while swimming. If they didn’t drag us through the waves, we might have spent full hour swimming to reach the place.

.Just like before, a short time in the boat going to this island made me instantly hungry. The first thing,  search for food or drinks. Here is a short clip of me ordering a coconut for P60.00 from the boat vendor.

Finally, this is me with my “buko”. Take note of the crystal clear water. Too bad we only brought mobile phone here. I did not dare to bring my camera anymore due to the damage it had from yesterday’s adventure. Also, it was kind of stressful to bring a full-blown camera. I was lucky that I had a reliable waterproof bag. If not, I would go home with a dysfunctional one.

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SHIMIZU ISLAND

This island was named after a a Japanese diver who died while exploring the El Nido and eventually was found in the shore of this island. His surname is Shimizu.

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The source of it’s name could be born out of tragedy but hey look at this! With its pristine water and white sand, being here is far from being tragic.

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Of course, pardon me for having my photoshoot again. I travel for pictures with me in it.

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Lunchtime in Shimizu Island

We spent longer hours here in Shimizu that any other island because this was the place where we had our lunch. This photo is an evidence on how my friends guarded our table. Their eyes fixated on the food. With the spoon and fork in their hands, they were so ready to attack.

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What do we have here? Crabs, fish, liempo, eggplant salad, cucumber, banana , pineapple, coke and rice.

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Snorkeling Area

Here’s one thing I hate about myself. I don’t like underwater activities. Snorkeling , Scuba Diving, and any other activities I might not know that involves a lot swimming and going into the deep. I’m not scared. It’s more like I easily get tired. The “I-am-going-to-die-tired” kind of way. But one thing I like about myself, I do it anyway. Who would like to miss the sight of the corals? I only lasted less than 10 minutes though.

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SECRET BEACH…NOT!

What disappointed me in this trip is we have to skip Secret Beach due to large waves. A local said it should have been the highlight of tour C since it the most adventurous to reach. We have to swim through a small crevice in a cave before to enter this mysterious place. It also known as the real inspiration for a bestselling novel ” The Beach” written by Alex Garland. Although the novel was set in Thailand, Alex Garland derived the geography of the setting from Secret Beach during the time he spent vacation here in Palawan. So that’s we have missed. But safety first, right? And we can always go back.

Helicopter Island

This island was named this way because it is truly shaped like a helicopter in a distance. It is not the only thing that sets this apart from the other destinations we toured. The sand of this island is golden! A fresh sight from all the whites we have seen.

Here’s a short clip of our arrival in this island.

And yes, photoshoot again and again!

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Here’s a short clip of me just enjoying the waves and fooling around. I just let my action camera stood by a tripod. Enjoy the sound of waves that will surely calm any restless heart.

ENJOYING THE SUNSET AT THE PORT

Helicopter marked the end of our Palawan Adventure. But we couldn’t get enough. So even if we were tired, we went back to the port to watch the beautiful sunset. What a sight to behold.

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But before I truly end this blog entry, I will share the awesome and affordable accommodation we had in El Nido Palawan.

St. John Island Pensionne House, Truly Affordable!

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My friend booked the room thru Agoda. It has no fixed priced and is according to season.

But I just checked in Agoda now that I’m typing this and it is still around this price. You can also visit their official facebook page.

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As of this writing, its P1,768 per night, 4 persons, inclusive of breakfast.

What I like about this place. It is spacious. It has t.v, aircon and clean bathroom. They also have towels for four. They also provided hot water and coffee. The free breakfast is satisfying enough. They also have other meal offering just in case you are too tired to dine outside. It is also just walking distance away from the tour ports which is convenient. And its really affordable. If you split the price per night to 4, it would only cost P442.00 person per night. However, please take note that we went there off-season. The prices may subject to change.

What I don’t like about this place is they don’t have free water. They do sell water but it was too expensive. A bottle of mineral water costs P40.00 which would normally costs around P25.00 at Manila 7-eleven. Generally, the price of groceries n El Nido Palawan was really steep. But it’s understandable considering we had super affordable accommodation here.

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This is the dining area.

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You can see the shore from this area.

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They also have a mini-bar here which I had my self-portrait shoot. I have another blog entry for that. Their mini-bar was really cute. And it was completely empty! Here’s one of my photo. Check out more on my self-portrait indulgence on my other blog: Alone at The Bar (Photoshoot)

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Finally! I finished my backlog from last year. It’s hard to pick my favorite part of the trip but I got to choose Shimizu Island because that’s where we got to eat. Haha!

I hope this Palawan blog series would help you decide to go on a Palawan adventure specially in picking your accommodation. If you are not from the Philippines and you are interested to go here, you must not really skip Palawan. This is truly a paradise.

 

Remember, it’s not too late for everything,

Gurezu ❤

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