Family Road Trip to Anvaya Cove, Bataan

I know you’ll say, it’s already raining cats and dogs outside Vida, why the hell are you talking about sunny road trips? I’m sure you miss the sun as much as I do. But in truth, the summer days are gone… At least for now. Although right before it was over, my family got to catch a bit of sun in Anvaya Cove, Bataan.

As I understand it, this is a membership resort. But someone knows someone who knows someone who’s a member, and we got in.

It was kind of posh, but that is to be expected. It is a member-only resort after all. This is mi familia inhaling the last breaths of summer in May.

The place was all nature-sy, but not in the sense that you can run around the grass. Most of the time you pass by the rivers and fields, you’ll be inside a golf cart on your way to the resort proper or back to your casita.

But the view is good. It’s always nice to be able to rest your eyes from the smoke in the Manila air.

The rooms are pretty, yes. Nothing new or special, but just right for the price.

Since there are 5 of us in the family, we paid for P7,500 per night for one room. It was just an overnight stay. That was P4,500 for the garden room (which is only for 2 people) plus P1,000 for every additional person. They really count per person, so you can’t cheat that. But that already comes with a good breakfast for everybody.

You won’t see the accommodation rates in their site, but I did a bit of research and found this info. The following rates are per room, for double occupancy, inclusive of tax but subject to 10% service charge:

• Anvaya Suite – P8,500
• Lagoon Terrace – P6,500
• Garden Terrace – P5,500
• Garden Room – P4,500

Extra charge for every extra person is P1,000. And there’s a 20% discount if you go on weekdays.

The photos of the rooms in their website are pretty accurate. Nothing to worry about.

If you want to get out of your room and head to the resort proper, you’ll have to call the cart guys and they’ll pick you up and assist you like princes and princesses. Terrific service.

The place is very, very well-maintained.

The pools – this was swarming with people when we got there. It was a Saturday. But apparently most of them are there on a day trip because it wasn’t too packed anymore the next day.

So they have a lot of large pools, as you can see.

As with other swimming resorts, there are jacuzzis, adult pools – shallow and deep. You choose. Lifeguards are abound too, which is very useful if you have kids or some of your family members are afraid of water or something.

There’s a small pool area with balls for kids. Cute.

If you just want to hang out, enjoy a few drinks, bond a bit, they have a lot of tables and chairs around the pool area. They are obviously ready for a swarm of guests, guessing by the number of tables available.

And that was just the beginning of it, as they have a beach area. They also have a dozen of activities in store for members and guests. This ranges from water sports to exercise routines – stuff like that. Other classes, they even offer for free. Make sure to ask for their scheduled activities during your stay.

Was Anvaya Cove any good? Yes. Will I recommend it? Yup. It’s not capital Awesome – as I said, there is nothing new or special about it. But it’s clean, service is pretty well, and there are a lot of activities which in my opinion is geared towards the family. And of course – and this is quite important – it’s only 4-5 hours away from Manila. Perfect of a short weekend escape.

More info in their website: http://www.anvayacove.com/