The Farm At San Benito

Our second time celebrating our anniversary now with a well planned activities maximizing our stay. I would like to take this opportunity to thank the "The Farm" staff for their courteous efforts in providing our needs during our stay and special thanks to Ms. Rona Jean Malice, our Guest Ambassador who helped me planned our activities and treatments during our two nights stay at the Farm. The "Essence of a Woman" and "The Noble Man" packages were fantastic. Yoga and Sound Healing were a great experience for us. And... the Plus was being serenaded by Ms. Geneva Cruz on her musical performance over dinner. That sealed our anniversary unexpectedly. For sure, we'll be back for more!

It is easily accessible as it can be reached in 2 hours by road. I would say that the experience in San Benito is what you paid for here. Other than the room that is underwhelming for me, their offerings such as massages and hydrotherapy are top-notch, though you have to pay for a lot for it. The food is quite good to our surprise, especially their vegan offerings at Alive. I recommend this for couples who want a high-end weekend R&R outside the city.

What we liked: 1. We loved the vibe of the resort and most of the staff would greet us nicely whenever we come across them. 2. They put a 'happy anniversary' card on our bed, which was very thoughtful. 3. Adequate selection of food during breakfast. 4. Gym has nice equipment and I enjoyed the yoga class. What we didn't like: 1. During our first day, the bathroom suddenly locked for some reason and we couldn't use it for hours. We had to call twice, in reception and in housekeeping, before someone came to try to open it. After housekeeping arrived to address this, we went out for sound healing class so it will be ready when we come back. When we returned to the room, they still haven't fixed it. People fron engineering and housekeeping arrived and they were dismantling the whole door (and making a lot of hammering noises while we're in the room) because they couldn't find the key. This was very stressful. I called reception to ask if we can be moved to a different room but they couldn't grant our request as the resort is fully booked. They said the earliest they could transfer us is in the next morning. It gave me anxiety thinking that we might not have a bathroom to use for the whole night until morning. Good thing the engineering team were able to fix it but left our bathroom door without any mechanism for locking. This really left a bad impression on us and dampened the whole experience. 2. The activity schedules are overlapping. The guests can enjoy more activities if the activities don't overlap. 3. Food options inside the resort are very expensive. 4. The tour guides don't provide adequate information about the areas in the resort. They just take us there and say the name of each area.

Overall experience was great. More than we had expected. I chose this accommodation to expect a treatment that I would not get in Japan. The concept of this place is to heal. From all the daily work and things around me I needed it. The down side of my experience was the therapy treatment. After the treatment I caught I cold which gotten worse ending up sleeping in the bed half of my honeymoon trip in Philippines. My stay was in end of November when the temperatures dropped down dramatically at night. The night I had the treatment was also the same with the addition of rain at the end. My reservation was from 18:00. Despite it being held inside the room, I had to ask the theorist to turn off the air condition after having to had take all my clothes off. it was very cold. After a while my body started to warm up but wishing I had more time to heat up, I was escorted to a coconut milk bath which was outside of the room. The water was cold and my body was freezing. If my body wasn’t inside the water, I could feel that my body would start shivering. At first I thought this was normal and had to bare it but after all while I couldn’t stand the cold and wanted to leave the place as soon as I can but no one was around and didn’t know what I was suppose to do next. I don’t know how long I had to wait but by the time the therapist came back the water turned into cold water and my body was shivering. She escorted me to the showroom which also was outside, I had to wait until the water was hot but it took time to get hot enough to jump into the shower. I asked multiple times if the water temperature can be hotter but her answer was that I had to wait until it gets hot which would take time. If she knew that it would take time I wish she could have run the shower water before I can use it so I didn’t have to wait naked outside the freezing night. The water wasn’t hot but I couldn’t wait any longer so I had nearly a cold water shower which I didn’t feel present about. The next morning I had a sore throat and gradually started to have a headache. By noon, I was feeling sick that I had to drink medicine to continue our trip which ending up having a fever and drowsiness. This lasted for 11 days even after I had returned to my country. I wanted to heal but ended up catching a fever there. The therapist knew the night in that season would get cold, she should have noticed the bath tub could get cold easily . I just wished she would have cared about my body more under the circumstances. Also I wish she had explained to me that after the treatment my cloth would dye in yellow because of the ginger paste she had put on during the treatment will be left on my skin a bit and would transfer to my clothing.

My wife and I stayed at the Banaba deluxe rooms and our experience had been underwhelming. 1. Noise. For a wellness and relaxation hotel, there seems to be constant banging from either the other rooms, or outside. There's also an ongoing construction opposite the Banaba building so there is constant whirring and drilling noise from 7 am onwards. 2. Amenities. We used two towels on our first day but we got just one (?) the next day. Basic amenities such as slippers and shaving kit had to be requested. Even three-star hotels have these by default. In the end I was given a Gillette razor by one of the staff. 3. Services. Multiple calls had to be made for a bucket of ice (and other above-mentioned amenities). In the afternoon a gentleman brought us a huge bucket of ice probably to shut us up :0 4. Activities. The wife and I wanted to join the morning yoga session but a big black dog in the gym put us off from participating. The aqua therapy session was ok, however the massage did not put me to sleep, which is my measurement of how good a massage is. For the exorbitant price of the aqua therapy session (Php13k x 2), I was severely underwhelmed. The staff were polite however something was lacking from their service. Needless to say we'd rather spend our hard-earned money elsewhere next time.

Not worth for its price. Mahogany Luxury Residence 55 (Dec 24, 2023): Problems: Pool stairs is moving and not stable Pool has a very cold water At night, you cannot sit beside the pool, there's a lot of insects Some steps going in the second floor are moving whenever you step on them Door knob of master bedroom is moving (cheap materials) View is just a tube with water coming out from it No private butler as described in website No additional trashbags Pesce restaurant breakfast (since it comes free when you book) is not really great. Fish are very hard and not freshly cooked seems like not fresh bangus were served. Coffee is in paper cup not in glass cup (requested the waitress for 2 coffee, twice, but we were ignored). No guides, invitations for their events, nothing. All we did was to pay an expensive house for a day. The view from our room is really not pleasant (see attached picture) Pros: Yes room were great and clean. That's it. Staff will make you feel respected as they are bowing every time they see a guest. For the price of 90K+ the massage is not free, it's 8k for a 45minute massage. it's not the luxury service I am expecting. Very disappointed. There's a lot of other hotels that can offer better services for this very expensive unworthy vacation. I didn't feel relaxed or healed at all. More of like stressed and feeling that money is wasted. Maybe because we are not vloggers? Not sure.

It’s comforting to know that I have THE FARM if I need a place to rest away from the city life in Manila. The Farm actually made me appreciate Yoga as part of their daily activities and until now, been practicing it. The quietness and safe & healing energy this place has is unmatched and i will definitely come back for a much needed R&R. Special thanks Mae from reservations for always accommodating me and Nica for making sure i get the best possible customer experience. Till nexttime!

It is easily accessible as it can be reached in 2 hours by road. I would say that the experience in San Benito is what you paid for here. Other than the room that is underwhelming for me, their offerings such as massages and hydrotherapy are top-notch, though you have to pay for a lot for it. The food is quite good to our surprise, especially their vegan offerings at Alive. I recommend this for couples who want a high-end weekend R&R outside the city.

What we liked: 1. We loved the vibe of the resort and most of the staff would greet us nicely whenever we come across them. 2. They put a 'happy anniversary' card on our bed, which was very thoughtful. 3. Adequate selection of food during breakfast. 4. Gym has nice equipment and I enjoyed the yoga class. What we didn't like: 1. During our first day, the bathroom suddenly locked for some reason and we couldn't use it for hours. We had to call twice, in reception and in housekeeping, before someone came to try to open it. After housekeeping arrived to address this, we went out for sound healing class so it will be ready when we come back. When we returned to the room, they still haven't fixed it. People fron engineering and housekeeping arrived and they were dismantling the whole door (and making a lot of hammering noises while we're in the room) because they couldn't find the key. This was very stressful. I called reception to ask if we can be moved to a different room but they couldn't grant our request as the resort is fully booked. They said the earliest they could transfer us is in the next morning. It gave me anxiety thinking that we might not have a bathroom to use for the whole night until morning. Good thing the engineering team were able to fix it but left our bathroom door without any mechanism for locking. This really left a bad impression on us and dampened the whole experience. 2. The activity schedules are overlapping. The guests can enjoy more activities if the activities don't overlap. 3. Food options inside the resort are very expensive. 4. The tour guides don't provide adequate information about the areas in the resort. They just take us there and say the name of each area.