Travel | Stilts Calatagan Beach Resort

By huayyu - 12/02/2017


One of the wishes in my bucket list is to someday visit the Maldives.  I would always see in magazines and the internet how beautiful the place is with all the cottages built on water and how blue and clear the water is.  Well, now this is the closest that I could get to Maldives, Stilts Calatagan Beach Resort.  I am still saving up for that dream trip.  Just like what my blog is all about, I need to save money so that I can eat happily and travel freely.



When I first saw this place in the ads, I was amazed.  It is very similar to those pictures of the Maldives that I have seen.  This is one of the few choices of resorts that we considered for our team building this year.  As soon as I saw the place (in pictures of course!), I immediately voted for it.   Obviously, it won the vote otherwise I wouldn't be able to write this blog.

We only stayed for a night at the resort and I would be showing you the cottage that we stayed at and the food that we ordered.

Our package inclusions:
- (1) Floating Cottage
- Lunch
- PM Snack
- Dinner
- Breakfast
- AM Snack
- Conference room rental for 8 hours

I didn't realize that the place is very far.  We left the office at around 7:30AM and arrived close to 11AM.  You need to consider the travel time when going to Stilts from Metro Manila and vice versa especially during rush hours.


The first thing that I have noticed once we arrived is that the place has a lot of quotes posted which is very cool.  The quotes that they posted are very inspiring.  If you are like me that is interested in inspiration quotes then you would definitely love the place.








Since we were on a team-building, we settled first in the conference room because their check-in time is 2:00PM. We rented out their conference room which includes the sound system and projector and screen for 8 hours for Php7,000.  The room is clean and well maintained.  We placed our valuables in the room before we headed to lunch and they locked the room for us.


We had lunch at the only restaurant in the resort, The Sweet Spot.  It is located across the conference room and near the pool.  Very accessible. 


We pre-ordered all the food when we booked for the room.  The lunch is Php450 per head and it is family-style.  They already have a set menu which includes 3 kinds of dishes plus rice and dessert and also 1 round of iced tea.  We just need to choose which ones we prefer.  For lunch, we chose grilled liempo, creamy chicken curry, buttered vegetables, steamed rice, fresh fruits with 1 round of iced tea. Since only 3 dishes are part of the set, we feel that we need to order another dish.  We ordered an extra pork sinigang.






Their food exceeded my expectations.  My favorite is the grilled liempo and the sinigang.  Their serving is enough for everybody and we even had some leftovers.

The place is breathtaking with lots of picture moments.  For those who are fond of posting on Instagram or who are "photographers" then this place is for you.  I can't even believe the shot I took with my camera phone.  They almost look professional.  The place is also filled with couples shooting for their pre-nuptial photoshoot.









After lunch, we settled in our cottage.  They have given us the farthest one and I think also one of their biggest floating cottage (Beauty). They have about 8 floating cottages which are named Peace, Inspiration, Happiness, Love, Beauty, Blessings, Wishes and Dreams.  They also have tree houses, although I haven't seen them in the resort (not sure where they are located though).


The pathway going to the cottages is stable but you have to be careful though as there are small gaps between the walkway.  Don't let the children run or they might trip.


You might think that the walk is very but it is not.  You can feel the wind and how peaceful the water is.  Good for those who just want to get away from the city.

The cottage itself is very clean.  For 7 persons, it is priced at Php17,080 and extra persons at Php1,280 per person.  The maximum number of persons in this cottage is 20 persons.  There are three bedrooms, 2 bathrooms, and 1 powder room.  There is 1 bed in the master room, 2 beds in the room beside the master room and in the attic there are 2 or 3 beds.  The rest are mattresses only (placed on the floor).  It also has a living room and a small dining area plus a veranda with a hammock.







The only thing that I don't like is that there will be occasional insects (mostly ants) on the bed and sometimes in the bathroom outside the veranda.

Outside the veranda, there is a stair that allows you to go directly to the beach.  Although you can only swim in a certain area because the surrounding area is full of grass.



Of course, we can't forget swimming.  The resort has a beautiful beach with a very small sandbar.  Although, it is really not fit for swimming as most parts of the beach are covered with grass.  They do have a swimming pool (one adult pool and one kiddie pool).  Don't forget to wear proper swimming attire.  Unfortunately for me, I didn't bring a swimsuit so I thought it was okay to swim with a t-shirt and shorts but I was called out by the lifeguard.


On the beach, there are a lot of fishes and Kermit crabs (Finally found the correct word, it is Hermit crabs).  The Kermit that I am referring to is the shell that has an animal inside with lots of legs similar to a crab.  Maybe you guys could help me out on what it is called (Thanks to the comment below).  There is also a lot of trash that the guests left behind.  Please if you are going anywhere remember to properly throw your trash in the bins.  Not entirely connected to this post but let us take care of our earth.




For our dinner, we chose Set C which is Garlic Roasted Chicken with gravy, Pork Barbecue, Sauteed Green Beans & Tomato Sauce and Turon with Langka. The price is also the same as lunch, Php450 per person.  We also ordered an additional dish, Sauteed Spicy Pork Spareribs. I so love the Sauteed Spicy Pork Spareribs and you combine it with rice (perfect!).





We also ordered a PM snack which is a sandwich and AM Snack which is a spaghetti priced both at php250 per person.

For breakfast, it is a small buffet but all the basic breakfast items are there like bacon and eggs.  Don't be fooled by the food on my plate.  There are a lot of choices but I could only eat that much.


I definitely enjoyed my stay would recommend this place to my friends.  The food and room are great.  And to add to that, the service given by their staff is excellent!

I love to hear your stories about Stilts.  Comment below.

STILTS CALATAGAN BEACH RESORT

ADDRESS: Barangay Sta. Ana, Calatagan, Batangas
CONTACT NUMBER: +63 2 967-0820 (Makati Office)
WEBSITE: www.stiltscalataganbeachresort.net/
EMAIL: stilts.sales@gmail.com



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14 comments

  1. The food seems absolutely amazing here, just by looking at the pictures I could tell how delicious they must be! The over-water villa also looks pretty cool !

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Yes, it is pretty cool. First time to visit such a place.

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  2. Oh my mouth is watering just looking at the pictures of the food!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Food are delicious. Makes me want to go back.

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  3. What a great post and review. Definitely makes me want to visit there!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. You should try to visit Stilts. It is very peaceful, away from the busy city.

      Delete
  4. Anonymous3/05/2018

    i guess you were talking about the hermit crab....

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Yes! That is it! Hermit crabs. Thank you for letting me know. Will now update my post. By the way, it was cute watching them.

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  5. How much is their breakfast buffet?

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    Replies
    1. Hi Cadbury Girl,

      For their breakfast, it is already included in the room rate. I don't think they offer a separate breakfast only rate since most of their guests are already staying in the resort. If you have an extra person, staying in the room, you would need to pay an extra Php1,280 per person which already includes breakfast. Hope this helps.

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  6. Hi, can you cook in the cottage? Or bring food? Was wondering what food options are there.

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    Replies
    1. Hi,

      You can't cook in the cottage and there are corkage fees in bringing heavy meals.

      Here are the list of applicable corkage fees:
      Php200/head for heavy meals
      Php500/case for beers
      Php300/case for soft drinks
      Php200/bottle for local hard drinks
      Php500/bottle for imported hard drinks

      You would need to order from them for heavy meals. For snacks, we did bring our own chips, cookies, etc.

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  7. Anonymous6/06/2018

    Hello! Are there terminals in Gil Puyat Buendi bound to Calatagan? Or is calatagan town proper is there terminal already

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. The bus terminal going to Batangas are located at MRT Edsa Taft. If you riding an LRT line 1, you can get off at the Edsa Station and from there you could cross until you reach the MRT station. The bus terminal is below the MRT Edsa Taft station. Once you reach the town proper, you would need to take a tricycle to take you to the resort.

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