Golden Sunset is one of the hottest resorts in Batangas now! Thanks to Mader Ricky Reyes (people in the resort calls him Mader) for opening their suppose-to-be family vacation resort to the public. The resort is located in the heart of Calatagan, Batangas — 3 hours away from Manila via Tagaytay which is the half way point. I say that it’s hot because it just fully opened this January (soft opening last Oct during Ms. Earth Pageant) and all the weekends were fully booked and overflowing with tents on its open grounds! If you call the reservation office, nobody would answer you because a lot of people are inquiring about this place and they cannot handle the volume anymore. I actually had to drop by as a walk-in and risk that I will be rejected but fortunately I was able to get a standard room for 3 days and 2 nights. I’ll be creating a trilogy series on Golden Sunset to give you the overall experience, what to do and what to expect of the Golden Sunset Resort.
I also got a lot of frequently asked questions in my blog about Golden Sunset because there was really lack of honest-to-goodness article about this place. This is a well-marketed place so expect only the good reviews in the internet and good photos at their official website. Although, for the first time, I hope to provide you with what a Golden Sunset Resort experience is all about. In this first post, I’ll tackle the frequently asked questions about Golden Sunset.
Frequently Asked Questions:
1. How much is the overnight stay at Golden Sunset?
During Peak Season from Mar16 – Jun15, the airconditioned rooms would costs:
– a Standard Room good for 1-2 guests would costs P3,080,
– a Deluxe room with a loft for 1-4 guests would costs P4,180
– Garden Cove with loft for 2-6 guests would costs P4,950
The costs includes a Filipino/ Continental Breakfast, Welcome Drink (iced tea) and use of the facilities (swimming pool, butterfly sanctuary, jacuzzi, playground, etc.)
You can check out the tariff rates , their official website.
2. How much if you only want to use the facilities for a day excursion?
They charge P300/ head which includes entrance and use of the swimming pool. There is a 15+1 group discount.
3. Can you bring food or cook your own food inside?
There are no cooking facilities inside and they discourage bringing food and drinks because there are two restaurants where you can eat from. You can bring snacks, pica-pica, water and some drinks but that’s about it.
4. Can we swim in the beach and swimming pool?
Certainly there is a nice swimming pool with a giant slide. There were beach sands but definitely there is no beach because the place is a fish pond area of Calatagan. We had to go to Playa Calatagan to swim in the beach which is a 15-20 mins drive from Golden Sunset.
5. Would you recommend the place?
Let us say this is a matter of preference, and we loved our stay because it was a truly a family vacation spot. My son, Aidan enjoyed a lot in the kiddie pool, playground, butterfly sanctuary and kids’ room. We enjoyed the cultural shows at night, the nice cool breeze, and enjoyed the nature including the awesome sunset. It would have been perfect if there was a beach but still since it is new, it is an enjoyable place to be in. During our stay, we encountered some maintenance problems but it was resolved after we complained. As a conclusion, Golden Sunset Resort is like the Island Cove in Cavite but better, homey and indeed Mader’s Paradise.
6. The numbers are always busy. How do you make a reservation?
Yes, they are always busy both the landline numbers and even the website! So it is hopeless by now, not unless you go there on walk in. But I do hope it improves after the summer season.
Here are the official Contact Information:
Travelpros, SM Megamall
Tel nos. 6343109 / 6340266 / 6340265 / 6316392 / 6361687 / 6356609 / 6356610
Tel fax: 6340267
Travelpros, SM CITY Fairview
Tel nos. 9388742 / 9395623 / 9396023
TPI, Flight Center, Market Market fort bonifacio
Tel nos. 8897296 / 8897297 / 7572250 / 7572251 / 8897396
Travelpros, SM CITY Lucena
Tel nos. 042-7104055
Travelpros, SM Southmall
Tel nos. 8000467
If you have any more questions, I can offer an unofficial help to answer questions based on our recent experience. In the next post, I’ll include what are the things you can do in Golden Sunset Resort, How to get there, and some more postcard shots of the place to give you a virtual tour.
RELATED POSTS:
[Golden Sunset 1] Allegedly the Best Resort in Batangas 🙂
[Golden Sunset 2] The Golden Sunset Experience
[Golden Sunset 3] What to do in Golden Sunset?
There seems to be a commotion about Ricky Reyes plans to build a wharf and destroying the livelihood of his (fishermen)neighbours…
ang mahal…pwede ba 2,500 n lang? cheap kami eh
please make us a special package for 50-100 students my cel number is 09203924870 for the students of University of Rizal system cainta on october 6 -7 our budget is 1,000.oo per student for full board , accomodation .
I beg to disagree. I just arrived from spending an overnight stay at “Mader’s” place and it definitely s**ks! I was with my officemates and their familites (about 60 persons) for our annual summer trek. For a first class resort kuno, here are a few things this place does not have:
1. No room service;
2. No refrigerator;
3. Low water pressure; and
4. Dirty swimming pools.
Now, Mader’s policy is that no food and drinks (save water) may be brought from outside. That’s fine with me, but when we get to their resto, half the stuff on the menu can’t be ordered – out of stock. What?! They should have the decency to stock up on all their items on the menu if guests are supposed to buy from them! Worse, our dinner menu (served buffet style) was changed from the agreed-upon menu! What’s up with that?
Finally – and the most atrocious thing that happened – GMA-7’s S.O.P was to be broadcast live from there that sunday. Although mangement warned us the week before (thus we couldn’t cancel anymore), they promised no disruption to our own stay. Guess what? People (showbiz types who are abviously waiting to be discovered) are all over the place! These idiots attempted to sleep on the veranda of the unit we were sleeping in – the unit we stayed in was a two-storey duplex type thing where the lower room was airconditioned while the veranda (accesible with a ladder) was not. Of course, none of us stayed in the veranda. But that does not mean someone else can stay there, does it? Especially since we already paid for it! And this also happened to one of my officemate’s unit.
Also, S.O.P people were setting up and doing their “mic test” crap from the moment we set foot in that place. Our office manager had to complain to them and the front desk about it since they didn’t want to stop even if it was 11:30pm already! Then they re-start at 4:30am, which prompted another visit from our office manager. That shut them up until around 6am, then they start blaring their music and begin rehearsals.
THen, when I wake up and go outside of our unit (which was near the jacussi pools), lo and behold people were camped right outside the door to our unit, smoking. The surrounding area near the pools was turned into a dump, with empty water bottles just all over the place.
The only saving grace? The cultural show. But that’s it! I am NEVER going back to that place again!
Posted by: melvin urgello | Apr 22, 2007 4:09:00 PM
Thank you for posting this very honest account of what had happened. We’re planning our company outing still.. People should be punished for not keeping their word. So we will never go to this place.. at least not for the next five years.
And that menu thing, that is crap .. i hate places that say they have this and that but doesn’t really .. crap
golden sunset sucks big time! we went there for our company outing last week and it was a complete horror show. no food, no water, bad, bad, bad service, dirty swimming pools, stinking ponds, holes in the roof, dead birds in the bird sanctuary –i can go on forever! it was the only vacation we all wished we could get out of as soon as possible. memo to the resort writer: it’s not ‘wwlcome to paradise’. it’s ‘welcome to hell!’
Just got back from an overnight stay at Golden Sunset. Thanks to the detailed reviews on this blog, we had low expectations, so our stay turned out a bit more pleasant than we thought it’d be. For one, it was lean season so there were hardly any people around. And two, we availed of the lean season promo package was a pretty good deal. Deluxe room with loft for 2,800 flat with breakfast and spa massage for two. Standard room package was even cheaper, at 1,800 with breakfast & massage, but we got the Deluxe so our yaya and driver could sleep in the loft. No extra charge for our kid either, so we all fit comfortably — me, hubby & baby in aircon room, then yaya & driver in loft w/ electric fan, all at 2,800.
The room is small, and the bathroom is tiny (as in, you have to restrain your movements if you’re the type who doesn’t like touching the walls). The resort isn’t so well maintained anymore, and you can see that the workmanship was kinda shoddy in the first place. Overall it has a gaudy, colorful, brightly-painted feel to it, kinda like a beach motel. Not rustic or natural at all. We didn’t use the facitilies much, basically it was just a place to sleep at night since we spent the day at a friend’s Calatagan beach house.
Breakfast was pleasant and windy (but the food was so-so), and the massage was the best part of it all! Really skilled masahistas, the lotion they used was good quality, and they let us sleep after, and had a nice changing area (with lockers and towels and showers and bath toiletries). The resort staff were all great too — the reception desk, the shuttle drivers, housekeeping, and restaurant waiters. Polite and friendly and attentive, of course, it didn’t hurt that there were so few guests to attend to.
And yes, the water coming out of the faucets was salty, but it was like that in my friend’s beach house too. The staff didn’t seem so strict about our bringing in food & drinks (they didn’t really check our stuff), I guess it was ok if it wasn’t really visible. It was fun riding the shuttle around (our kid loved it, obviously) and it’s pleasant walking around the premises when it’s not sunny (otherwise, the sun is unbearable) although there are a few areas that smell funky or like piss, perhaps from the fishponds or the public toilets.
Would we go back there again? Yes, probably — but only during the lean season when it’s practically empty, and only for board & lodging and not as a resort destination in itself. Because compared to sleeping on my friend’s beachfront in a tent and OFF lotion, this cheap air-conditioned room (no matter how baduy and how often we had to see Ricky Reyes’ giant face everywhere) was still miles away a much preferred alternative!
giant boobs That he had more shape some shingles were adoll. I am.
….management and maintenances are the main problems….quality assurances must be supervised at all times….businesses who does’nt comply must be downgraded by businesses associations as a common courtesy to those who abide by the rules of quality standards required….in fairness to the resort owner…..we all know that majority of customers are hard to please since almost everyone always find something to complain about….but here the cases is not about not good enough but services that are not available that should be available and unclear business rules that failed their expectations….NEGLECT and poor hindsights…..could be greed?….on just wanting to cash in but not interested if resort-customers standards are met…..good honest smart decent quality businesses-men….wants negative-ugly-incompetence managements standards of events experiences comments remarks….as the last thing in their hands….if possible not at all….i hope all this old problems can be resolve sooner….the resort owner can revitalized{replaced}old customers dissatisfactions by planting a lot more tall shady flowering trees….no less than 500 trees at least lol!….hearing-seeing that would PLEASED them in the future….lol!
im planning to have a company outing in this place. thanks to this blog, i changed my mind!!!
What a zipper ffm lick and i think, anything she looks.
This was not paradise at all. It was hell for our entire family who hoped to have a pleasant stay. Thanks to the PROUD AND ARROGANT Guest Relations Officer, BENCH SALARZON who ruined our trip. Imagine, if RUDE is the the word you can identify him with, he wanted to have our family’s room monitored at 11 in the evening?They wanted to get a head count to make sure that there were only 12 pax in the room!
BENCH SALARZON even identified himself as staff from the office of the Congressman of Navotas, the nerve!How can management tolerate this person?We have already brought our complain to the General Manager of the resort, ROSI but to no avail. Our complain fell to deaf ears. Despite countless and repeated complains, no feedback!Only a lousy promise from ROSI that she would come over to apologize to our family members vacationing from the u.s. Awa ng diyos nakauwi na ang balikbayans, no call, no apologies, no feedback. Obviously BENCH SALARZON is ‘MALAKAS” sa management kaya he really fought back at us! I have always admired the the achievements of Mr. Ricky Reyes including his humility despite his stature but how could you allow your staff to behave in a manner as if BENCH SALARZON owned golden sunset?BASTOS ang tamang title para sa kanya!And for MS. ROSI lalo mo lang dinagdagan ang frustration namin, you were added insult to injury!To all those out there who intend to stay at Golden Sunset you can forget it, sa staff pa lang they will make you feel hell! Nagbabayad ka na gagalitin at babastusin ka pa! Especially when you meet BENCH SALARZON ,SUPER DUPER BASTOS!
we are planning to have an oernight stay at goden sunset,but because of this comments it makes me change my mind and find a better place to have fun with my family after a long and hard work here in japan.anybody who can refer a good resort to unwind and relax.i need your advice till july 2008. tenks
I had seen the website and it really looks paradise to me…any improvements after all these remarks? maybe from the management?
christmas break is really a big holiday for a family to spend time with each other and even the amount is too big for us, still we pursue to spend our long holiday in Golden Sunset resort. Our family is composed of 4 ( Me, my husband and my kids aged 8 and 6) went to this resort from dec 26 to 28 which is a package for 2 nights and 3 days. Went there w/no foods, just our things cause it is stated in the website that NO FOODS ALLOWED.
We were able to reach the resort which is located at the end of Batangas ( not heart) after 4 and half hours drive from SLEX. Staff greet and accomodate us in the lobby very pleasantly. But my excitement turn down when we arrived in our room. So that is the price that I paid…excuse me naman. this is not our first time to spend a holiday for our family. Don’t ever say that GOLDEN SUNSET is like ISLAND COVE of Cavite because ISLAND COVE is much more classy at malinis kesa sa Golden sunset.(key less entry sa island cove, centralized aircon, with ref, tv with cable, may kaha-de-yero, 1st class service and hotel type) sa GOLDEN SUNSET wala niyan to think na mas mahal ang accomodation kay mader ricky at walang breakfast!
Let me enumerate my dissapointments:
1. NO BUTTERFLY SANCTUARY – meron ako nakita…dalawa… ang dumi sa loob kaya niyaya ko agad mga anak ko stay outside because I am afraid that there are some insects there that may cause allergies to my kids.
2. NO CONCERTS AND LIVE BANDS- IT is stated sa website na they have a concert every saturday and peak season. We paid big amount because we lodge in the area during weekend and that was their peak season also as stated in their tariff rate. Yun pala pag summer lang daw yun….eh di FALSE ASSURANCE PA! Yun din ang naka bandera sa tarpaulin nila. Fortunately there was a cultural show na kahit paulit-ulit, hndi naman nakakasawa
3. NO BOATING – ayaw pumayag ng boat man kasi malakas daw ang hangin! E kailan titigil ang hangin e DECEMBER MONTH! And my husband told him na kami na lang bahala because he know how to do it( mag-sagwan). But still ayaw nila dahil baka daw dalahin kami ng HANGIN. So our kids was very dissapointed!
4. FOODS ARE ABSOLUTELY TASTELESS- i don’t know with the cook if his tastebuds were working! This is really the BAD PART. You will remember a certain place by its food and staff. They are claiming International and Continental cuisine, but sad to say, mas mabuti pa kumain sa carinderia kesa sa 2 existing resto na GOLDEN PRICE. Sobrang bad trip kami mag-asawa, but we still control our emotion because we are professonals.
5. SHORT CIRCUIT INCIDENCE – this is the worst because when we were about to sleep around 9pm. My husband went to the spa for a massage. Kami lang mag-iina naiwan sa cottage. Suddenly there was a big BOOM and I saw the fuse box na umuusok at nawalan ng kuryente. They attend to the incident but according mismo sa employee, this happens not only once kundi everytime na fullhouse sila palagi nangyayari ang circuit overload. So I told them, ” BAKIT HINDI IPAGAWA!” They replied that they brought the problem already to their managemnt but still no actions were taken. SO, WHAT ARE THEIR WAITING FOR?
This is really a hassle full holiday. The bad thing about this is, we spend a tantamount of money for this planned vacation. Daig pa namin nag-chek-in sa 5 star hotel. In our stay, the staff were polite and ito lang ang bentahe nila. HIndi na kami babalik sa Golden Sunset na yan na puro SAMA NG LOOB ang binigay sa amin. Sinungaling ang magsasabi na 1st class ang resort nyo.
I cannot make a comment from experience about any of this, as I’ve never, as of yet, paid this place a visit. I can tell by the reading of others blogs, there does seem to be some who do not find all to be as expected by them.
Of course we all know, no one can please everyone. The best that any of us can hope for is to hit a happy medium. I, myself, am a fulltime writer and an ordained minister, so I would most probably see all much different than most anyway.
For those who may think of liking to have a most wonderful book to ready while on vacation, if not a vacation, possibly a break from daily life routine. I’d like to present you with the name and link to my second book to be published. It’s a adventure story, also is a Christian oriented book. Here’s the info just use your own judgment as to whether this would add to your time off from your regular routines.
http://www.eloquentbooks.com/BeyondTheGoldenSunsetAndByTheCrystalSea.html
Blue Coral and Aguila Beach are also good. Aside from these 2, Batangas which is about 1-2 hour drive away from Manila has wonderful beach resorts, see more from this list (it also gives directions on how to get there). http://gmmurgirl.hubpages.com/_1wxv5lhivfhr8/hub/10-Top-Beaches-in-Batangas.