This is going to be a review of Eagle Point Resort in Batangas, a resort about a 2 hr drive from Manila. I don’t usually do reviews as such, but I thought it would be interesting to explore my very mixed feelings about the place.

Have you ever gone to a site like TripAdvisor and read a number of reviews about somewhere, and been in totally in awe of how one person can say “five stars, the food is fabulous” and another can say ” food was terrible. 1 star. yuk!”   Its unhelpful and confusing to read such conflicting opinions but not too hard to understand that we all have different expectations, experience levels and criteria when we visit somewhere.  In these situations what most of us do is just look at the general concensus: 100 people reviewed and it gets 3.8 stars. Must be an acceptable place.  However occasionally that logic doesn’t always work.  After all if 100 people reviewed and 50 people gave it 1 star and 50 people gave it 5 stars, you would end up a with a 3 star rating on a property that no one felt was average.

Eagle Point, for me, is kind of one of those places.  I’d heard drastically differing first-hand opinions on how wonderful/dreadful it was.  Could it really be so wonderful/dreadful as they say?

I visited over Labor Day weekend taking a tour group for work.  R and L couldn’t come.  Its primarily a diving resort.  So I’m a single, non-diver alone in the rainy season in a pretty remote place.  And, yes, it was raining.  Heavily.  So there’s my unique situation.  I’m sure I would be viewing it somewhat differently should just one of those pieces change, but I believe I’m also capable of applying objectivity filters.

It was neither wonderful or terrible.  They did a good job on the room.  It was clean, nicely laid out and modern with a large shower, large balcony and a fair amount of space to walk around.  Everything worked.  However, the sewage smell was strong and hit you in the face like a door when you entered.  The balcony’s solid high wall meant that you could only enjoy the beautiful sea view when you stood.  Reading a book and looking out to sea couldn’t be done simultaneously for very long.  A missed opportunity I thought.

The restaurant was attractive and the food was pretty good.  Not wonderful, but decent.  The tables had great views out to sea.  The swimming pool was clean and quite large.  The architect had created two levels and a connecting slide which would be fun for kids.  However, there was no lounging area by the pool to set up camp for a couple of hours to relax.  And no shade.  So unless you actually wanted to swim, there was no incentive to stay.

Reef Pool

They offered snorkeling for non-divers with a reef pool so you could view baby sharks up close.  But the shore was rough, shallow rock with murky water and no evidence of much sea life, again with no beach and no place to hang.  Getting into the water was only for the tough soled or reef-shoe clad.  The water in the reef pool was green enough that I had no interest in going in.  However, the resort offered short boat trips over to a nearby island for a picnic lunch.  There we found a reasonable beach, snorkelling and good beach facilities.  Hammocks hung from the walls, there was toilet paper in the clean facilities, the beach was raked and clean, and the freshly cooked bbq lunch was very good.  Now there was a good hang out spot!

My verdict?  3 stars.  (1 star and 5 star reviewers be damned.)