Club Balai Isabel

Club Balai Isabel is less than 2 hours away from Manila. We got 2 rooms, one with 2 queen size beds and one room with a loft at the Agoncillo building .It is an expensive 2 night accommodation and we expect good quality service and nice facility.

Positive
1-We found the bed comfortable ; linens , towels are clean and smelled good.
2-Aircon, ref, and tv were working fine. However, the cable reception was bad.
3- Staff were cheerful and courteous.
4-nice view of taal lake and volcano from the veranda
5-The place is quite big. It has 3 swimming pools. Lots of trees and paved walkways. Most of the villas are nice and some are newly built. You can go biking or running. (Bike rental is not cheap though, rates vary according to the type of bike -the minimum is P200 per hour for the regular bike)

Negative:
1- service was very slow at the Cafe, vegetable no longer fresh; waiters were inattentive
Since we arrived about 30 minutes before check in time, we decided to have lunch at the resort's Terraza Cafe. We ordered 2 club sandwiches . The first sandwich arrived after 20 minutes and the second was nowhere in sight. We asked the waiter why it was only one when we order 2. The second sandwich arrived 15 minutes after our follow up. We were very disappointed with the service. How come 2 orders of the same item arrived separately. The vegetable that went with the clubhouse is noticeably not fresh anymore, the sides where the cabbage was cut was visibly black already.

2-facility/room maintenance and security were poor
When we checked in in our room and the door was hard to open because the wood has swollen probably due to rain. The door knob was ordinary and we have this feeling that it can be easily opened. Management could have added a dead lock for additional security. Also, there was no sliding chain lock from the inside which most resorts have in their rooms.

We checked the the bathroom and found that water has low or no pressure at all making it hard to take a shower. We did not inform the reception of this.

The coffee maker was not well cleaned. There were residue inside that maybe something like noodles were cooked in there. We washed it thoroughly instead.

There was no instruction on how to use the telephone. I have to ask a family member occupying the other room on how to call the reception.

It was nice that there's an elevator which can used by the elderly, handicapped, pregnant women and children. However, it was very slow and at times it did not open at the 1st floor. Maybe it needed oil change or have the elevator company checked it out.

Wi-fi is slow or non at all.

No bidet.

3- We called the reception and asked for additional towels. Receptionist told us that it would be delivered to our room. After 2 hours , still no towels and we have to follow up.

4- worse customer service as the Cafe (again!)Our orders were delayed by more than 1 hour; kitchen needs more cook and Manager needs seminar on customer service

We waited more than 1 hour before our food were delivered. The soft drinks we ordered came in after 30 minutes , the mango shake after 40 minutes. To our dismay, the soft drinks dont need cooking as well as the mango shake. I dont understand what took them so long to serve the drinks. After an hour our food still were not served and I was furious that I stood up and searched for the manager. The manager was so clueless as to what was happening to his area of responsibility. He should have been on the floor checking on his staff and guests. The manager as well as the waiters did not show sincere apology for the delay. A simple boiled vegetable salad came in after 50 minutes! Pizza after an hour. We waited for a pasta only to find out that it was cancelled. We asked who cancelled it and the waiter cant even support that we cancelled the order. It was horrible customer service. We lost our appetite and vowed not to eat dinner at this cafe.

Had we known this very slow service, we should have ordered our food 2 hours in advance with lots of reminder to the cafe staff.

Unfortunately, the negatives outweighed the positives. I regret that I will not want to return to this place again.  For me , this is not the #1 resort in Talisay as indicated by Tripadvisor.

How to get there by private car

1. On South Luzon Expressway, simply go straight up to the STAR Tollway.
2. Exit at Tanauan City  and turn right.
3. Follow the road going to Talisay. Pass Flying V gasoline station and the town proper.
4. Club Balai Isabel is on your left side.