Resort Review: Makiling Highlands Resort in Laguna

I have always been tasked to organize our yearly Holy Week out of town trips. We skipped one last year since I was so busy with our wedding preparations. I’m not new in this field but I dread organizing family trips because my parents have a lot of demands and limitations. They don’t want to spend the night in a beach because they’re scared of tsunamis. Despite the many times I told them that the odds of being hit by a car are more likely than dying of tsunami, they still refuse to bend. I invited my aunt and cousins to come along with us so we need a place where food and drinks can be brought with no corkage fees. That was another consideration in choosing a resort. Most of the private resorts were already fully-booked when we inquired so we were left with one choice. My parents have already been at Makiling Highlands Resort before with some of their friends. My mom called the resort and was told that there are still available from their 10 private pools. The agent then sent us some photos of Pool #10.


We met the Gonzales family at Alabang and convoyed our way to Pansol. It was Black Saturday so traffic at SLEX was bearable. We arrived earlier than the check-in time and the group before us stayed longer at the pool than they were allowed to. The staff allowed us to stay and have lunch at one of the sheds while waiting for the pool to be cleaned.

Zoe – my super duper cute niece kept her cool despite the summer heat while everybody started feeling restless for waiting.





I’m glad that we chose to stay at the private pool because there is no way that you can make me swim in their public pools. It seems that the resort is too lenient with the guests by not requiring them to swim in proper swimming attires. I saw people swimming in maong shorts, colored shirts and even jogging pants. I just think it’s not hygienic. :|

While we stayed at the shed to do some catching up, the boys opted to kill time by playing billiard. The resort has a designated area with billiard tables for the guests to enjoy.



By 3PM, we were finally allowed to check-in. Because of this, my mom demanded that we should be allowed to extend for an hour the following day.

The house has two rooms which were perfect for both families. Each room has five beds and a clean restroom. The TV sets in the rooms have very poor reception. Separating the two rooms are a dirty kitchen and shower rooms for boys and girls. There’s also a videoke machine outside the rooms.



Aside from the big adult pool, there’s also a kiddie pool which little Zoe immediately took a dip into.




Family outings are boring without home-cooked meals and mouth-watering grilled dishes. We had adobo, chicharon, sisig, grilled liempo, hotdogs, isaw and inihaw bangus.



For PHP11,500 (peak rate), Makiling Highlands Resort is perfect for family and group outings.


Makiling Highlands Resort
Capt. Mamon Road,
Pansol, Calamba, Laguna