If you look at the same type of stuff on Facebook that I do, you may have seen an ad or two about the newly opened Mount Purro Nature Reserve in Antipolo. It was during the last quarter of last year that they launched this “barkada promo” that boasted very affordable rates for an overnight stay in their resort.
From their e-mail signature:
Mount Purro Nature Reserve is a place for team building, school field trip, company outing, family bonding, camping, weddings and other celebrations. It is the base camp of Camp Explore, an organization that conducts year-round experiential learning programs.
Because it’s been a hot minute since our Cintai by Corito’s Garden adventure, I thought that this would be a good place for a relaxing weekend away from the city. After me and my travel buddies from the previous company I worked for agreed on a date (harder than I thought! We eventually settled on the last weekend of October last year), I logged on to the Mount Purro website and sent in an inquiry. They were very quick to respond, detailing the inclusions of the Barkada Nature Trip Package:
They quoted a total of 5,000php for four people, which made it just 1,250php per person. Not bad, right? I showed it to the girls who were very much okay with the price (we’ve paid for more expensive meals after all) and sent in the reservation fee (half the total quoted amount).
Because it was just Antipolo, we all decided that it would be easier if we brought a car. Thankfully the place was registered in Waze and there were no steep inclines so my IHKA could handle the drive with no problems even with three passengers. We all met up in Alabang that Saturday at around half-past eight but because of the traffic, we didn’t arrive until a little bit past eleven.
They ushered us into their main cabin where after settling the remaining balance and checking in, they served us drinks and our lunch.
The cabin we booked wasn’t available until two o’clock so we killed the time by catching up on gossip in the main cabin. Probably because it was Halloween weekend, people slowly started piling into the place. Apparently Mount Purro had a “trek-or-treat” thing going on that afternoon and a lot of people signed up. Somebody from the management team (who I assume is the son of the owner) eventually called the guests out for a walking tour of the vicinity.
At around half-past one, we were finally led to our cabin. It was pretty cool, actually because the bamboo floor was elevated from the ground and there were only those mattresses we were to sleep in. It was pretty spacious; I think if you put mattresses on the benches by the windows, the cabin could easily hold ten people. We had our own bathroom – divided into three portions: the shower area, the sink in the middle and the toilet. The only problem we encountered was the flooding of the shower area. It took about ten minutes before the water could fully drain out.
There was also a mix-up with our room. The girl who led us to our cabin said that we could use this one even though it’s for another group (you could see from the picture that there were five beds) and that she’d just update their registry. So we were all laid out and relaxed but a few minutes later, another staff knocked told us that the group the room was reserved to was already there. Apparently the girl who led us there didn’t update the registry and the second staff had no idea about the changes. It was a bit awkward because it seemed like the second staff wanted us to pick up our things and move. We were fine with it but we informed her that we’ve already soiled the linens with our sweat. She huffily agreed to let us keep the cabin and she just dragged the extra mattress to wherever the other group ended up staying.
After resting for a little bit, we walked around and took some photos, eventually ending up at the activity hall for our PM Snacks.
Because we were all just there to relax, we didn’t really partake in any of the trekking. We just lounged in our room and gabbed, managing to squeeze in massages before dinner. There was a big bonfire set up for the guests in one of the clearings but because all three of them worked the night shift and had been up for the whole day, we just opted to sleep rather than mingle.
We woke up early the following day because it was freakin’ freezing. I had a head cold that night so I didn’t sleep really well, but I think had I been not sick, I truly would have enjoyed the cold temperatures. The bamboo flooring and the mosquito net windows really provided the perfect conditions for a cold night. I don’t know how N did it, but she managed to take a swim in their pool at half-past six in the morning on our second day there.
After fixing our things and ourselves, we made our way down to the main hall for breakfast.
Now here’s the thing that I didn’t particularly like about our stay in Mount Purro: it was chaos during the meal times. Apparently some groups paid for buffet service and groups like us had the plated meals. First of all, nobody told us that the buffet service was available – A would have gladly paid for it had she known – but it was very clear that the staff did not know which groups to serve what. The food (which we assumed was for the buffet groups) was just in the middle of the room but there were no signs. Apparently the salad was a free-for-all but we had to ask three people from the staff to confirm it. Our meals were brought to our table but there was no coffee. They did not tell us that the coffee was self-service and that there was a coffee station in the back near the kitchens. It was kind of disappointing because it felt like despite the many staff members, nobody knew how things worked in the place. Everybody we talked to kept on referring us to one girl (the same girl who led us to the cabin, the same one who didn’t update the registry) but she was always too busy with something to actually answer any queries. We also had a problem with her when we were checking out because she lost the paper we signed when we checked in. No biggie, right? Wrong. It contained her signature that confirmed we were already fully paid and she frakkin’ lost it. I can’t imagine how she lost the damned thing in the first place because she’s the only one in charge of checking guests in and she still had the damned clip board she was using the day before! I kid you not, it took us about half an hour to check out, which was ridiculous by any standards because all we needed to do was just return the key.
I know that it seems like I’m bitching about a lot of little stuff but it was frustrating to be presented with sub-par service. I think Mount Purro is a nice place but I don’t think they’re equipped just yet to handle big crowds. I’d recommend going, but probably book your stay on a weekday when there aren’t so many guests.
