Villa Escudero

Villa Escudero Plantations and Resort is just 2-3 hours ride from the busy city of Manila.

A self-contained working coconut plantation, founded in the 1880's by Don Placido Escudero and his wife Dona Claudia Marasigan and opened the estate to the public in 1981 and become a prime tourist destination for locals, overseas Filipinos and foreign visitors that showcase the Philippines' rich cultural heritage.

Located in San Pablo Laguna, boundary of Tiaong Quezon. You can take a bus going there just like what we did just take the Jac Liner bus going to Lucena Quezon in Buendia Terminal and tell the conductor to drop you off to the Villa Escudero (You will never missed it because the entrance to the resort is located at the left side just a few feet from the Laguna and Quezon boundary arch.) Just take a tricycle from there to the Villa because it's a very long walk. If you have a private car just take the South superhighway and exit at Lucena exit, turn left at the Sto. Tomas junction and just head straight, when reaching the town of Alaminos and San Pablo City proper just Slow down when you see the Laguna & Quezon arch and there you are at the entrance of the Resort.

Upon arriving at the entrance of the Villa you will be greeted by a warm smile by their waiter and offered you their welcome drink - sago't gulaman.

"Whatever staying for a day or planing for a longer vacation, Villa Escudero will truly make your stay more memorable with a variety of accommodation options guaranteed to fulfill everyones travel needs" -Villa Escudero

After you have been welcomed they will lead you to your chosen cottage/Villa. Enjoy a carabao ride accompanied by singers and guitarists who will serenade you with native folk songs while your on your way.And there you go, you can do whatever you want to spend the whole day strolling around Villa Escudero. You can tour the resort by riding in their eco-jeep or if you want, you can rent a bike.

For Day tour it costs P1,250.00 for adults and P625.00 for children below 4 feet in weekdays and P1400.00 for adults and P700.00 for children below 4 feet in weekends. The Tour inclusions are Welcome drink, carabao cart rides, use of out door recreational facilities and lunch at the waterfalls, there is also a Cultural Show at 2:00 - 3:15pm on Fridays, Saturdays, Sundays & Holidays. For Overnight Stay visit Villa Escudero room rates here!. 

Being there feels like you are brought back in the old times, the scenic countryside will bring you to a historic colonial plantation and rural life of the 80's, with their staff that are very accommodating and hospitable. One thing that really caught my attentions was that staff wearing traditional Filipino attire which I find very unique.

 

Bamboo Rafting


We tried our hands at paddling a native bamboo raft on Lake Labasin. Labasin Lake is the narrow lake or reservoir created by the Labasin hydroelectric dam. Actually I really enjoyed it and believe it or not, I was the only one who's paddling the bamboo raft, my partner however was busy taking selfies! haha

Lunch at the Labasin waterfalls

Lunch is served on bamboo dining tables just near the waterfalls where your feet can feel the running water and set as a backdrop while you eat the delicious local dishes. This is one of the memorable experience that Villa Escudero can offer. Truth is, we arrived late in lunch so the food was running out already. That is why I haven't took a foodselfie.

Cultural Show

We watched the Cultural show after we ate our lunch, we proceeded to the restaurant area where the cultural show will be shown. The cultural show was a mix of a traditional Filipino Follk dances from different regions (Luzon,Visayas and Mindanao) of the philippines. I love those dances. In fact, I'm a folkdancer way back in my elementary days that is why I can relate to it and appreciate the beauty of these dances. What I really love was that, the performers were all workers of the hacienda escudero. and also just a trivia, the workers of the villa are living just inside the premises of the Hacienda. 

Villa Escudero Museum

The museum contains the lifetime of dedicated collections and the wide-ranging interest of the Escudero couple, some of the collections are Oriental ceramics, antique statutes of saints and religious artifacts, Chinese porcelain, antique household furniture, ethnic clothing,costumes, relics from Second World War, clothes of Philippine presidents, butterfly collections, natural history and ethnographic dioramas, and many other items of interest collected in their local travels and around the world. Unfortunately taking pictures inside the museum is not allowed. 

The Labasin Waterfalls

The Labasin waterfalls experience was the most amazing part. We went swimming early in the morning and it's like we own the falls because it was just us that time. By the way, the falls is just man-made.

You can take a swim in their swimmings pools and sip a coffee at their coffee shop.

Some of the views of the Villa Escudero.