Staycation Files : Seda Hotel Nuvali, Laguna

One thing that I love about living in the Philippines is how you have a lot of places to go to should you just want to take a quick breather away from the city. Take Metro Manila for example, you can either go North or South. For my family, we've always preferred the South and we would make the most of almost every 3 day weekend to head to our favorite weekend spot in Tagaytay.

For the past decade though, we have noticed how Sta Rosa, Laguna particularly Nuvali has fast been developing. It started with several residential villages followed by three commercial establishments by the Ayala Group and recently, there's Seda Hotel, which is operated by the same group. In addition to that, they've also developed an ecozone where sports fanatic would head to for some wake-boarding action or if they just want to go boating.



A few weeks after relocating back to the Philippines, Paul and I would take quick weekend trips while I was still given the go signal to travel by our doctor. One of those weekends were spent at Seda Nuvali. This is the first-ever LEED (leadership in energy and environmental design) Silver-certified hotel in the country. Totally perfect as it sits at the heart of Nuvali's ecozone with a nice view of the lake and Laguna's mountain ranges. Around the hotel, you can find the famous Republic Wakepark, Camp N (which is a perfect place for team building activities), Wildlife and Bird Sanctuary, the Solenad dining and retail establishments and both the Laguna and the Nuvali Tech Hubs.

We checked in just a few minutes before noon and I was surprised at how quick the whole process was. It was such a pleasant experience being greeted by these smiley faces too. They just got to be one of the best check-in staff that I've ever encountered in my many years of hotel staying.

As soon as we got our keys, up we went to our room. There are three types of guest rooms available in this hotel -- Deluxe Room, Club Room and Premier Room. We got the Premier Room (Php. 7000++) which gave us access to the Club Lounge.

Apparently, the difference between the Club Room and the Premier Room is the presence of a mini kitchenette at the latter. Our room was also filled with all the basic necessities and I love how they quickly would refill our water bottles upon our request.

I also love how spacious our room was. It has a nice study table on one side with the TV right beside it and a very comfy couch beside our bed. I actually enjoyed hanging out here while enjoying the view of the lake.

Speaking of the view... say hello to the view outside our window! Beautiful, isn't it?

Walking over to our bathroom, we both noticed that it's also very spacious as opposed to most hotel bathrooms. I'm not kidding when I say that you can literally do yoga inside. I also liked the toiletries that they have provided and it sure is a nice touch that these are eco-friendly too. They all smell like sampaguita (jasmine) which I really liked.

After a quick room tour, Paul was starting to feel hungry and since we have an hour or so for lunch, he was so happy to see that they have prepared these sweet treats for us. I wasn't really in the mood for anything sweet so he happily enjoyed the chocolate truffles and cake on his own.

A visit to the Club Lounge


As I mentioned, our room actually gives us access to the club lounge. So right before dinner, we decided to check it out. It's quite impressive to see that they have an executive lounge as this is normally not common in most provincial hotels. Then again, Seda Nuvali also caters to business guests so I guess having a lounge for them to work and grab some snacks is definitely a must.

We got there during cocktail hour and were impressed by the selections. The warm dishes were really delicious! This was after reminding ourselves not to eat too much as we got a hearty dinner feast coming up but we couldn't help it! The pasta, in particular, was so good!

Prior to cocktail hour, they also have Afternoon Tea where they serve bite-sized pastries and drinks.

After all that eating (and sleeping), we took the time out to tour the entire hotel. Seda Nuvali has a very resort-like feel so it is then expected for them to have a very inviting pool too. They sure didn't disappoint as they got not one but two pools available. One for the little ones and a long lap pool for the adults.

They also have a fitness gym for those who prefers to lift some weights or to burn more calories on the threadmill.

It was such a relaxing weekend spent at Seda Nuvali and I'm so glad that for once, instead of heading up to Tagaytay, we opted to explore Nuvali as this is definitely a great staycation place for the entire family.

Up next: Eating like there's no tomorrow at Seda Nuvali

Check out Seda Nuvali at Lakeside Evozone, Nuvali, Laguna, 4026 Philippines. Visit their official website here.