THE new Twin Lakes Hotel in Laurel, Batangas, near Tagaytay is a place straight out of an Elizabethan architectural lookbook. Instead of bricks for walls, however, there’s concrete. Instead of thatched roofs, there’s a contemporary hipped roofing design. The signature symmetrical plan is most evident with the glass windows made up of a multitude of rectangular panes set against ivory walls, but otherwise there’s also a faint trace of Gothic Renaissance flair in the façade’s design.
It is, as kids would describe to their parents, “the castle down there.”
At the helm of this newly opened homegrown hotel brand by Megaworld Corp. is General Manager Jun R. Jimenez, who describes the property as a first of its kind with an actual grape-growing vineyard. The 122-room hotel is located within Global-Estate Resorts Inc.’s (Geri) 1,200-hectare integrated tourism estate.
Managing a hotel this big is well within the expertise of Jimenez, who spent a fair share of his career in the hospitality industry. In fact, he’s already eyeing to build additional rooms. “The big boss said he’ll think about it,” he jested.
Thirty-five out of 122 rooms opened in December, and would be fully operational in February this year. The Superior Rooms size up to 34 square meter, Deluxe and Executive Rooms (both up to 38 sq m), and two-bedroom Family Suites and Presidential Suites (both up to 86 sq m). Evoking the skies with a few perfect clouds, the blue-and-white palette of the room’s interiors bring comfort and style that is calm and collected. Furniture pieces feature neutral silhouettes with gold trimming. The balcony overlooks lush greenery, the vineyard and the scenic view of the Taal Lake and Volcano outside.
“Let’s admit it, we go to Tagaytay to see the Taal Lake and maybe to eat at Josephine’s. Here, you’ll see the same scenery without having to experience the congestion in the city,” Jimenez said.
A leisurely walk near the hotel sits the Twin Lakes Shopping Village where you can find the “most beautiful Starbucks in the Philippines.”
There’s also the Twin Lakes Café, an all-day dining restaurant facing the vineyard and Taal Lake that offers the hotel’s signature dishes, such as Spaghetti Vongole, Pollo Veronica, Lengua Financiera and the hotel’s very own iteration of a famed Tagaytay favorite, bulalo.
Other amenities include an in-house wellness spa, a heated infinity pool and a grand ballroom with a banquet capacity of up to 500 people, which can also be divided into smaller banquet rooms. “You see, the reason why Megaworld decided on a having an expansive ballroom that can be easily reconfigured is because they want to cater banquets, weddings and conventions,” said Jimenez.
He added that a chapel is already on the works, and that it will hopefully be completed December this year. Since Caleruega is a popular destination in the area, Jimenez said they want to bring the same feel of the church’s architecture in the hotel.
The executive also expressed hopes of contributing to the tourism growth in the province, which currently enjoys a fair share of local guests.
“A new hotel is like the flavor of the month, people want something new. Besides, what we want to emphasize is this is really in Batangas. Batangas is known for its outing destinations, yes, but the concept here is different.”
Only recently, Twin Lakes Hotel was awarded as the Country Winner for the Best Hotel Development in Asia category at the 2018 Asia Property Awards held in Bangkok, Thailand. Earlier, the hotel was also recognized for its exemplary design, location and huge potential for tourism by winning the Best Hotel Development at the 2018 Philippines Property Awards.
For Jimenez, while good service and authenticity characterize their hotel, there’s one little thing that sets it apart from competition: “I think [we’re] a community. What [we] want for the area is that when they go to Twin Lakes, everything is here.”