Andanita Taj of Tagaytay

Rockstar Travelers (me and Cisqo) explored some parts of Tagaytay we’ve never been to before. Since he’s going to Greece the following weekend, and I’ll be left behind (sob… sob…) he’s been treating me to Greek restaurants and leading me to Mediterranean experiences!

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This was actually a surprise for me. I mean I knew we were going to Tagaytay but I didn’t know where. And he said it would really fancy me!

The place looked small outside when we tried to pull over its parking lot. Although, parking is not so good in this place because it only allows for 3 cars to park and it’s beside a main road. But when I entered inside the reception area I’d say “Majestic” at once!

There’s this ambiance of the “Mediterranean“… We were greeted by the smell of delicious food – curry which was served from one of the guest’s table by the restaurant! at an instance, I knew I was hungry!

The interior speaks of “Majesty” as I believe it is either imported from India or Persia or somewhere else or just patterned from them. But the ambiance really set the mood and transported us into India!

As we waited for our room to be prepared, complementary drinks were served.  You can pick from any of the juice selections on their menu.  I chose Mango 😀

What’s there to look forward to?

1. The themed rooms.

We stayed at Casablanca deluxe room, inspired by Moroccan interiors and a view of Taal Volcano by the window. Casablanca room is the only room (besides the Presidential room) with a view… for now at least because we saw that there are more rooms constructed to accommodate more visitors. Also, a bathroom with a heater is a must in Tagaytay and they have this of course!

Since the rooms were open and it was early, we checked out the other rooms as well!  (click on thumbnails to view picture in full resolution)

2. The 24-hour restaurant.

It’s mainly Indian food but it’s also inspired by Persian, Thai and Mediterranean food. When I say 24 hours… I mean really 24 hours. We woke up at around 3am in the morning and found the craving for another round of spicy food 😛 So we called the reception and ordered some food and true enough, the reception was friendly in accommodating our orders and the cook was also there gladly greeting us when we went up to order by the menu. I thought by that time they would be grumpy because it’s 3am and everyone is asleep… but then again… their courteousness is priceless!!!

For dinner we had:

For our 3am midnight snack we had:

ROGAN JOSH – Chunks of mutton cooked with yoghurt and curry sauce.  This dish tasted like the Masala only it has a sour pinch to it due to the yoghurt.

BEEF SAMOSA – This is like empanada.  This one didn’t really fancy our taste buds that much.

For our breakfast we had:

Continental breakfast – it’s for free!  It includes toasted bread, eggs (scrambled or sunny side up) and drinks (choco, coffee or juice – a whole lot of fruit juices for selection)

Additional bacon – Mister Rockstar misses American dish so we ordered and additional bacon to eat

For lunch we had:

we had Rogan Josh again (or we call it Josh Groban) 😛 hehe

and we tried a new kind of bread called Aloo Bread.  It’s pita bread but it has spicy mashed tomatoes inside!  This one I like as well because I love potatoes.  This could be eaten by itself and it is better if eaten by itself because it is not actually a good pair for Rogan Josh :P  A good pair for Rogan Josh would be plain/buttered Naan or pita bread.

While traveling on your way to Andanita, you can call reception and order food actually so that by the time you arrive, food will be served at once!

3. The warm service.

I don’t have to dwell on this, it’s evident in the other paragraphs 😛

4. Wi-Fi area

Although, I didn’t bring any techies and chic gadgets (because I wanna do away with all that while I’m on a getaway), wi-fi is readily available and many customers there opened their lappies and connected away. So, for bloggers like me, you could blog away — LIVE! 😛

5. Free Spa

There’s actually a 30-min back massage for free that comes with all rooms. But, you could upgrade it into a full body massage and just add PHP 500 (originally PHP 800).  You can opt to have your free back massage at your room or you could enjoy the Spa with a view on their massage parlor. They have a nice ambiance in their massage parlor as well… we had our spa done by around afternoon. If you go there by night, you’d just be delighted by candles and calm music.

6. Free Breakfast

You can opt to have your breakfast in bed if you’re lazy. Or you could get up and enjoy once again the cold breeze of Tagaytay by eating at the balcony accessible only to guests.

7. Taal Volcano view

Our room came with a view of Taal from the window, but for other rooms, fret not because there’s a balcony (exclusive only to overnight guests) that has a nice view of Taal Volcano.

If you want it windy, there’s this outside balcony. And, if it gets to chilly for you, you could hang out in the inner balcony with glass walls. Nice right? 😛

8. The Presidential room

Although we weren’t able to see the actual room, we saw it in the pictures and it is quite lovely. I think it costs around 7,000 PHP but it comes with its own balcony and a really gnarly Indian bed. Totally Majestic! It’s like a Kama Sutra bed of some sort 😛

9. The Indian cigarettes

If you’re a smoker and you would want to taste a different kind of flavor, the reception offers cigarettes made from India. They come in bright neon colors of orange, pink and green. Though we didn’t dare to taste it ourselves yet because we worry the flavour might overwhelm us. But, if you wanna give it a shot, then Taj’s the right place to try it. I you prefer local brands by the way, I suggest you bring your own because the only cigarettes available for sale are those from India.

10. Entertainment set

The rooms come with TV (although I think it’s not on cable). It also has dvd players available and some movies by the side. If you don’t like the movies supplied to your room you could check out by the reception and ask for movies for rent.

11.  Surrounded by Nature

It really had lots of flowers all around and pine trees whose leaves sway along the dancing wind.

12.  Bonus: Paradizoo

Yep, since it’s a peaceful away-from-the-city getaway, we went to Paradizoo for some nature trippin’ and animal lovin… Paradizoo is just a few blocks away from the Hotel!

Our overall experience in Andanita Taj of Tagaytay is “Majestic”. So if you’re planning for a sweet, cool and peaceful getaway, you could try to stay here and experience India in Tagaytay.

more of the pictures here.