Escaping to Eskaya

As with many things, I came across Eskaya while lurking in one of my many email groups. It was the perfect destination for our yearlong delayed honeymoon, I thought.

[DISCLAIMER: We went to Eskaya in December 2007. The amenities, food and service may have changed since then.]


Not having a bottomless pit for a budget, we booked a garden and not a sea-view villa. Unlike the latter, the garden villa does not have an infinity pool. But it still has its own pool and Jacuzzi, at USD100 less.

Imagine our surprise when we found out, late at night, after a tiring day touring almost half the main island in Bohol, that we got bumped up to the sea-view villa.

The villas do not have indoor bathrooms. The whirlpool tub, the bamboo shower, the sinks－they’re all outside.

The king-size bed comes with goose down pillows and a duvet.

At night, when the room is turned down, the bed is swathed in this huge mosquito net.

The room also comes with an Altec Lansing iPod dock, 32-inch LCD TV and DVD player. But seriously, who spends time watching DVDs and TV shows when on vacation?

The beach is not something one would die for, but who cares when you have your own infinity pool, right?

Besides, we still have a gorgeous sunset view.

The staff set up a lovely dinner on the beach, when they found out we were celebrating our first anniversary.

Yes, the husband had shorter hair that time.

We brought our own champagne, and ordered grilled lobsters and prawns.

The lobsters were a disappointment. Maybe the lobsters we had at Red Coconut were just really good, but these were not as tasty. Or maybe we could not enjoy them completely after finding out one was preggers when it was caught and killed.

Despite the pale color, these prawns actually tasted really good. Cheaper than the lobsters too.

There was no breakfast buffet and you had to order everything a la carte. I had no problem with that as I am sure one will not find eggs benedict in a buffet.

The husband ordered something a little more Pinoy.

The experience would have been perfect if not for a couple of things. Before we had the champagne served, we asked if there were corkage fees and we were assured there was none. After the bottle was opened, the waiter apologized, saying he was misinformed and that there was indeed a corkage fee.

We booked our stay here via TravelMart, and therefore had to prepay for the entire stay. But upon checking out, we were told we still need to settle our room charges. Thankfully, they waived the charges when I showed them the receipt from TravelMart. I do not know whose fault it was. I am just glad it was settled fast enough.

Will we go back? Oh yes, definitely.