8 Things We Love in Our Ridgewood Hotel Staycation, Baguio City, Philippines

       On our last day in Baguio City, we opted for a hotel staycation. We have been walking, shopping, and doing selfies for a while. Thus, hibernating in a nice hotel with good in-house restaurant, view of pine trees and a very nearby Baguio tourist spot will definitely make us royalties on our last day in Baguio.

      We browsed upon Ridgewood hotel which seemed very credible as it is a favourite stay of celebrities despite of being a 3-star hotel. Apart from that, Ridgewood hotel has been competitive in Baguio’s Tourism industry for almost 15 years already.

          Here are the 8 Things We Love in our Ridgewood Hotel Staycation!

 

1.) Log Cabin Concept

        The warm tones of  wood and the crisp mountain breeze make the hotel so homey. The log cabin concept with its clocks from famous mountain states make you feel that you are somewhere in Canada or in the United States of America.

 

2.) The Mansion View 

           Although those trees were purposely-grown to hide the President of the Philippines’ Summer Residence against probable assassins, we are very proud that we still got a glimpse of The Mansion on a different angle. This is our view from our Ridgewood Hotel Country Suite. Ridgewood is the highest and closest hotel near The Mansion as per our opinion when we roamed the area.

 

3.) Lovely Breakfast

         You’ll know later why we loved their food. For now, let me tell you that we had: Sinardinas Naimas– milkfish sautéed in tomato sauce, ginger and olive oil, with carrots, mushrooms, and black and green olives. (Sarap in every language!); Longanisa ng Kondesa– the noblest taste and texture of pork garlic longanisa fit for a countess, no less; and Tocino Tsino– lightly sweetened Pinoy pork favorite goes Oriental with a dash of anise and sparkling of sesame seeds.

 

4.) Spacious Sala and Dining area

      You can let your guests stay in your Country Suite rather than meet them in the lobby.  I love the chandeliers and its effect to the wooden accents. We could have taken our dinner photos here rather than go to the hotel’s restaurant. They can deliver food upstairs!

 

5.) Spacious Veranda in your Country Suite 

       If you got tired of watching films or looking at The Mansion, you can find another inspiration by smoking, drinking coffee, or reading a book on the other side of your Country Suite. It has a spacious veranda with a different but still beautiful view, with the mountain breeze gently touching your face.

 

6.) Comfy Beds

 

They have this hotel-quality orthopedic mattresses. Really good for relaxing! or better yet, hibernation!

 

7.) Delicious Hugotera Meals 

 

      So we loved the breakfast as the foods are really delicious. So, we decided to eat lunch here too. Less stress on finding a good restaurant. For lunch we had:  Baguio Berde-fresh vegetables and assorted fruit slices of the day with signature honey and strawberry dressing; Caldereta Dream Come True– if you can dream spicy, salty, sweet, and sour, and then wake up to fall-off-the-bone beef brisket marinated in liver paste, tomato sauce and pineapple juice, with sweet potato, bell pepper, carrots and green peas, the believe that this surreal dream of cheese-topped stew does come true; Salmon with tinge of lemon; Vegetable tempura; Fruits of Love– when there’s not much room for dessert, and a drink ensues, but a sweet tooth craves before sweet talk beckons, there’s always fruits to rely on; Banana Split na ba Sila?– whether they are or they are not, let them be and delight yourself with three flavours of ice cream nestled between split banana slices. Ice cream is topped with cherries, crushed nuts and candy sprinkles and chocolate syrup.

 

8.) Inspirational Quotes 

          The hotel’s walls are full of beautifully framed inspirational quotes. On our check out, I got hooked with ‘And at Day’s end, what do you want to matter the most? is it what you do right or what you do more? or is it what you do with compassion?’ 

      I have similar internal struggle. I wanted to circumnavigate the world before I reach 30. It is only few years from now and I am a bit stucked in office work with some just few travels on the side. I know that I am still blessed because I get to travel and do some blogs unlike other people who are just really stucked in office works. I know that I am still blessed because my office job gives me enough salary equivalent to 8 people working on their minimum wages.  I know that I should be grateful because my office job helped me support my family, helped me build a house, and helped me go to at least 15 countries. I know that I should be grateful because I have this wonderful supportive team in the office. BUT, as I near 30, I feel this urge to travel the whole world despite of the short budget that I have left due to extravagant millennial mindset spending on material things. Few months from now, I have to decide whether to use my UK visa and plane ticket  in exchange of losing my job. Or, stay at the office and wait for another opportunity.