Samkara Restaurant and Garden Resort

Place is so serene and such a welcome respite from living in the city -- everywhere you look is greenery, cool breeze caresses your face, and sounds of crickets and cicadas serenade you in the early evening to night. A gaggle of ducks scattered near the streams and tiny ponds within the vicinity, which you have the option to feed or just watch as they paddle around. Swimming in the pools is refreshing given the blistering summer heat, but be warned that the mountain spring water can be a bit too cold for most. The restaurant and cafe by the entrance which are an attraction in itself serve sumptuous meals at reasonable prices and can truly satiate everyone in the group given their huge servings. To say we're pleased with this gem of a place is an understatement. We loved every minute of our stay and the kids are raring to go back again.

First and foremost, Glen should be the ✨ Employee of the Year✨ 🥇 According to him, they are short-staffed, so he's the only one taking and serving the orders (we were in one of the cottages). Although, I did see that there were wait staff in the restaurant, but yes, he was the only one running around to take care of the orders from the cottages. 🥇 Even though his plate was full (figuratively and literally) with all the customers he's handling, he was attentive to our requests and was approachable and patient when we asked him to take our photos several times. He asked if we want him to put the cake we brought to their refrigerator in the meantime, and he gave us extra plastic containers for our take outs - these, among a few other kind gestures, just show how much thought he puts into his work. Clearly, he takes pride in his job. 🥇There was a misunderstanding with the Day Tour fee. We were told on the official FB Messenger that we don't need to pay that if we're to dine in and not use their pools. They also confirmed that we can take photos around and stay for as long as we like since we rented a cottage. But upon occupying the cottage, Glen asked us for the Day Tour Fee, and upon discussion and review of the Messenger conversation, he said it's all good, and we don't need to pay since it was what we're informed with during the booking process. No one admitted to the mistake, but Glen assured us that there's nothing to worry about. The cottages was supposedly for Day Tour guests only. For the price they ask their customers to pay, they should improve on a couple of things: 1. Alignment and coordination of staff - if the staff I was talking to when booking for this occasion was well-informed about the Day Tour fee, then there wouldn't be any misunderstanding, as I can and am willing to pay, if that's something I needed to settle to get in, of course. At least, they took accountability of their mistake (although, no one admitted to the mistake as per Glen). 2. We went to the bar to order iced coffee for the five of us. The male barista was taking and making other orders when we approached him. He then listed our orders and asked us to give the piece of paper to Glen because according to him, all our orders should be through him. However, Glen was no where to be found. We looked around for a bit before we decided to ask the female staff behind the counter. We told that the barista asked us to give our orders to Glen, but we can't find him, so we asked her what should we do next. That's when the barista said that he will give our orders to Glen, and the other staff seconded. However, in the first place, why would you ask a paying customer to go look for the wait staff to order food that you're selling as a business? Why would you ask a customer to take an extra step on purchasing your goods and services? You should make it super easy for your customers to spend money on your business, not the other way around. We were told by the female staff

Place is nice and clean but very poor customer service. No one helped in baggage to room and upon check out. Additional extra bed is just a mattress on the floor. Employees left while we were still in the restaurant. Plates were only cleared the following morning. Breakfast was too expensive compared to other hotel we stayed in the city

We dine at their restaurant to celebrate my father-in-law's birthday. To be fair, staff are friendly and accomodating but needs more training as one of them don't know what are the toppings of Samkara Pizza. Pizza Margherita was a joke. I particulary love the harvest salad (tho most of it were just lettuce, no flower as shown in the menu) and the pancit lucban. It takes a lot of time to bill out, we actually went to the cashier because we are waiting too long for the bill. Overall, location is superb with ducks and fishes. Instagramable area. I just hope in the future they add small cakes for birthday celebrations.