Subic Bay (the Beach)

A stroll along Subic beach by the Waterfront Road, together with the mandatory Post Exchange (PX) goods shopping are agenda regulars, whenever we visit Subic.

 

 

It has been a while since our last trip here and I was honestly a bit sad to see how dirty the beach shore line has become

(visitors have been literally trashing the beach - bad! bad!).  

 

  

On the east side of the beach now rise restaurants and establishments that has taken away most of the beach front, previously meant for leisurely beach strolls.  Visitors would have to cram on whatever is left of the beach (or pay extra to get a good view from one of the expensive restaurants along the beach shoreline...haiz!)

 

 

There was a sign that says "NO SWIMMIMG".  Obviously we know why.

 

 

My boys managed to get a cleaner portion of the beachfront and striked Ninjago poses to celebrate.

Sorry, no swimming guys :(

 

 

 

 

Seafood by the Bay Restaurant Subic

The Seafood by the Bay Restaurant is stone throw away from the hotel we are staying in, so it was a no brainer that the long sunset beach stroll would lead us to this well recommended restaurant.

The bayfront seatings were quite enticing (really wanted a table beachfront), however, my kids are aircondition peeps!  So I had to be contented with view from inside the restaurant. 

Price may be quite steep for the normal Juan, but I guess that is expected. Given the ambiance and the quality of food served the price was just about worth it.

We ordered, honey walnut shrimp, seafood hotpot, hongkong fried chicken, yangchow rice, banana split for dessert and ended with a bill just a little over P1,000.

Not bad at all!

Verdict: Seafood by the Bay is recommended!  It tops our list of must visit restaurants in Subic!

Bayfront Hotel Subic

We initially made reservations at the Grand Hoyah Hotel (given the very good net reviews 4/5 it has received) for this unplanned Subic trip. Ordinarily we book trips way ahead of schedule, however, this one was quite a last minute decision (booked on a thursday night for a saturday trip).

We booked via GHH's official website.  Booking via net was a breeze, or so we thought. Grand Hoyah called us friday night to inform us of some airconditioning problems on the room we reserved (although it sounded more as a mix up - double booking perhaps!).

Really traggic, as this is the first time ever, that this happened to us. Normally we would get additional discounts or room upgrades on accommodations! It was really a ngarag moment this time around.

Grand Hoyah did made efforts to transfer us to another hotel.

We were booked at the Bayfront Hotel located facing Subic Waterfront.

As a seasoned traveller, I hurriedly looked up net reviews of this hotel. I was honestly a disappointed to see a 2.5/5 rating.

 

Well I thought it was too late to fuss now.  I just prayed this doesn't ruin our stay.

 

True to the reviews on the internet, the hotel is quite small.  There is a pool, but I don't know if its clean so we did not bother swim.

My son at the hotel lobby

We were biletted in a deluxe room. The room is basic with very little area for my boys to run around.

Our small room

 

The window opens to a terrace with a view of the Seafood by the Bay restaurant (which entirely blocks the view of Subic bay)

 

Despite the room size, pool issues and blocked bayview, we saw the owner's effort to keep the place clean (I  tried hard to smell the old hotel smell some reviewers mentioned, but nada) and homey.

 

We also noticed on-going refurbishing and repainting (I did not see the peeling wall paints and the watermarks on the ceiling that netizens complained about, room aircondition working and almost near freezing). 

 

Breakfast was buffet set up and varied (nothing special really, but we ate well).

 

Staff were attentive and very nice. Service very efficient.

 

We were equally happy with the location and its close proximity to the Waterfront Boardwalk.  We went to the beach twice (quite sad that the beach front was littered with garbage though) due to my kids consistent prodding.  The morning beach stroll was the highlight of this Subic rendevous and was a good bonding moment with the kids!

 

Overall, we were satisfied with our Bayfront Hotel stay (deserving of a second chance).