Escaped the New Year Firecracker smoke by checking in to Pranjetto Hills on top of the Sierra Madre mountain range
It is a new year tradition in the Philippines to light your own fireworks every midnight on new year. As a result, towns and cities mostly wind up full of deadly, asthma causing smoke. Every year since our kids were born, my wife and I always spent enough to get out of the city to escape the smoke. Last year we were in the Sierra Madre hotel. This year we chose Pranjetto Hills… just 2 kilometers after Sierra Madre hotel.
Last year we were disappointed with the 0 star accommodations at Sierra Madre. Poor staff training and poor maintenance of facilities. Pranjetto Hills is no different. 0 star rating just the same. Staff are provincial folk from nearby Sampaloc town. What would you expect?
For example, when we arrived at Pranjetto Hills the single man left in charge looked us up and did not find our names in the reservation list. Yet we reserved by making a phone call just the day before. Plus they never asked us to register our names in their log book, they probably didn’t have any log book. I paid P 2,700 in the morning and the girl said they ran out of receipts! When I asked for a toilet seat on the porcelain toilet bowl, the man said… “What is a toilet seat? We don’t have any of those!”
But we didn’t come for any star accommodations right? The ambiance is just right, the air was cold, Baguio city cold, nice breeze.
Pranjetto Hills has nice ambiance, nice grounds, a big swimming pool, cheap enough accommodations. Be careful with your kids, the hills are steep enough they might roll down farther off than you would like. You should come during daylight. The mountains have no lights along the way and you can and will fall off the cliffs.
Bring your own food and drink. They have practically none to offer you. Really. We asked for mineral water and the guy just said sorry, the kitchen was closed.
If you are a city snob who likes starry rated accommodations, Pranjetto Hills is not for you. If you are a cowboy like me or a provincial folk, you will like Pranjetto Hills. Visit their website at www.pranjettohills.com