Having two grown-up children who are both working can be a challenge when planning vacations. It is often difficult to synchronize their vacation leave, so there we were, just a few days before Christmas and still without a firm confirmation from our daughter on whether her holiday leave was approved.
You can imagine how frustrated I was when everything was fully booked by the time we had our schedules down pat just a few days before Christmas. Tagaytay hotels were fully booked so we grabbed Canyon Woods, just outside Tagaytay when I stumbled upon it while surfing the Net for holiday hotel possibilities.
We didn't have much expectations--the place was definitely cheaper than most Tagaytay hotels though the reviews were good. What a pleasant surprise it turned out to be: the hotel property was huge--with a clubhouse, hotels, residential-style lodges and casitas by the lagoon. It was very clean, airy and green, like a smaller version of Baguio and Camp John Hay, only nearer Manila, about 2.5 hours drive on holiday traffic.

Our room was spacious, with two double beds and a sofa bed, comfortable enough for four adults. There was a balcony overlooking the lagoon, a kitchen with ref and coffee/tea kettle, a bathtub-jacuzzi, dining table and chairs, and a most wonderful view of the lagoon and surrounding greens. We kept the curtains open so we could enjoy the feeling of being in the middle of the woods, with occasional wild birds breaking the view. There were also ducks on the lagoon, fishing is allowed, there's an indoor heated pool and an outer pool, golf, and clubhouse activities like bowling, billiards, massage, etc.

The dinner buffet was value for money although the breakfast could do with more varieties and better choices. But the staff was courteous and pleasant, and service was quick, both in the check-in and check-out. Well, except for the woman operator who forgot to relay our message to the household staff and the front desk, so we had to tip the guy who brought in an extra bed all the way to our casita (on a bicycle!) despite our cancellation request coursed to the operator earlier.

The nature trail though was disappointing. We had planned to do a nature trek after breakfast but there wasn't much to see, nor much of a trail to speak of. We wound up sitting by the lagoon, bird-watching and duck-watching and just enjoying the cool weather and the surrounding greens until it was time to check out

Overall, we enjoyed our stay, brief though it was. The place was very photogenic, the weather was pleasantly cool and the ambience very peaceful and relaxing. We plan to go back--and soon!

We stayed at Canyon Woods for our friend's wedding. We booked the hotel through a group deal website. Their reservation hotline cannot be reached, it rings but no one answered; what I did was call the trunk line and asked for the front desk. We were able to book our rooms.
Since we had a lot of stops, it was evening by the time we were heading to the resort. During dinner, I called them and inquired if we still had our rooms reserved for us; they said yes, which was great because I forgot to call them ahead to say we would be checking in late.
Our rooms were spacious, we were given Casita 1, Rooms 1B and 1C. Both rooms had 2 queen sized spring beds, a couch, hair dryer, bath tub with shower (with hot and cold water). Overall feel of the room were clean, but the fixtures seemed old and needs updating. My husband and I were at 1C, our AC worked great and the shower/heater was working well. Our friends who stayed in 1B told us their room's AC did not cool the room and was noisy, and the shower head had a hole that made the bathing a challenge.
Breakfast opens at 7am, since we were attending a morning wedding, we opted to get breakfast early. We were the first to arrive in the pavilion. We forgot to bring the stubs for breakfast, we asked if we were to order our food and get the stubs, but we were told no because it was policy. We returned to our room and came back to the pavilion. It was 730am. By the time we ordered our food, other people started arriving. The people in the next table were served with coffee. We asked the server to give us our coffee already; he came back with the coffee and seemed to be throwing tantrums (? setting the coffee noisily). We made follow-up on our food since other tables were already getting served. It was 8am by the time we got served our food and after my friend declared that we were the first to arrive in the restaurant/pavilion and was supposed to be served first.
Checkout was a breeze, which was great since we were running late because of the late breakfast.
I'd really love to go back to this place longer than overnight stay, because the place is beautiful.

TIP: try to get to the hotel earlier before sunset, we were lucky to have clear weather and there was no fog. I have experienced thick fog at night on the zigzag road to the hotel.