A Great Family House To Stay In Subic: Forest View!

Subic is our favorite getaway place when there are long weekend holidays. Its close proximity to Manila (2 – 2.5 hrs drive) makes it really accessible even just for a Day Trip.

We have two choices on where to stay in Subic: a hotel or a house. Well, if we are just a small group, we usually stay at Best Western Plus Hotel Subic. But if we are traveling with the whole family (which is a big bunch!), we rent a whole house.

And we recently discovered a great family house to stay in Subic: Forest View!

Forest View

Forest View is located at El Kabayo, Subic. You will pass El Kabayo Stables and El Kabayo Waterfalls along the way. Just go straight, follow the main road until you reach the end. This is the entry to Forest View.

It is a village of town houses, most of which are for rent. They are located by the forest so expect some monkeys to pay you a visit. They have a swimming pool and basketball court which can be used by tenants.

A Great Family House To Stay in Subic!

We have stayed at Forest View a few times at different rentals, all of which were 3-bedroom fully air-conditioned units. They have 1-car garage so you park your 2nd car on the curb.

On our latest Subic trip, we hit upon the jackpot: Unit 386C!

It is part of a 4-unit residence which has a gazebo and nice garden on the side.

Unit 386C is on the 2nd floor so expect 2 flights of stairs.

Caretakers

We were met by the unit caretakers, Lorna and Jane, who were very friendly. They helped us carry our stuff up the stairs to the unit.

Foyer

A foyer with nice mirror and console table greets you when you open the front door.

Living Room

What surprised me was finding a leather sectional sofa in the living room. I realized this was the unit I wanted to book but was really expensive so I booked another unit. Surprise, surprise! We were given my top choice unit, hooray!

The living room had a 60″ LED TV with cable channels and USB ports.

The sofa has a lounge section so you can put your legs up while watching TV. And there is an extra big ottoman which can serve as extra seating. Or when pushed against the sofa, it transforms into an extra double bed!

Dining Room

The Dining Room had a 6-seater dining table with comfortable wooden dining chairs.

Balcony

Off the Dining Room is a set of sliding glass doors which opens into a balcony. There is an upholstered bench where you can lounge while enjoying the spectacular view of the forest beyond.

This is also where you can hang your wet clothes and towels after a day on the beach.

Kitchen

The Kitchen is accessed thru a swing door off the Dining Room. It is fully equipped with all the necessary appliances: refrigerator, electric stove, overhead exhaust fan, sink.

There is a microwave, rice cooker, cordless kettle and a water dispenser. This is a big plus because it comes with a 5-gallon water jug so water is free!

There are dinnerware, silverware and cooking utensils so you don’t need to bring your own.

They even provided dishwashing soap and sponge which is often overlooked at rentals.

One thing we found weird was when the caretakers showed us an extra 2-burner electric stove stowed in the cabinet. They said to use it in case we needed to.

Well, it turns out we needed to! The original 4-burner stove took a long time to heat up so we had to use this other portable 2-burner stove.

Master Bedroom

The Master Bedroom is big and spacious and tastefully furnished. It has a Queen bed with a wooden headboard and firm mattress. There are night stands on either side.

There is a closet with sliding mirrored doors that is big enough to store your luggage.

A plus is the extra wall-mounted TV though small, is really convenient so you don’t have to go to the Living Room to watch.

Master Bathroom

There is an ensuite bathroom in the Master Bedroom. It is immaculately clean! Even the floor mats obviously were freshly laundered.

The shower is standard size with a glass door for privacy. It has a water heater and hand held shower head. There is a hand grab bar on the wall which is unusual but helpful in making sure you don’t slip.

The shower mat helps you not slip while letting the water seep through the holes. It was useful but can get pretty painful after a while of standing on it.

The lavatory does not have soap so you have to bring your own. It has a mirror that actually opens up to reveal a hidden medicine cabinet. There is a hand towel beside it, ready for when you wash hands.

There’s a built-in open shelf beside the door where you can place your clothes or toiletries.

The toilet has a bidet! It is quite unusual as you have to twist a button to work it. But this added perk is very convenient as you don’t have to use water bottles to clean off.

Bedroom 2

Across the Master Bedroom is Bedroom 2 which has 2 single beds with nice ornate metal headboards.

It has a closet which houses the extra beddings, folding mattresses and pillows for extra people.

It is air-conditioned and also has an stand fan.

Bedroom 3

Near the foyer is Bedroom 3 which is furnished the same as Bedroom 2. It also has 2 single beds with metal headboards.

It is also air-conditioned and has a stand fan.

Common Bathroom

At the end of the hallway is the common bathroom for use of Bedroom 2 and 3. It is also immaculately clean!

The toilet here does not have a bidet, bummer! But they did provide a “tabo” (dipper) located inside the bottom cabinet of the lavatory.

The shower also has a water heater and hand held shower head. It had the same non-slip shower mat as the Master Bathroom.

We were looking for the toilet paper in this bathroom. We thought they really didn’t provide it so we had to buy at the Duty Free shop. But when I commented on this to Lorna the caretaker upon check-out, she immediately pointed it out to me: hidden inside the mirror medicine cabinet above the lavatory. She kept apologizing for not showing it to me beforehand thinking that we already knew where they keep it since we already stayed at one of their units before. No harm done, no worries.

So now you know, go look for the toilet paper inside the mirror and the dipper inside the lavatory cabinet.

BBQ

They provide a bbq grill in front of the house where you can grill food. You can grill outside then bring the food to eat at the Dining Room inside the house.

KEY POINTS:

• We really enjoyed our stay at Unit 386C! In fact, we enjoyed it so much we immediately booked another stay for the next holiday!
• The house is big enough to accommodate 10pax and more. The standard rate is for 10pax and additional charges apply beyond that.
• The furnishings were very comfortable that you won’t even want to leave. My 5-year old, Joshua, decided to stay behind instead of going shopping with us and said, “Can I stay and guard the house?” Haha!
• The location is so convenient that it is near the beach (All Hands Beach), dining and shopping.
• Going to the house, you’ll pass by El Kabayo Stables for horseback riding and El Kabayo Falls for some hiking and swimming. These are added attractions so conveniently located near the house!
• The owner, Ms.Cha, was very nice and friendly when you chat with her via text or Viber. I asked if it was possible for an early check-in and late check-out which she nixed very politely. She explained that they needed enough time to clean the house for the next users and that was very understandable. The whole house is so clean!
• The caretakers, Lorna and Jane, were very courteous and helpful. You could tell they were very serious in doing their jobs well.

Overall, this is a great family house to stay in Subic, our top favorite!

PLUS:

1. Location. It’s close to everything in Subic.
2. Comfortable furnishings. You would want to spend more time relaxing at home than go out.
3. Immaculately clean house. Spic and span!
4. Airconditioned house. All rooms have air conditioning, how cool is that?
5. Complete kitchen for cooking. Saves you money for dining out.
6. Free water. Major bonus! No need to buy water.
7. Bidet in the Master Bathroom toilet. Really convenient.
8. Hot water in the shower. Shower in peace.
9. Extra beddings, mattresses and pillows. For those who want more than 1 pillow when sleeping.
10. 2 TV sets: 60″ in the Living Room, 24″ in the Master Bedroom. No need to fight over what to watch on TV.
11. Extra electric fans. Each bedroom has a stand fan, the Living Room and Dining Room have a shared 2-face stand fan.
12. Garden and gazebo. Spend some time outdoors in the garden, enjoy the breeze.
13. Bbq grill. You can cook your own grilled food.
14. Helpful caretakers. They are super kind and courteous.
15. Friendly owner. Booking with Ms.Cha is a breeze.

MINUS:

1.  No toiletries. You have to bring your own hand soap and bathing supplies. This is for hygienic purposes says the owner. We bought small hand soaps at Duty Free.
2. No towels. You have to bring your own. Once again, this is for hygienic purposes.
3. Need more pillows. One pillow per person is supplied. So if you are like me who needs 2 pillows under my head, bring your own.
4. No quilt, only thin blankets. The aircon can get pretty cold at night so a quilt or thick blanket would be helpful. Bring your own if you get cold easily.
5. Non-working stove so use the portable one. Just skip trying to use the installed electric stove and use the 2-burner electric portable one provided.
6. Shower mat is a little painful to the feet after standing on it for awhile. Changing it to a simple plastic or rubber mat without the sharp surface would solve this.

HOW TO BOOK

Owner: Cathrine Aster Lim Rivero (Ms.Cha)
Contact: +639177178785

Address:

Unit 386C Forest Hills Village Resort
El Kabayo Road
Binictican Housing
Subic Bay

Price:

Php 7,000/night for 6-10pax including kids
Php 300/head/night up to 12pax max
50% Downpayment bank deposit (BPI) upon reservation is required

Online:

AirBnb Booking

Directions:

1. End of Subic-Tipo Expressway is a stop light. Turn left to Binictican.
2. You will pass 2 roads on the left, Binictican Drive. Go straight.
3. On the 3rd road on the left is El Kabayo Road. Turn left.
4. You will pass El Kabayo Stables. Go along the road.
5. You will end at Forest View main entry. Go straight.
6. You will pass the swimming pool, basketball court and admin building on the left. Go straight.
7. After a forest on the left are green houses. That’s the place! Park inside the 3rd garage for Unit386C.
8. The white screen door is Unit 386C!