Narra Hill: Dreamy Staycation in Tagaytay

Narra Hill is one of my dream staycations. This bed-and-breakfast is located at a lush mountainside in Tagaytay, with an overlooking view of Taal Lake. It was honestly a kilig moment when I finally got the chance to stay here.

Here’s my experience and review of Narra Hill.

About Narra Hill

Narra Hills is a boutique bed-and-breakfast / events & weddings venue. Technically, it’s located in Laurel, Batangas, but it’s also close (25-30 minutes) from Tagaytay City proper.

Currently, there are 6 rooms available for booking. You can choose among: kubo (cottage), balcony room or premiere suite. The kubos are beside the plunge pool area, while the rest are in a separate building with an infinity pool. Whichever room you book, you have access to both pools.

Our staycation at Narra Hill

I stayed here sometime in 2019. I booked a premiere room and invited Jona of Jona Shares along. She’s been my staycation buddy from my previous stays in Ataalaya Farmhouse and Costales Nature Farms. I chose this room because it has a bath tub.

Our premiere suite has a modern, industrial look. It’s minimalist and chic, with floor-to-ceiling glass walls which makes it feel spacious and airy. There’s a small kitchen but no cooking utensils. Instead there’s dinnerware and utensils, coffee brewer, and complimentary coffee and water.

There’s a bathroom with a bath tub, as well as hot-and-cold rainshower and bath items (body shower, shampoo, conditioner). I love that the shampoo and conditioner smells like herbs, like those used in spas. There are bathrobes and towels provided as well.

There’s also a balcony where we could chill and hang out.

This room is the perfect choice for a relaxing staycation — whether you’re with a friend, family or partner.

One thing to note though: there is no TV or WIFI and mobile signal is weak. I didn’t really mind it since we were only there for an overnight and I had ebooks on my phone to read. Besides, this is a good digital detox. I’m kidding — I checked my FB whenever I could.

Let’s explore the rest of the property.

Because Narra Hill is located on a mountainside, you need to use the stairs a lot to get to places. You’ll find a lot of zen decorations like tubs with fresh flower petals, a Buddha statue and more. There’s also a lot of potted plants on walkways and flower basins on corners. It all works to give that natural ambiance.

There’s an outdoor jacuzzi and sauna in an open area, but during our visit, these weren’t open for use yet.

There are 2 pools you can swim in — an infinity pool and a small plunge pool.

The infinity pool is surrounded by a lush forest and, like the rest of the property, overlooks Taal Lake. If you’re a millennial like us, you’ll be spending most of your time here for aura shots. It’s beautiful and I liked that the water is lukewarm. It goes from 4 feet to a deeper end at the edge. I like pools where I can actually swim.

The pool is open until late night. We did night swim, but it was cold then and the surrounding area was nothing but darkness.

Meanwhile, the plunge pool is located in the kubo area. It’s small and just enough if you’re looking to cool yourself down. We just spent a little time here and took pictures.

Narra Hill does not have a restaurant, but they do offer to prepare meals for you.

For dinner, we were asked if we wanted to eat out or order from one of their set menus. As Narra Hills is a bit far from the commercial area and we didn’t have a car, we chose to avail one of their 5-courses menu. The selection includes Filipino and other Asian dishes.

Our set consists of squash soup, breaded zucchini with parmesan (appetizer), vegetables and Thai shrimp curry (main entree), cassava cake and basil tea (dessert).

I like that the serving is generous. The set is good for 2, but it can easily be shared among 3 people. The Thai shrimp curry was delicious and mildly spicy, with generous pieces of shrimps. The homemade cassava cake is a must-try and the basil tea with a hint of calamansi is a perfect meal-ender.

Breakfast in Narra Hill is complimentary. I chose continental breakfast which includes bacon, egg and potatoes. Jona’s breakfast is tinapa with rice. We were also given a basket of bread with butter and mango chutney as well as a carafe of coffee.

The breakfast was okay but can still be improved. I find the continental plate ordinary, but the tinapa is good — it’s tasty but not too salty. The mango chutney has an unpleasant lingering taste of ginger. We couldn’t help but compare it to the feast we had at Ataalaya Farmhouse, a similar bed-and-breakfast in Batangas which also has a view of Taal Lake.

My general comment about the food in Narra Hill is that it’s good but, as above, can still be improved. I loved the the cassava cake though.

Final thoughts about Narra Hill

Narra Hill is very beautiful and it’s definitely one of the best you can find in Airbnb. It’s a bit expensive, but if you have the budget to splurge, then go.

In particular, here are the things that I like:

• Breathtaking views and Instagram-worthy facilities (particularly the pool areas)
• High standard in terms of room amenities
• We can make brewed coffee at our convenience since there’s a coffee brewer in our room. Not 3-in-1 packets!
• The homemade cassava cake is a must-try.

Here are the things it could improve on:

• Better way of reaching the staff. There is no reception area or phone in the rooms, so it’s difficult to reach one of the staff if we needed to get something.
• Better airconditioning. When I’m on a staycation, I’m used to having the aircon on full-blast. In the premiere suite, it can get a little hot especially during day time even though we already had the airconditioning at 16 degrees.
• Overpriced food. The first time I stayed here was in 2019 (this write-up) and during that time Narra Hill offered a full-set dinner for P600 per person, which I find reasonable. I visited again in 2021 and the prices have gone up — dinner items cost around P600-700 for one ulam good for 1 person only (excluding rice). The food is okay but not amazing per se and I don’t think it justifies the price.

Overall, I still like Narra Hill. It’s a great choice for a staycation in/near Tagaytay.

Practical Info: Narra Hill, Tagaytay

How to get to Narra Hill

From Manila, take a bus to Tagaytay or Alfonso (Cavite). If getting off at Tagaytay, ride a jeep going to Alfonso (P15) and get off at the corner of Laurel St. (landmark is Alfonso welcome arc). From there, ride a habal-habal (P60) or tricycle (P120 per ride) to Narra Hill.

To get back to the main road, you can simply ask the staff at Narra Hill to call a tricycle for you (P150 per ride).

For those with cars: There are plenty of parking spaces in Narra Hill. Take note though that the road going there is very steep. Even the driveway inside the premises can be challenging, so you need to be a confident driver.

Facilities

• Plunge pool and infinity pool
• Outdoor tub and sauna
• Function hall for events

According to their page, the pools are open from 6AM to 10PM. However, during our stay, the infinity pool was open late in the morning, at 9:30AM.

Things to know before you go

• The property uses a lot of stairs. It’s not senior citizen friendly; if you’re bringing kids, watch them carefully.
• No outside food allowed, but bringing of water and snacks is okay. For meals (lunch or dinner), you can either eat out or ask them to prepare food for you. For alcohol, you can bring your own and pay corkage fee (P300) or buy from their stock of soda, juice, beer and wine.
• Breakfast is complimentary.
• No TV and WIFI.
• Signal is weak and intermittent especially for Globe users.
• As Narra Hill is located in a forested area, there is a lot of insects especially at night.

Book your stay at Narra Hill

Check in: 2PM / Check out: 12 noon

You can book via Airbnb. Choose among a kubo, balcony room or premiere room. Rates start at P5500 for the balcony room or kubo. Click here to see all the listings for Narra Hill.

Did you like our feature of Narra Hill, Tagaytay? Let us know what you think in the comments below!

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