Work. Stress. Work. Stress. Rain. More Stress. Work. Stress. Work. Stress. Work. Stress. Rain. More Stress.
This is pretty much how I had been feeling for the last few months. So, when I got the chance to get away for a while – albeit just a short weekend – I jumped at the chance and headed to the quietest, most remote and virtually un-talked-about place I had heard about, but no one else had seemed to hear about: Virac, Catanduanes.
I first read about Virac from one of our writers and since I wanted to de-stress (read: I wasn’t in an adventurous mood and peace and quiet is all I wanted and needed), a quaint place like Virac sounded like the perfect place to go.
Of course, trips are never as great as they are unless you are staying at a great place, as well. Fortunately, we did exactly that by staying at Ardci Corporate Inn, or Ardci (pronounced like artsy, but with a d) for short.
Ardci Corporate Inn from the outside
My very little research on Virac before actually going to Virac showed me that we would be spending a lot of time in our hotel if it rains, so I was more than glad to be greeted by patient and friendly staff at the reception area who pointed us towards places to eat in the area, taught us how to get to certain places, sent us extra pillows when we needed them, made sure we were extra comfortable even when we were just smoking outside, and even gamely stored a bucket of ice cream that we bought and couldn’t fit into our mini-fridge in the room.
The fridge
It rained every day but one, by the way; so, fortunately, our room was spacious enough to give us each our own space and we were practically in the centre of Virac – just a walk away from ATM machines, restaurants, a supermarket, a coffee shop… even the port was just a stone’s throw away!
A bed fit for two
The perfect nook for laying out tomorrow’s clothes…
…or for reading.
Not that it mattered, though, because we spent a significant amount of time in bed watching iflix. It didn’t help our couch potato-dness that they kept offering to serve us our meals in bed, even though we were literally just right next to the cafe.
Ardci’s Cafe
The view from the cafe
A hearty breakfast to start the day!
Ardci Corporate Inn also has a gym and a viewing deck, and they have acoustic nights on the roof on weekends.
View 1 from the Viewing Deck on the roof
View 2 from the Viewing Deck on the roof
If you don’t necessarily need to stay at a beachfront resort during your stay in Virac (which would probably be a smart move during the rainy season) and would really like some peace and quiet for a few days, keep Ardci in mind. You can get to Twin Rocks and Kenji from there on a mere Php18 tricycle ride anyway. Ardci wins in my books, though, because it’s less crowded and less noisy – exactly what I needed on my weekend away from stress and work.
Super thankful for this awesome find via Agoda! Will definitely be back! 🙂
