Las Casas Filipinas de Acuzar Heritage Resort, A Virtual Time Travel To an Old Neighborhood

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Bagac, Bataan-- As someone born and raised in the late 20th Century, I wouldn't exactly call walking along cobblestone streets lined with 18th to early 20th century Spanish colonial houses and heritage architectures nostalgic. It is more like being transported back in time.

When Lakwatsera said that she wanted to go Las Casas Filipinas de Acuzar, I was more doubtful than excited. It sounded like a boring trip to a museum.
I wasn't expecting much when I went along  and took this trip with Lakwatsera, but after an uneventful  3 to 4-hour long drive, I found myself inside one of the most picturesque places in Bataan-- Las Casas Filipinas de Acuzar Heritage Resort. It didn't disappoint visually.

The entire place is visually impressive despite the pricey day-tour fee.
Built on a sprawling 400 hectares of land, Las Casas Flipinas de Acuzar has all the amenities one would look for in a resort.

The natural environment surrounding the resort offers a great view of expansive rice fields, mountains, and the beach.

Aside from the natural view that surrounds the resort, the real beauty of this place comes from its prized collection of centuries-old structures of Historical Principalia or noble class mansions, Wooden Stilt houses, House of Stone or Bahay na Bato.

These magnificent structures, perhaps on varying  levels of  deterioration, were transplanted from different towns and provinces in the Philippines and meticulously  reconstructed in a village like community which I imagine to be what the old Walled City of Intramuros looked like back in the day.

This trip was several months back so I don't exactly remember how much we paid for the day tour(1,300Php/person, I think) which included the following: welcome drinks(sago or gulaman?), 30 to 45-minute guided tour of the heritage houses, entrance fee and use of beach area, lunch (decent, but we were only given two set meals to chose from), merienda (very light snack), bottled water (and/or tetra-pack juice), and vicinity map.

The guided tour gave us a glimpse of the of all the Heritage Houses and a peek on the interior of some of them.

The guided tour turned out casual and more personalized since the tour guide only had four guests to guide and explain things to. And since I was lagging behind and did not really care about what the guide was saying, the  guide only  had to worry about three persons( Lakwatsera included) that she was either boring or entertaining with the history of the place and each Heritage Houses.

We came to this place to take photographs and be visually mesmerized. The guided tour for me was a total waste of time since Lakwsera and I could have  taken photos and wandered by ourselves without the mandatory boring tour.

Our tour guide was courteous, friendly, and serious about her job. I just really didn't care about what she was saying the whole time. At some point during the guided tour, out of courtesy, I tried to be attentive and  listened to some of her scripted monologue about some of the heritage houses. But all I really got was "this or that house came from this or that province and was formerly owned by this or that unknown family".

The truth is, although these Heritage Houses are all beautiful and magnificent to look at, probably only two have actual Historical significance: University of the Philippines' old Liberal Arts Building, and, currently under going construction when we were there,  the alleged ancestral house of Teodora Alonzo, mother of Jose Rizal.

Las Casas Filipinas deAcuzar is a  brainchild of real estate developer and builder Mr. Jerry Acuzar. Whether or not this person is helping preserve  Philippine cultural history by uprooting centuries-old ancestral houses from their precious hometowns and having them tucked away in one location whilst turning them into pricey hotel rooms is highly debatable.

On one hand, there are people who hail Mr. Acuzar for saving some of these supposedly old and decadent structures from total decay and destruction through his building and restoration efforts. On the other hand, there are those that give Mr. Acuzar the flak because various towns and provinces are losing cultural and historical identity each time one of these priceless and historical structures are taken away from their original locations. 

The Heritage Resort is world class and one of a kind. No doubt about that. Don't be deceived by the old look of these ancestral houses.  The guestrooms inside some of the these old houses have all the modern amenities one would expect in pricey hotels.

Some of the guestrooms have the following features:

• Individually controlled air-conditioning system
• Flat LCD television with cable channels, DVD player
• Shower cubicle with running hot and cold water
• Bathtub with 24"LCD TV
• Hair dryer
• Refrigerator/mini bar
• Telephone/intercom
• In-room safe

The beach and the pool are okay but not really something to rave about. For  true beach lovers just looking forward to lying on powdery white sands while sun bathing and doesn't care about fancy accomodations, this place is probably not for you. But if you are tired of the usual all-concrete, upscale pricey hotels and have money to throw away, you might as well try Las Casas Filipinas De Acuzar Heritage Resort.

Again, the entire place is visually impressive. Not bad for someone like me who has seen it for the first time. Am I dying to comeback? Not really.
My verdict of the day tour: HIGHLY OVERPRICED.

How to get there:

Please click here and refer to the map for driving directions:

Las Casas Filipinas de Acuzar Heritage Resort is probably the most unique and best looking resort in the Philippines. Take note: best looking resort, not best looking "beach" resort.

To view more photos of Las Casas, click here

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