Why should you book your trips with Travelbook.ph?

by Penny Angeles-Tan | Oct 15, 2016 | Travel

Take a trip to your idea of paradise with Travelbook.ph!

With so many companies online that offer the same (or similar) services, it begs the question … why book with Travelbook.ph?

In 2012, TravelBook.ph, under the management of Summit Media, started as an online catalog catering to more than 4,000 hotels and resorts in the Philippines. The company was established by Recruit Holdings Company, one of the biggest media conglomerates in Japan, and specializes in classified advertisements, publications, and human resources.

To date, TravelBook.ph is the fastest growing Online Travel Agency (OTA) in the Philippines and boasts more than 2,700 hotel listings all over the country. Over the past three years, the company has achieved a record-breaking 200% growth rate and an average of 3,900 paid bookings per month.

With various offline and online marketing efforts, TravelBook.ph has gained exposure through media partners such as TV stations GMA NewsTV through programs like PopTalk and Biyahe ni Drew, CinemaOne, and radio stations Love Radio, Monster Radio, and Barangay LS.

TravelBook.ph also boasts increasing 1.6 million monthly page views, with 455,000 monthly unique visits, 52,000 registered members, and 299,000 newsletter subscribers.

Its social media presence also continues to grow: it has more than 540,000 likes in Facebook, while its Twitter and Instagram accounts have about 2,900 and 10,300 followers respectively.

Why Book with TravelBook.ph?

TravelBook.ph aims to cater to the needs of the ever-growing market, which is why it continuously develops and expands its strengths through various customer-driven initiatives.

Here are six good reasons to book with Travelbook.ph.

1. Convenient Booking

TravelBook.ph focuses on improving its offline bookings through 24/7 Customer Care that offers competitive room rates, promo plans, rewards points, membership promos, and GetGo promos.

TravelBook.ph also has a user-friendly mobile app that offers double rewards for bookings to make the service available for the growing number of smartphone users in the Philippines.

2. Multiple Payment Options

Since only about 5% of the whole Philippine population are credit card holders, TravelBook.ph has made sure that it has various online and offline payment methods to make booking hotels for every customer convenient.

Aside from using their credit cards, customers can pay via online and offline bank deposits or over-the-counter payments. They can also pay at 7-Eleven branches, Robinsons Department Store and SM Department Store branches, Bitcoin, and the newly launched Pay At Hotel, which allows the customer to pay upon check-in.

3. Corporate Partnerships and Alliances

TravelBook.ph has also partnered with top brands and companies in the Philippines, including Cebu Pacific, Robinsons Bank, Sun Cellular, Toys R Us, JG Summit, Robinsons Land, Robinsons Department Store, and Universal Robina to strengthen its presence in the business through various campaigns.

The company also has special partnerships with GetGo, BDO, Union Bank, Eastwest Bank, and Security Bank.

4. Tours

TravelBook.ph will soon launch its 359 Tour Package Plans to cater to the travel needs of its customers.

What vacation do you have in mind? Adventure, romance, educational, spiritual — so many options and Travelbook.ph is up for the challenge of creating a tour package to cater to your needs.

5. Affiliate Program

The recently launched Affiliate Program now has over 600 partner bloggers. Through this program, both seasoned and new bloggers are able earn income from the hotel bookings made in their websites.

6. Promotion of Philippine Tourism

More than just being an e-commerce company, TravelBook.ph aims to Philippine tourism by encouraging everyone to travel more in the country. The company believes that traveling should become a lifestyle as it promotes education, quality time, and bonding with families and friends.

TravelBook.ph also comes up with various creative campaigns to promote local tourism such as the recently concluded #Juanderlust, an international competition where travelers all over the world participated to be the lucky “Chosen Juan” who will embark on an 80-day adventure to 80 places in the Philippines. The winner, Mr. Dave Agbayani, traveled around the country to explore and experience the best things that the country has to offer.

A Yuletide feast fit for a king at Guevarra’s

by Penny Angeles-Tan | Oct 15, 2016 | Food & Beverage, Yummy Reviews

‘Tis the season to be eating and Guevarra’s serves up a Yuletide feast fit for a king starting today! You read it right, TODAY, October 15!

A feast fit for a king! #guevarrasyuletidemenu thank you @chefjaclaudico and @cheflau

A photo posted by Penny Tan (@slvrdlphn) on Sep 29, 2016 at 1:25am PDT

Christmas comes early at Guevarra’s. For those who have sampled Chef Lau’s popular buffet you already know that a regular 3-hour reservation for lunch, merienda, or dinner is not enough to taste all 80 dishes they regularly serve. For the Yuletide season, they’ve added 11 new dishes.

This means we can enjoy 99. OMG, NINETY-NINE DISHES! How can we taste/eat them all?

When bloggers were asked what their favorite dish was most mentioned the Angus beef. Having tried it myself, I would have to agree but, personally, I found it difficult to single out one dish specifically. 😀

Appetizer, salad, rice, fish, fowl, red meat, vegetable, dessert, beverages — so much to choose from, how can I pick just one, right? My answer, don’t limit yourself. With so much to choose from (and all of them delicious) each one deserves a trip on your tongue and down to your belly. 😀

The Yuletide offerings at Guevarra’s

Chef Lau and Chef Jac sat down one day and thought about what dishes are traditionally served at Filipino get togethers like Christmas gatherings and reunions. In a previous post I featured the eleven Yuletide dishes they added to the menu.

For Starters

Guevarra’s Christmas Chicken Liver Parfait

I’m not a big fan of liver but I did try this pate and it was good. Smooth and creamy. The name, though, was a tad confusing. It’s a pate but it’s called a parfait? Like the ice cream?

Guevarra’s Christmas Macaroni Salad

Macaroni salad is so simple to make that we usually ask the kids to make it. 🙂 All we need are cooked macaroni, cream or mayonnaise, cheese, raisins, and gelatin. The kids like to cut the gelatin into different shapes but cubes will suffice. The red and green gelatin cubes makes this favorite holiday salad colorfully beautiful.

The Main Course

Guevarra’s Christmas Embotido Lasagna Roll

Two dishes in one! Lasagna noodles are just perfect for this dish as it acts as both the wrapper and the pasta dish. 😀 During the blogger event Chef Lau shows us how they made this dish. Lucky us! Watch the video as he demonstrates how to make it step by step.

And for those of us who like to cook this means I could try to make this myself for noche buena. Actually, I definitely will make this for noche buena. 🙂 I hope I can do it justice.

Guevarra’s Christmas Beef Morcon

Beef morcon is also a staple fiesta dish at home. Our Yuletide festivities is just not complete if there is no beef morcon on the table.

I’m glad they made it because this dish takes too long to cook and oftentimes I’m too tired after to even appreciate the dish. Since they serve it at Guevarra’s I now have another reason to bring my family here for a meal. 🙂

Guevarra’s Christmas Fish Mayonesa

I remember my mom making this when we were kids … but she called it fish en blanco. Not to diss my mom but I prefer this version because Guevarra’s uses fish fillet. No fishbones to deal with. Yey! It gave me an idea, though, on how to serve fish en blanco next time. 🙂

Guevarra’s Christmas Paella

It almost isn’t a good idea to eat paella at a buffet. Why? because paella is a mix of rice and viand all cooked at the same time — meaning, it is already a buffet in itself!

Having said that, you should still try it anyway. It is really, really good! I placed a spoonful or two on my plate just to taste it and ended up finishing it before the white rice. 😀

The stuffed turkey is so good! Moist and flavorful. Great with the cranberry sauce. #guevarrasyuletidemenu @chefjaclaudico @cheflau

A photo posted by Penny Tan (@slvrdlphn) on Sep 29, 2016 at 1:57am PDT

Guevarra’s Christmas Roasted Stuffed Turkey

Some people say that turkey is just a big chicken but one taste will prove otherwise. Paired with gravy or cranberry sauce, my favorite part is the thigh. Cooked improperly turkey could become dry and tasteless. But never at Guevarra’s. This stuffed turkey is just delicious!

My personal favorite when it comes to sauces is the cranberry sauce. Somehow gravy just seems so ordinary but the cranberry sauce screams Christmas. 😀

Happy Endings and Great Coffee Pairings

Guevarra’s Christmas Pudding

Pudding is HEAVY. I mean physically heavy, not just heavy in the stomach. It is a very English treat. If I am not mistaken this baked goodie is infused with rum and smothered in honey. Perfect to pair with black coffee. Also great to have as a late night snack.

Christmas Suman Fruitcake

Suman is a traditional Filipino rice cake usually wrapped in a leaf and then steamed until cooked. We then eat it by dunking it in sugar. I personally like it paired with mango and topped with tablea chocolate.

Guevarra’s combined the traditional suman with the a fruitcake by topping the suman with candied fruits. The end product is a sweet confection. Diabetics beware! As with the pudding this goes well with coffee.

Guevarra’s Bibingka

Bibingka is served in so many ways now — topped with cheese, egg, cheese and egg, filled with chocolate or any syrup. Seriously, the skies the limit! I personally like eating bibingka while drinking hot chocolate or coffee.

Guevarra’s Puto Bumbong

Simbang Gabi is not complete without buying puto bumbong after hearing mass. But at Guevarra’s we don’t have to wait until December. We can have it now! Puto bumbong is served in single serve (big bite size) soup spoons.

Not only is it delicious, it is also very beautifully presented it is almost a sin to eat!

Should you go to Guevarra’s and sample their buffet?

If I haven’t convinced you yet, I don’t know what will. Lol! But maybe you have a few more questions. Let me see if I can come up with some of the answers a they were given to us during the Q&A.

Are there desserts made that are safe for diabetics?

Chef Jac says they don’t have any at the moment but they’ve been discussing it and they intend to bring out dishes safe for diabetics soon. Those dishes will, of course, be specially labelled so that customers who suffer from it know that they could safely consume it.

Is it necessary to call ahead for reservations?

Yes, absolutely! Reservations are necessary. Guevarra’s does not like turning people away and the only way to ensure that is if reservations are made ahead of time.

Do they accept walk-ins?

Like I mentioned, they don’t like turning people away. However, in the event that a party with no reservation arrives, they will be informed that they will have to wait in case someone who made a reservation (for the same number of people) fails to arrive within 30 minutes of their booking, then the walk-in party will be accommodated.

What meals do they serve?

No ala carte. It’s all buffet, buffet, buffet — lunch, “maagang salu-salo”, and dinner.

Meals are prepared by world famous Chef Lau, it must be expensive.

Au contraire, mon ami! It is anything but! Check out this price list:

	LUNCH	MAAGANG SALU-SALO	DINNER
MON	P399+12%VAT	P499+12% VAT	P499+12% VAT
TUE	P399+12%VAT	P499+12% VAT	P499+12% VAT
WED	P399+12%VAT	P499+12% VAT	P499+12% VAT
THU	P399+12%VAT	P499+12% VAT	P499+12% VAT
FRI	P399+12%VAT	P549+12% VAT	P599+12% VAT
SAT	P599+12% VAT	P549+12% VAT	P599+12% VAT
SUN	P599+12% VAT	P549+12% VAT	P599+12% VAT
HOL	P599+12% VAT	P549+12% VAT	P599+12% VAT

What time should we be there?

Meals are served at the timeframes below. Make sure to come early.

Lunch is from 11:00 AM – 2:00 PM
Maagang Salu-Salo 5:00 PM – 6:30 PM
Dinner is from 7:30 PM – 10:00 PM.

Can we make reservations for private functions like company parties?

Since they encourage reservations it is safe to say that customers will not be surprised to arrive to find the venue closed for private functions. Guevarra’s will just inform us whether or not the day and time we stated is available or not.

A photo posted by Penny Tan (@slvrdlphn) on Sep 29, 2016 at 3:19am PDT

For Inquiries and reservations you may contact: 705 1811; 705 1874; 0917 311 2222. Follow them on Facebook: Guevarra’s ; Instagram: @Guevarras_ ; Twitter: @Guevarras_ .

See you at Guevarra’s!