Las Casas Filipinas de Acuzar : A glimpse of the past

So, you want to travel thru time but you don't have the technology or the money to buy a time machine? Or maybe you're one of those fanatic of colonial architecture or simply fascinated by old houses, vintage cars and every thing that used to dwell in the past. Look no further, you no longer need to travel thru time. Just 2-4hrs drive away from the busiest streets of metro manila you will find Las Casas Filipinas de Acuzar.

  Located in the friendly town of Bagac Bataan facing the breeze of west Philippine sea. Las Casas Filipinas de Acuzar is a 400 hectare piece of land turned into a theme park which features a collection of 27 Spanish colonial buildings and stone houses. Each house were selected base on historical, cultural and architectural significance and transferred to the site piece by piece. As our tour guide say, the construction is like building a very huge 3D puzzle. Most of the houses were already in their deterioration stage when it was bought, transferred and restored to its former glory. The restoration process involves thorough research on what it use to look like in the past. They started rebuilding in 2003 and only in 2010, the heritage park was officially open to the public.

The heritage park is more of a resort hotel. Each house or building has rooms available for tourist who would like to spend the night in Las Casas just like we did. I was with my wife and my 3 year old son, we road trip to the north without any plans or itinerary and we ended to this beautiful place. We book a room at Paseo de Escolta, which used to be an old building in Escolta Manila. And now it was bought and transferred brick by brick and restored back to its former structure. Now it has 17 rooms ready for occupancy. Don't worry, there's no more ghost in this houses, at least we didn't saw or had a sudden chill during our stay. The room is spacious complete with a flat screen tv. The toilet and bath is big and spacious, it has separate space for shower area, toilet bowl, lavatory and bathtub. There is also a wooden table with marble top and wooden chairs you'll normally see in old movies. The cabinet is made of wood and its door made of capiz just like those capiz window used in old houses. There's a balcony facing the plaza overlooking the entire heritage park.

The ambiance is overwhelming, its a mix of excitement, fascination and you'll wonder how did they do it. Once your inside the park, it feels like a step back to the past. Everything you see, from old houses, to stone bricks roads and street light, every thing is vintage, old and classic. Even the service crew, hotel managers and everybody working in the park wears camesa de chino or katipunero looks for men and baro't saya for women. The security guards were wearing guardia sibil uniforms. And they were very friendly and you always see them smiling. You'll never see stress on there faces, they were happy people.

There's a free tour when you book a room at the hotel, but you can avail the tour alone for P999 per head. Its a bit pricey but its very educational, specially if you're with kids in their primary schooling. I remember during my elementary and High School days, there is a subject matter called Hekasi or Sibika, I think today its called MAKABAYAN, where student learns about Philippine history and culture. Where teachers talk about caste system and how our ancestors lifestyle back in the days. It feels like your inside a very huge classroom, and everything the teacher is talking about, is in front of your eyes, you can touch it and have a better understanding of our culture.

 The hotel will not be completed without the swimming pool and its located near the beach where you can take a plunge and enjoy the view of sunset at the same time. The pool is Batis (stream) style design, very Filipino. And since it stream style design, the water is a bit cold but very refreshing. It brings back memory when I was a kid and my lolo would take me to the rice fields to pick snails that pest the rice paddies and we need to cross the river the reach the field. My grandfather would usually allow us for a swim. Me and my brother would file up stone on the shallow part of the river to trap the water to make it deeper.

Las Casa's Filipinas de Acuzar is definitely a vacation destination you should not miss whenever you visit Bataan, its family friendly and truly relaxing. Its not just a hotel stay-cation, its an experience in itself.