Luljetta’s Hanging Garden: A quick getaway in Antipolo’s famous spa

As you grow older, there’s nothing more than escape and relaxation that you wanted to have for your birthday. So I’m nothing but thankful to my boyfriend for surprising me with a quick getaway for my 26th birthday on one of the famous hidden gems in Antipolo, Rizal – Luljetta’s Hanging Garden.

It was the perfect surprise/gift because it was months since I went anywhere, and despite that, such a relaxing retreat from work and adulting was much needed. Also, my birthday was a weekday making it perfect for Luljetta’s Hanging Garden – fewer people to share the place.

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Disclaimer: We got the cheapest Luljetta’s day tour package – P1150. 

How to go to Luljetta’s Hanging Garden

My boyfriend told me about his plan the night before, so I was able to bring my swimsuit and toiletries with me. He picked me up from our house on a Tuesday at 9 AM morning and we wazed our way to Luljetta’s Hanging Garden.  We decided to take a heavy early lunch on Cloud 9 Restaurant first since the package we got had only snacks included on it.

If you’re going to take public transportation, ride a UV Express going to Antipolo Simbahan in various terminals like Santolan LRT2 Station, Megamall,  Starmall or Robinson’s Galleria. From Antipolo Cathedral, take a tricycle to Loreland/Luljetta’s.

Luljetta’s Hanging Garden Day Tour Packages

Upon arrival, the guard welcomed us and led us to the parking area for Luljetta’s Hanging Garden customers, then a random staff walking greeted us and pointed us to where was the reception area. The open reception area smelled like a spa already, with big comfortable sofa chairs and welcome ice-cold water. The receptionist called us after accommodating the two girls before us and asked for our reservation and the package that we’ll avail. Reservation is a must. Call them before going.

We availed the cheapest one, the Hanging Garden Retreat for P1750, which was mostly just access to the facilities, robe, towel, and snacks for 5 hours. But the receptionist told us that since there were only ten guests that day, they won’t mind if we stay for more than 5 hours, YES!!!  I’ve read reviews that the massage and set meals were ordinary for the price, so we skipped that. We paid using a credit card, then we were given wrist tags and asked to ride the golf cart to the hanging garden.

Luljetta’s Hanging Garden Retreat is also now available in Klook for only P895!!!

Before Our Hanging Gardens Retreat

Turned out Luljetta’s Hanging Garden is just a part of the Loreland Farm Resort, which is on the mountain edge side of the resort. It is literally a garden hanging from the mountain. The golf cart ride was short, less than five minutes. Another receptionist was waiting downstairs who gave us instructions and a checklist of things we needed. She also asked us at what time were we availing of our snacks. We told her 3:30 PM.

There’s a separate locker room for the boys and girls, of course, but there was a small reception (again) only in the girl’s locker room. The staff gave us our locker keys and a basket with our towels and traditional robes (batik), which were very smooth and fresh. Paul forgot to bring slippers, but the good thing was he was able to borrow from them. He also asked to see the swimming trunks available and decided to borrow that as well. Oh, my boyfriend!

I changed into my swimsuit and put on my colorful batik excitedly.

Our Hanging Garden Retreat Experience

We didn’t know where to start, so we decided to do things from top to bottom. I have to warn you that there’s a lot of stairs here. At the same level of the locker rooms, there was the Jacuzzi, sauna room, first infinity pool, and a lounge.

First things first, Jacuzzi & Sauna!!

It was small and maybe can only fit up to 4 people, but it was the perfect start. The pressure was right, and the temperature was not that cold.

We only spent 15 minutes in the Jacuzzi since there was a sign that Jacuzzi usage must be limited to 15 minutes, and also, another couple was waiting in the lounge for us to finish. The sauna was hot as expected, of course, but also small that one sauna maybe can only fit four people. The staff gave us cold towels dipped in ice for our faces before we went inside. All gadgets have to be left outside.

Life Talk at Infinity Pool 1

Since our pores opened due to the heat of the sauna, we dipped into the first infinity pool, a few steps down the Jacuzzi and sauna, for the cold water to close our pores. We spent most of our time here talking about life and our plans, and a little gossip.

We didn’t spend time on the lounge here (just for photo purposes) since we wanted to proceed already on the next pools.

My excitement turned into fear when I saw how big the fishes were! They were as big as janitor fish!! I put my left foot first, and I screamed when one fish started sucking. It was not ticklish, but the feeling was weird that it took me maybe 5 minutes of putting my feet up and down to get used to it. My boyfriend, on the other hand, was hopeless. He tried but can’t get used to the sensation.

After the Dr. Fish pond, we’ve experienced a crossroad between the Hydromassage pools or the Zen lounge. Since there were people in the hydromassage pool, we turned left to the Zen lounge, surprising us with more Dr. Fish Spa! This time, the fishes were smaller, and the same aunties and uncle we’ve met on the pond told us that this is more relaxed.

And what did you know, it was more relaxed than the previous one that we spent 20 minutes here! 🙂

The Famous Suman Snack

2.5 hours into our Hanging Garden Retreat, we both agreed that it’s time to avail of our complimentary snacks. I heard a lot of good reviews about this famous SUMAKA (Suman – Mangga – Kasoy) snack of Luljetta’s Antipolo. We went up the stairs struggling to the overlooking reception area for it, but it is worth it. I grew up with suman and kakanins as dessert, and never in my life, I imagined how good it is to fry suman and add some mango and cashew. Never miss this.

Bored with the Hydromassage Pool

After snacks, we went down again to continue our exploration. This time we went right to try the hydromassage pool and the rainfall massage beds attracted my boyfriend first. We tried but didn’t felt massage at all comparing to the ones we tried before in Ace Water Spa. The water was cold too (plus the wind since we’re technically in a mountain) that I can’t stay long because it was chilly.

The pool had bubble jets that were not as hard as the ones in the jacuzzi, so we didn’t spend so much time here. Also, there seemed like a bubble bed, too, that was not working. Luljetta’s should work more in this area.

Finally, the gorgeous infinity pool

From the hydromassage pool, we got lost looking for the famous infinity pool overlooking the mountains. We found ourselves in a gorgeous lounge – the cabin lounge. The walls were made of woods, with one sidewall as glass that was gorgeous on sunset. There were comfy sofas, a bed and some games like chess and sungka around.

There was a staircase from the cabin lounge down to the famous infinity pool. It was extra gorgeous, with the sun setting down over the mountains of Rizal. I was hoping that the water was warm because of the cold October breeze, but it was not, so we spent maybe only 30 minutes, mostly taking photos.

Exploring the rest of the place

We spent our last hour, exploring the bottom level of Luljetta’s. There was the infinity pool, beautiful nipa huts for the couple massage, and a movie lounge in the end corner. We tried to visit the movie lounge, but it was only until 5 PM. True to its name, you can watch a movie after trying all the pools.

At 5:30 PM, we decided to call it a day already. We climbed up back to the locker rooms to shower. There were only two shower rooms in the ladies’ locker room, so I wonder if there’s a queue here on weekends. There were free toiletries, but the hot water seemed not working. 🙁

Our Luljetta’s Hanging Garden Review

Since I posted on Instagram, a lot of my friends direct messaged me if it’s worth it and I’ll tell you what I said to all of them and also what we, Paul and I, unanimously agreed. It is 50-50 worth it, for the experience, the view and the serenity (kaya we advise to go on weekdays para mas worth it) and even for the service! BUT it is not worth it to the point that we wanted to go back, pay a thousand peso and try it all over again. Well, for the cheapest day tour package so far. I don’t speak for the overnight package. As Paul said, we enjoyed our experience here, but there’s no ULIT FACTOR to us.

But one thing I loved in Luljetta’s Hanging Garden was that you can enjoy most of the spa services with your partner, unlike the other spas where most of the amenities are strictly limited to the same gender. So if you wanted a spa experience with your partner then I definitely recommend Luljetta’s but if you just wanted a girl’s day out, there are other better spas out there at the same price.