MOTHER'S NATURE
MANILA, MAY 2, 2011 (STAR) FUNFARE By Ricardo F. Lo - She calls it her new Regal Baby.
"I like the coconuts," Regal Matriarch "Mother" Lily Monteverde recalled what first attracted her to the place, "and the fact that it's near Taal Volcano. I feel so peaceful when I'm here."
"Here" is the Taal Imperial Hotel & Resort in Barangay Tulo, Diversion Road (near Taal Bayview Estates) in Taal, Batangas, which is the 9,000 square meters of property that she bought in 2009. The hotel/resort occupies 4,000 square meters and it has amenities that include three two-bedroom villas; two swimming pools (one for adults and the other for kids); pergolas and patios where guests can sit pretty and watch the world go by and listen to the chirping of the birds; fountains; a playground for kids; a landscaped mini garden; a gazebo with a karaoke machine; a billiard hall; and a function hall.
A 12-door, two-storey condominium-style building is undergoing finishing touches which, according to Mother Lily, "I'm selling only to my close friends." By now all the units should be sold out.
[Photos by RENE MEJIA from YES! magazine courtesy of Mother Lily ]
Famous for building up stars collectively known as Regal Babies, Mother Lily is so in love with her man-made "nature" that she goes to Taal almost every other day. She calls it "my new Regal Baby."
[The two-bedroom villas]
Mother Lily said that it was Taal Vice Mayor Fulgencio "Pong" Mercado who asked her to visit the place in 2009 when Regal shot some scenes there for the movie OMG (Oh, My Girl). Pong used to work as line producer of Regal Films. "He told me that they were developing a subdivision. I checked out the place and I liked it. When I saw the coconuts, I fell in love with the place even more, so I decided to build a resort in the middle of the plantation."
At first, Mother Lily thought of building a vacation place for her family but as the construction progressed, it grew so big that it started to look like a resort. Well, it is a resort.
[Left: The function hall beside the swimming pool for adults.
It was Mother Lily herself who did the interior design of the villas, one of them (above) is specially reserved for her whenever she is in Taal.]
Still into building more Regal Babies (the human variety), Mother Lily has actually ventured into the real-estate business in the early mid-'90s when she built the Imperial Palace Suites (IPS) at the Timog-Morato Rotunda in Quezon City, raising the value of land in that area a hundred-fold. IPS is now the choice venue for conferences/seminars, weddings, birthdays and movie presscons because it is in the heart of one of QC's busiest business districts.
Already, Mother Lily is scouting for another area on which to build another…resort?
"Why not? I enjoy building my Taal resort as much as I enjoy building up stars," she smiled.
For more updates, photos and videos visit http://www.philstar.com/funfare.)
The playground for kids
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