Casa Michabella Leisure and Events Place

I was looking for a place large enough for my extended family to gather in one place for a month to celebrate our mother's 80th birthday last March 2022. Since my mother is mostly bedridden, I wanted us to be near the waters so that she could exercise. Casa MichaBella was just the place I needed and we enjoyed exclusive use while there. It's located on Samal Island (a quick barge crossing from Davao City) and is about 15 minutes away from one of the many beaches on Samal. It has 2 swimming pools, one with a depth of 6 feet and the other 3 feet deep. It's close to 2 public open markets and a fishermen's wholesale market (you can buy newly caught fish here, too). The caretakers of Casa MichaBella live next door. They come into the yard to water the plants and maintain the swimming pools daily. They don't come into the house, however. Speaking of the house, it has 4 extra large bedrooms with two queen beds; each bedroom has its own bathroom. Two bedrooms are located downstairs and the other two are upstairs. There's a living room on each floor. Each bedroom comes with its own air-conditioner and water heater for showers. The upper bedrooms have balconies overlooking lush tropical fruit plants.

Having said all of the many good things about Casa, there were three things we didn't like during our stay there: the kitchen, the dining room and the Wifi. The kitchen and the dining rooms were located outside/separate from the house. This would have been fine if not for the increased exposure to rodents and insects for our food. We had to keep rinsing the dishes in the morning to get rid of the possibility of rodents and insects dirtying our dishes and utensils during the night giving us diseases. We had to make sure all the dry food was thoroughly covered and the wet foods had been placed in the fridge every night. We also had to wipe disinfectant on the dining table before using it.

The fridge with a freezer was very tiny and freezer was set to a higher temperature without the option of lowering it. Keeping the ice creams frozen was very hard and buying large quantities of foods that needed freezing was tough.

The internet was unpredictable at best and there's a limit to how much you are able to use.

Karla, the contact person answered all our questions in a timely manner.

Despite the negatives, we had a fun stay and would rebook Casa again in a heartbeat.

Perfect for exclusive family gatherings!