Ezra Resort combines lush gardens, modern cabins, warm hospitality, and sustainable practices for a refined luxury experience.
Tagaytay is a favorite destination for Metro Manila residents who would like to take a quick escape from the hustle and bustle of city life. Its cool weather and breathtaking views of Taal Volcano make it a haven for urban dwellers looking for some peace and quiet.
Yet more than the fun parks, the scenic Taal Lake, and restaurants offering the best bulalo in the country, there is something more in Tagaytay that keeps you coming back when you’re looking for a respite.
At the threshold of the city is Ezra Viniti, a premiere homestay-cum-resort that offers grounded luxury, sustainability, and flavorful dining all in one place. Just a one- to two-hour drive from the Metro, Ezra Viniti Resort is Tagaytay’s hidden gem where sophistication is synonymous with sustainability.
The upscale 3,600-square-meter property flourishes with luxuriant greenery, largely made up of bamboo stalks. Amid the thick foliage are four stylish cabins where “classic elegance blends seamlessly with modern comfort,” as the resort puts it.






Ezra feels as comfortable and familiar as one’s own home—a luxurious one at that. From the lush gardens to ultra-modern cabins, hospitable staff, and 360-degree waste management system, it’s effortless to say that everything at the property is well thought out.
Ezra owner and visionary Eric Alvin Po gave us a tour of the resort, telling us the story of how he built it from the ground up in 2023 and soft-launched it in July last year. Eric is a businessman and furniture designer, and the former managing partner of Home Mavericks Inc., the company that manages luxury furniture brand Bernhardt in the Philippines.
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The idea of building Ezra came to mind after the 41-year-old reached a crossroads in his career which, back then, only “focused on profits” and establishing a name for himself and his business. He began, “I had a business in the furniture industry before and then I decided to sell it. I just got tired of having a business that doesn’t give me purpose. So I decided to sell it, left for Canada for a year, and came back to the Philippines.”
“From then, I decided that anything I would do, any business that I would create, should be more purposeful,” he continued. “That is why I made Ezra, a homestay resort but with a purpose. In every detail, I’m trying to put a sustainable effort into it.”


Eric named the resort “Ezra Viniti,” inspired by the Bible’s Book of Ezra, which accounts for a period of regathering, survival, and rebuilding what had been destroyed. Just like in the scriptures, Eric considers the resort his “second chance” to do more purposeful things in life.
“Viniti” meanwhile translates to “humility” in Sanskrit, the sacred language of Hinduism. “We used ‘viniti’ or humility because we have a lot of bamboo on the property,” he explained. “In Asian culture, humility is always represented by bamboo—it bends, but it doesn’t break. The same goes for the Japanese, who bow as a natural part of their interactions. And the more they bow, the more respectful and humble they are.”
While Ezra Viniti is in all corners luxurious, the resort’s mission is also grounded on the value of humility. Eric said that it aims to provide guests with what they call “grounded luxury.” He explained, “We are calling it ‘grounded luxury’—very natural, no big fuss, nothing luxurious, nothing branded. It’s just being one with nature and being one with family and friends. It is for family and friends to get together and spend precious time, precious moments with each other.”
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Eco-luxury home away from home


Guests planning to go on a quick getaway to Ezra Viniti can choose from its four cabins: Ananda is good for two persons, Shanti and Prana are both ideal for groups of four, and Vijaya is for six.
Like everything else at the resort, the names of the cabins were likewise cleverly chosen by Eric and the rest of his team at his property startup, Ezra West. We stayed at the Ananda cabin, which the owner said translates to “happiness.” And that’s exactly what we felt during our two-day stay at the resort—pure bliss and delightful relaxation.






Ananda—and each cottage in the resort—could easily become your home away from home. It comes with complete amenities—a living room with a smart TV, a kitchen with an electric cooktop and microwave oven, an open sleeping area with plush mattresses and beddings, opulent en suite bathrooms, and a back kitchen for when you want to grill a steak outside. The cabin tablets and Alexa smart home control are a good bonus.
It is spacious and, at the same time, cozy primarily because of the open-concept layout and mid-century design Carlo Mecate Interiors did for each cabin. Eric explained, “The open concept is to encourage families and friends to really bond together, especially now that kids are focused on their gadgets.”


As a result, the entire space feels bright and airy, especially with its glass walls and butterfly roof. This V-shaped ceiling provides the room with more natural light and contributes to the resort’s sustainability efforts. “When it rains, water collected at the bottom of the roof is sent to our in-house biogas converter and then used to water the plants, like the rest of the other wastes in the resort,” Eric told The POST.
This biogas converter, which Eric purchased in Israel, is where all wastes from the resort are collected and converted into gas used for cooking meals and as fertilizer for plants. “We are aiming to have at least 80% zero waste by 2026,” Eric continued. “We are really trying to lessen the waste because they damage the world, really.”
Ezra’s sustainable efforts run throughout each cabin. For starters, every door and chandelier is upcycled from Tetra Pak cartons. Eric also collaborated with Uratex to produce mattresses and pillows from PET bottles from the foam manufacturer’s ocean cleanup program. And while most hotels and resorts provide visitors with disposable slippers, Eric opted to offer Ezra’s guests with rubber slippers, which they can reuse at home instead of merely disposing them at the resort.












The resort’s sustainable efforts extend to the cabin’s jacuzzi, which is built with blue mosaic tiles made from broken glass. Located just right outside each cabin, the hot tub is another notable feature at the resort, which gave us a relaxing way to savor the cool weather of Tagaytay, especially during the night. Apart from this, you can also make the most of the city’s climate in the cabin’s private bonfire area, perfect for a fun-filled s’mores party with your family and friends.
To make each stay at the resort even more luxurious, Ezra provides each cabin with its own butler. Ours was named Abby, who welcomed us with warm hand towels and refreshments, and oriented us on the resort’s amenities and services.
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Unique dining experience
Guests are offered an option to enjoy breakfast inside their cabin or have it served on floating trays in their outdoor jacuzzi. Of course, we opted for Ezra’s unique floating breakfast, which enabled us to indulge in the food while basking in the sun, savoring Tagaytay’s cool weather, and enjoying the tub’s warm water. It made our morning and the rest of our stay extra memorable.


What tops the list when it comes to dining at Ezra is the Chef’s Epicurean Retreat. The program, launched in October last year, is designed “to offer guests a unique opportunity to savor extraordinary meals crafted by some of the Philippines’ finest chefs while reconnecting with nature.”
“We call it Chef’s Epicurean Retreat because it’s not only a retreat for the guests, but it’s also a retreat for the chefs because they are more inspired to make menus in a refreshing environment like ours,” Eric added.
In the program, guests can dine either during lunch or dinner in Ezra’s Rasa Gazebo. And because we chose dinner, Rasa’s “floating” setup made our dining experience more romantic. “We made the gazebo look like it’s floating so guests can hear the natural sound of the water and for them to have a view of the whole garden,” Eric told The POST.
“’Rasa’ means ‘taste’ in Sanskrit. We named the gazebo ‘Rasa’ not only because it is where guests can taste food but also where they can taste the best things in life,” the businessman added.




For the first installment of the Chef Epicurean Retreat, Ezra partnered with renowned chef Sharwin Tee to create a carefully curated 12-course menu inspired by his Chinese-Filipino heritage. Each dish pays homage to the immigrant experience, blending traditional flavors with modern techniques.
“Our menu should be able to tell the Chinoy story in 12 dishes,” Sharwin said. “It captures a lot of the dishes that the immigrants would make for their families on their tight budgets, but this time, enhanced with premium ingredients and modern techniques.”
The chef was creative not only in modernizing the Chinoy dishes he grew up with, but also in how he presented each one. Our meal started off with “snacks” that chef Sharwin served in a traditional steel stackable lunch box. “If you’re a Chinoy going to school, usually this is your lunchbox,” he remarked.
On the first layer is the Tsai Tao Ke, a 15-layer radish cake topped with sauce made from dried Hokkaido scallops and kiniing or smoked pork meat. The second layer has one of my favorites on the menu—the chef’s version of chicken pie made umami using chicken skin “cooked for a very long time until it gets crispy,” topped with chicken liver pâté and ikura or salmon caviar.


The last layer features the Ba Wan inspired by the meatball recipe of Sharwin’s grandmother. “That’s exactly the way she did it; I just changed the beef to wagyu.” The dish was a blend of rich meat flavor, a hint of garlic and herbs, and a slightly soft texture.
Other dishes featured on our 12-course meal are lumpia, Si Dit Misua or handmade noodles mixed with a 65-degree egg and carrot vinaigrette to taste like a “soupy salad,” and the Pe Bok Ni as a palate cleanser served in traditional Chinoy tea cups. There was also the Kiam Peng or salty rice with Hong Kong-style crispy pork belly that took the chef “overnight to make.”








One of the standouts is the Xiam Tao Din, which translates to “salty soy milk.” At the center of the unique dish is a suahe poached in butter and mixed with soy milk, aged black vinegar, wood ear mushroom and spring onion. It’s a deliciously sour dish and, at the same time, one that is aesthetically appealing, as chef Sharwin served it creatively on top of mahjong tiles.
Another notable dish is the chef’s version of Beef and Brocolli cooked with Mayura Station wagyu, roasted broccoli, and pickled ampalaya. The dish was a delight to the palate, as the wagyu was flavorful and becomes juicier the more you eat it, while the ampalaya was cooked without the bitter taste. Both mixed well with what chef Sharwin calls his “oyster sauce-flavored oyster sauce” made with sakura-smoked oyster, butter, cream, and of course, oyster sauce.


Chef Sharwin took part in Ezra’s Chef’s Epicurean Retreat from October to December last year. The series will be welcoming a new guest chef every one to three months . Stay tuned to Ezra Resort’s Facebook page for announcements on the next chef and more details about the program.
Ezra Viniti Resort is located at Pag-ibig Street, Tagaytay. For inquiries and reservations, visit www.ezraresort.com or contact 0917-158-6078.
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