There’s Boracay during summer when the hotel rates are high and partygoers crowd the beachfront, and there’s Boracay off-season when accommodations are at a bargain and the beach more quiet and private.
If you’ve always wanted to see Boracay, now is your chance to stay at a Triple-rated resort for a fraction of the price. Henann Resort’s Boracay Garden Resort, a subsidiary of the Boracay Regency Group that manages the Boracay Regency and Boracay Lagoon, now offers its twin-sharing accommodation for as low as P3,883 net per person.
Boracay Garden Resort is located at the center of Station 2, and its lean-season package includes land and sea transfers via Caticlan, three-day accommodation, and complimentary daily buffet-style breakfast at the resort’s new al fresco restaurant Garden Café. Promo runs until Nov. 13.
Acquired December 2009 by Henann’s Resorts, the Boracay Garden Resort sits comfortably in a sprawling two-hectare property, with its own private walkway to the beach front. The nondescript signage at the beach front belies the luxurious space of the resort inside, big enough for fresh air to flow freely on a hot day and to drown the noise outside.
Boracay Garden Resort has four swimming pools with sun lounges and poolside cabanas; one has a sunken bar the serves refreshing drinks. It has 201 well-appointed air-conditioned rooms, the smallest of which is almost 400 sq ft wide, with cable television, large toilet and bath areas, free Wi-Fi, in-room service, personal fridge and coffee- and tea-making facilities, and a private terrace.
Premiere rooms have direct access to the pool through its patio doors; family rooms can comfortably accommodate up to six persons. There’s a koi pond, a fitness center, an al fresco restaurant and, soon to open, a spa area.
Formerly known as Hotel Seraph, the property has since undergone—and still undergoing—major renovation.
“We will have a resort that is at par with our own standards. We needed to change so many things designed and constructed by its previous owners. The previous owners had some sort of identity crisis—buildings looked Mediterranean with Asian interiors, for instantly. It was terrible. If you’re in a hotel business you must stick to a design concept. We practically rebuilt so many things, including the pool,” said Alfonso Chusuey, assistant to the president, Henann Resorts.
A pool had to be rebuilt from scratch because the previous design was so flawed the pool couldn’t take the pressure of the water its walls and floor cracked. Renovation is about 50-percent complete, said Chusuey, and the biggest challenge so far is to keep resort operations going.
New
The newest addition is the Asian-inspired Garden Café. Located right the center of two swimming pools, the Garden Café boasts of specializing in Japanese, Chinese, Korean and Filipino dishes. Ingredients, said chef Patrick Obia, is flown in fresh from Manila and Iloilo.
Obia, executive chef of Regency Group hotels, was a chef in Melbourne, Australia, before he joined the resort-hotel chain. He strives for perfection in his creations, he said, that some dishes take up to three days to marinate. His adobo, for instance, requires the meat to be grilled first before it is mixed into his special adobo sauce that includes a hint of coconut milk. The coconut milk, he says, helps tame the smoky flavor from grilling the meat.
Unless requested in advance, the a la carte menu is available for room service. Specialized food themes for large groups, such as a Filipino dinner or Korean lunch, must also be requested in advance. Lunch and dinner a la carte menu is changed every 14 days; buffet breakfast every week.
“When people come to Boracay, they normally want to walk around, discover the island, hang out in bars outside,” said Mario Gatmaitan, food and beverage manager of the Regency Group. “They rarely ever have dinner in the resort, but they will always have breakfast.”
Seair flies to Caticlan 10 times a day during off-peak season. For other packages and reservations, call Boracay Garden Resort at 3531111 or e-mail [email protected].
