BY ED BIADO
It’s not unusual to be woken up at 9 a.m.—which is too early if you’re on vacation and you’ve been up all night partying—by screaming kids wading in the water very close to your poolside room at a resort. But there’s nothing you can do. These kids, with their parents, are on vacation too and you wouldn’t want to rain on their parade. You just wish they wouldn’t rain on yours.
Henry Chusuey, chairman of the Boracay Regency Group (operator of the Boracay Regency Beach Resort and the Boracay Garden Resort), solves this problem by bringing a different kind of resort concept to the white sandy beach of Boracay. Less than five minutes away from the beach at Station 2 foot, the Regency Lagoon Resort is the first and only “adults only” resort on the island, and perhaps in the entire archipelago.
The resort boasts of a lagoon-type pool that occupies every available space, which totals about 1,200 square meters. The crystal blue water is propelled by jets coming in from all directions, causing it to continuously move and produce currents. This lagoon simulation is accentuated by rock structures and water features.
There are loungers and garden sets with umbrellas all around the beautifully landscaped space. It’s flanked on one side by the al fresco restaurant and the guestroom buildings on the other sides. The first indication of the resort’s adult theme is the sunken bar surrounded by bar stools in the water, which freely passes cocktails around from 5 to 7 p.m.
The guestrooms likewise show not so subtle hints of its “mature’’ theme. Many of them have a big squarish glass panel that allows for “openness” between the bedroom and the bathroom, with blinds to cover it for those who are not too keen on the idea of a shower striptease. This option, however, is not available in at least one ground-level guestroom that doesn’t have any separation whatsoever between the main room and the bathroom. In this case, the bathtub is smacked right in the middle of the toilet-and-bath area, fully visible from every part of the room (and if all lights are on and the balcony doors are wide open, it’s probably visible from the resort’s restaurant too, which is across the pool).
All 120 guestrooms, comprising of De Luxe, Premier, Family, Grand, Suite and Executive Suite categories and spanning four floors, have Zen-inspired interiors that complement the resort’s calm, peaceful and water-centric atmosphere. Each room has a balcony with a view of the whole resort as the buildings are built to wrap around the pool. Almost all of the ground-level rooms have direct access to the pool via their own balconies. Dindo Salazar, manager of all three Boracay Regency properties, explains that this is to give the feeling of proximity to the water since the resort is not situated at the beachfront.
But the beachfront is not that far. Shuttle services are available for guests who wish to take their sunning and partying to the beach, cutting the five-minute travel time down to about only a minute and so. To use the beach facilities of the Boracay Regency, one simply has to get a “resort ID” blue-and-green beach towel from the pool attendant.
Guests can also get massages from the Kai Regency Spa in the privacy and comfort of their own rooms (it’s still best to go to the spa, however, so as to have the whole thermarium experience), do a few reps at the resort’s gym, use function rooms for meetings and corporate functions and go online with WiFi access.
“You can do anything you want and no one will bother you,” Salazar says of the Regency Lagoon’s relaxed vibe. Does ‘anything’ include nude swimming? That’s for you to find out.
Room rates start at P7,840 per day for the DeLuxe rooms to P19,300 per day for the Executive Suites. Rooms with access to the lagoon range from P10,300 to P12,544 per day. For packages call 353-777 or e-mail manilareservations@regencylagoon.com.ph.
The guestrooms likewise show not so subtle hints of its “mature’’ theme. Many of them have a big squarish glass panel that allows for “openness” between the bedroom and the bathroom, with blinds to cover it for those who are not too keen on the idea of a shower striptease. This option, however, is not available in at least one ground-level guestroom that doesn’t have any separation whatsoever between the main room and the bathroom. In this case, the bathtub is smacked right in the middle of the toilet-and-bath area, fully visible from every part of the room (and if all lights are on and the balcony doors are wide open, it’s probably visible from the resort’s restaurant too, which is across the pool).
All 120 guestrooms, comprising of De Luxe, Premier, Family, Grand, Suite and Executive Suite categories and spanning four floors, have Zen-inspired interiors that complement the resort’s calm, peaceful and water-centric atmosphere. Each room has a balcony with a view of the whole resort as the buildings are built to wrap around the pool. Almost all of the ground-level rooms have direct access to the pool via their own balconies. Dindo Salazar, manager of all three Boracay Regency properties, explains that this is to give the feeling of proximity to the water since the resort is not situated at the beachfront.
But the beachfront is not that far. Shuttle services are available for guests who wish to take their sunning and partying to the beach, cutting the five-minute travel time down to about only a minute and so. To use the beach facilities of the Boracay Regency, one simply has to get a “resort ID” blue-and-green beach towel from the pool attendant.
Guests can also get massages from the Kai Regency Spa in the privacy and comfort of their own rooms (it’s still best to go to the spa, however, so as to have the whole thermarium experience), do a few reps at the resort’s gym, use function rooms for meetings and corporate functions and go online with WiFi access.
“You can do anything you want and no one will bother you,” Salazar says of the Regency Lagoon’s relaxed vibe. Does ‘anything’ include nude swimming? That’s for you to find out.
Room rates start at P7,840 per day for the DeLuxe rooms to P19,300 per day for the Executive Suites. Rooms with access to the lagoon range from P10,300 to P12,544 per day. For packages call 353-777 or e-mail manilareservations@regencylagoon.com.ph.
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