Boracay on rainy days

BY ISAH V. RED 

Boracay is synonymous to sunshiny days, summer specially. That is why the island is bursting from March till last week of May before the rainy days set in.

A group of writers from various newspapers were invited by South East Asian Airlines (Seair) for a summer last hurrah in Boracay last week of May.

True enough, our last day before we headed back to Kalibo to catch our Seair flight back to Manila, it rained hard on the island. Not many visitors to the island like the rains, as their primary motive in going to island off the province of Aklan is to enjoy the sun and sand.

Undoubtedly one of the Philippines’ main attractions, Boracay has charmed visitors with its palm-fringed white sand beaches, crystal blue waters, beautiful sunsets, and lush marine life.  This is hardly a surprise—after all, Boracay has already established over the years a reputation for being one of the best beaches in the world.

So, when raindrops started falling the heads of the beachcombers, where did they head back to? Their rooms at the hotels. Or for some, the bars along the beach for a drink or two.

One of the best sanctuaries on a rainy day is Boracay Garden Resort and Hotel, which, due to the ever increasing demand for first-rate, but affordable accommodations, it will open 62 new rooms early next year bringing its total number of rooms to 261. The hotel is adjaceent to Boracay Regency, the premier property of Hennan Resorts Group fronting the beach.

“We have already started construction of a new four-storey wing which will feature rooms with modern tropical interiors. This new wing will have its own swimming pool and will offer additional direct-pool access rooms. We have also provisioned for a convention facility for corporate or family events that can host up to 300 persons,” said Henry O. Chusuey, chairman of  what was originally known as Boracay Regency Group.

In 2009, Chusuey chanced upon Hotel Seraph, a Korean-owned hotel at the prime area of Station 2. “I got the resort by accident. I was not really looking for any new property to develop in the island at that time. I was surprised when the owner came to see me and offered to sell Hotel Seraph,” said Chusuey.

This multi million peso acquisition gave birth to Boracay Garden Resort—a massive, two-hectare resort with 201 spacious rooms. It immediately underwent renovations to keep it on par with the other resorts in the island operated by Henann Resorts which include the Boracay Regency Beach Resort and Spa and Regency Lagoon Resort.

 “We continue to invest on the improvement of Boracay Garden Resort’s services and facilities. To date, we have already repainted the facade of the resort, constructed an al fresco restaurant we call Garden Café, redesigned two swimming pools and landscaping areas with natural stone imported from Bali, Indonesia, refurbished the lobby, and put up new fitness and business centers. Repainting and enhancement of existing rooms are currently ongoing,” added Chusuey.

Boracay Garden Resort enhances Henann Resorts’ ability to respond to all kinds of tourists with different budgets and tastes. This puts the group in an unparalleled position in Boracay as it now offers the most number of rooms (a total of 668 by 2013) while maintaining its high standard of customer service and value for money rates.

“Reasonable rates, excellent food, quality service, prime location, happy employees and, most of all, satisfied guests make for a successful hotel business. Our company has been operating in Boracay for almost 15 years using this tried and tested formula,” said Chusuey.

We arrived on a sunny afternoon from Clark International Airport to Kalibo, where we took a two-hour bus ride to Caticlan. Many say flying direct to Caticlan is the fastest way,  but bigger planes, particulary Airbus 320, can’t land on the airport. A fast boat ferried us to the Boracay’s jetty port and Boracay Garden Resort and Hotel vans brought us to the hotel.

So, when it rained, we just enjoyed the rooms, the food at the coffee shop and the three different pools in the resort.

Now, you know where to go and what to do, if you don’t like the crowd along the beach area in Boracay. You can have your own private sanctuary at Boracay Garden Resort and Hotel.