To be honest, I had no idea what to expect when Janine Taylor and Malca Villanueva e-mailed Raul Manzano and myself, inviting us to spend a weekend at Mactan’s Crimson Beach Resort & Spa. While I had heard noise about the resort when it opened late last year, there often is so much news coming from Mactan and Cebu in terms of places to visit, a lot of reports fly by me as so much “white noise.” But the idea of flying to Cebu always brings a smile to my face. My late mother hailed from Cebu, and while I don’t speak a word of the dialect, there are relatives, friends and history that will always bestow Cebu a soft spot in my heart. And when I heard that the weekend was to be highlighted with the launch of the evenings of chill and house music at Crimson’s Azure Bar, and that Louie Ysmael would be flying down, I had to laugh to myself. Louie is a great friend, but my work with ABS in Quezon City has precluded us from seeing much of each other for years now, and there would be delightful irony in the fact that I’d have to fly to Cebu to hear his regaling “bark” and laughter.
A stone’s throw... if you’re Goliath, from the Mactan airport, the Crimson Beach Resort & Spa is situated within a walled Filinvest subdivision; that, in another world and time, would have been the clubhouse for said subdivision. With foresight, the developers created a bunch of villas to surround the impressive modern Asian clubhouse, added a top-rate spa edifice, installed infinity pools that lead to the white sand stretch of beach that’s for the private use of the resort guests, and converted this compact, fenced-in compound into a resort that stakes its own claim with the others that dot the island and province.
The beachfront villas are the obvious showcase options for those who’ll stay at the resort. Equipped with a kitchenette/service area, dining table, spacious bedroom and master’s bathroom, the villas face the islands that surround Mactan, and the back patio area has its own plunge pool and sunning area — ideal for those who are in extreme privacy mode and would rather avoid the resort’s pool area. A structure that’s located near the pool is the designated activity center, with a playground for the kids, a gym for those whose “abs” still need working on before they tan, and a game room for the young and young at heart. Several water activities can also be arranged at this center, ranging from kayaks, the banana boat, jet-skis or scuba diving. Evening entertainment that weekend also included a cultural show that reprised Sinulog in the middle of the year. And Janine is especially proud of her F&B department, which lays out a sumptuous buffet for breakfast, lunch and dinner.
The Azure bar’s night of celebration turned into a reunion of sorts for me. Decades ago, when I was still a student “Somewhere in England,” I would go down to London for the weekend, and hook up with friends like Efren and Margette Sarmiento. We would catch concerts and the like, and I vividly remember watching the Rolling Stones and David Bowie with them. I haven’t seen Margette in years, except for a brief “bumping into each other” sometime last year, and so to find her as one of the guests at the Azure event was a truly welcome occurrence. Also present was another Cebu friend, Jackie Deen-Lotzof, who has outlawed ageing in her own style.
The spa at Crimson afforded me one afternoon of totally needed relaxation and de-stressing. I opted for the hilot treatment and promised myself that I would try its signature spa treatment the next time I find myself at Crimson. As for the spa’s location, it’s to be found right by the main entrance of the clubhouse. And it’s the fact that the resort setting is so compact, while still giving one the impression of spaciousness that makes Crimson quite unique. Some resorts go for impressing you with expansive, sprawling grounds; but unless one is given one’s own golf cart or mode of transportation, one then finds it more convenient to just stay put in one’s villa. Me, I like to wander around and not be so dependent on the resort’s staff.
While it’s still early days and there are minor things that can be improved on, this foray of Filinvest into the resort hotel category seems to be paying major dividends. The influx of foreign guests and tour groups, or corporate events and team-building weekends would attest to that. And with certainty, Crimson passes its test with flying colors.