Ahh, Asya! Premier indeed!

Luxuriating in Boracay isn’t exactly the usual experience among the thousands of visitors who already consider it a moral victory to set foot on the fabled island for a couple of days or so.  

Backpacker accommodations understandably make up the majority of spaces fought for, especially during peak season. Then there are the mid-level hotels, often found cheek-by-jowl or in various states of kitsch — with Grand Guignol cake-like facades and swimming pools that are but a few meters from public paths, thus made to order for gawkers galore.

Of course all kinds of hospitality habitats often attend rather haphazard development, even of what’s often seen as paradise. If you build anything, indeed they will come, with budgets to match. That is why cement can be poured all around a natural rock formation offshore, to complete a vision or version of Vegas garishness. And local authorities take their time before stepping into the picture, in the name of procedural if not environmental compliance.

Thank goodness some entrepreneurial efforts are commendably aboveboard, and beholden to principles of aesthetics and comfort for the long term. Thus you have quiet, modest retreats tucked away in various corners of the island. And then there’s the ambitious multinational effort that succeeds in establishing a haven, such as the five-star Shangri-La resort that’s hidden beyond the main surfside feature that is White Beach. 

Idyllic seclusion in private beach strips

Other top-class accommodations enjoy choice beachfronts — wide and unsullied by mom-and-pop commercial stalls. Among these are Discovery Suites, Sea Wind, Pearl of the Pacific, and Friday’s, to some extent. Nami occupies a quaint hillside niche at the far end of the much smaller and quieter Diniwid Beach, with a bird’s-eye view from the northern end of the island. 7 Stones offers sophisticated condotel suites on the eastern side, by Bulabog Beach which turns idyllic during the current habagat season. And One MGM, while tucked inland, boasts of an excellent garden setting and spacious villas and cottages.    

At the posh end of the spectrum is Asya Premier Suites, idyllically nestled on a promontory on the southernmost end of White Beach, thus guaranteeing privacy and quiet. Not too many beachcombers reach this far end, where seclusion is further enhanced by rock formations concealing extra beach strips and private coves. 

“Only for the pampered few” — its website tag claims. From the time SEAIR’s fast jet-prop Dornier 328 lands at the airport in Caticlan, after an all-too-brief 35-minute flight from Manila, a guest at Asya is assured that it is no empty boast. An exclusive van transports you to the jetty port used during habagat season, from where a speedboat whisks you across the channel in five minutes. Another van welcomes you on Boracay island, and it’s only another five-minute portage to the two-hectare property that at Sitio Cagban, Barangay Manoc-Manoc. 

It’s space — all that space — that’s obviously a premium at Asya.

Arrival at the resort feels much like approaching a hidden temple in the tropics. From the expansive driveway, broad ascending steps lead you through a simple gap in the high cream walls that preserve visual sanctity. From the reception area that looks more like a spacious, breeze-swept lanai overlooking a lush garden, the next treat is the dramatic sight of broad descending levels flanked by lotus ponds — leading to that first glimpse of an utterly blue sea.

Tasteful design marks Asya’ premier appointments.

If you walk down this tiered setting, you may notice a narrow crack revealing a rivulet gurgling down the center of the steps to beach heaven. There’s also the option of riding with your luggage on a golf cart through a winding gravel road past soft bamboo stands, all the way to your assigned suite.   

Ten imposing two-story structures hug the hillsides to surround a magnificent circular pool that’s the most humongous I’ve seen — all of 500 square meters. That makes for only 20 suites — 16 premier and 4 presidential, with the last found on both ends of the hillside arcs, and distinguished only by their own private pools.

The suites range from all of 110 to 135 square meters of floor space. What we occupied, a premier suite on the second floor of the penultimate southernmost building, was said to have the best view of the beachfront. The balcony that allows for a panoramic view is in itself panoramic — so capacious it can serve as a windswept setting for a cocktail party for over a dozen large people.

Directly below, to the west, is the enticing private cove, then the start of White Beach past a tunnel rock, and all that endless sea. Panning eastwards, a wooden deck that is the Adlaw open-air lounge bar overlooks the beach, right at one end of the exquisite pool, and beyond, the rest of the cottages across, plus those dramatic steps leading back up inland towards lush jungle.  

A Zen garden backstops the premier suite’s capacious bathroom.

Complementing all that space and grand view is the understated splendor of the suite appointments. Past a sala facing a dining table is the king-sized bed with minimalist coverlet design, flanked by wide closets on one side, and the mini-bar and widescreen TV on the other. A marble table and extended ledge serve as workspace.

A broad woven screen takes the place of a headboard, and through its apertures may be glimpsed the bathroom that can be screened further with sliding wooden doors. All absolutely tasteful in design, the whole works. Particularly delightful is the walled Zen garden of rocks, pebbles and sculptured driftwood past the capacious bathroom with a full-sized tub right at center.

There’s Wi- provision everywhere, even at the beach. A fitness center. In-room wellness service, meaning massage. Business service. Nanny and butler service. Function room. Deli cafe. Even a wine room past the Palay Restaurant, which spills over to a terrace and garden (designed by Mabolo’s Antonio Garcia, as are all the landscaping features), with table settings right to the very edge of the lawn overlooking the beach strip, the sea but a touch away.

Ahh, breezy breakfast in the morning sun... equals paradise now! No wonder Asya has become popular for ritzy wedding arrangements. 

The earth-toned interiors of Palay are highlighted by lusongs, the traditional kitchen feature for grinding grains of rice — golden stalks of which serve as accents on every table, courtesy of that organic-design genius Rachy Cuna. 

Until a few months ago, it was chef Oliver Fteha Isidro who gained culinary awards for Asya’s menu. He has since been called over to Kosovo, of all places. The new chef is homecoming LaSallite Santi de Erquiaga, a 30-year expatriate in the US where he earned his culinary spurs in Seattle thence Tacoma, Washington. 

Asya’s new chef, Santi de Erquiaga, promises an enticing new menu.

Santi’s still testing his new menu, but already deserves a full article on his experiences, including that instance of historic heroism while he served in the US Air Force, as well as his knowledge of chef-dom and plans for future enterprises. His expertise covers pastries and breads, which we appreciated, along with the yummy chocolate brownie a la mode and mango cheesecake.

So there’s something else to look forward to at Asya Premier Suites — which has only been in operation for over a year, but which has certainly established new ground in Boracay, as a haven of premier privilege. 

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An active member of the Boracay Foundation (BFI), which has been at the forefront of environment preservation, SEAIR has the longest history of uninterrupted flights to Caticlan, for 16 years now, and still offers the mot number of direct flights, from Manila, Clark and Cebu. 

The SEAIR ticketing office in Makati is at 202 La’O Center, Arnaiz Avenue. Call center number (632)849-0100, commercial fax number (632)849-0219, and reservation fax number (632)849-0239. Or check out www.flyseair.com.

Asya Premier Suites’ Makati office is at Unit 3, 3/F Eight One Eight Bldg., 818 Arnaiz Avenue. Call 893-5276 and 892-0138 or e-mail sales@asyaresorts.comor reservations@asyaresorts.com.