A prime slice of sun, sand, and sea in Mactan

MANILA, Philippines - From our al fresco seaside perch at the Waves bar, we see fireworks light up and streak across the drizzly night sky. A black sea insistently crashes down below as we sip our Green Island drink — a delicious, frozen concoction of vodka, basil, and calamansi.

“See that over there?” points Mildred Amon, communications director of Shangri-La’s Mactan Resort and Spa. A small cabana sits about 50 feet into the water, cornered by four lamps struggling against the dark and rain.

It’s called the Observatory, she says. Aptly named, for sure, but this outpost sitting in the water of the Hilutungan Channel (which leads to the Mactan Strait) is also known for a completely different thing — as a site of many a wedding proposal. Indeed, it’s a postcard-perfect setting for ardent questions and love-soaked yeses.

Captivating as it is at night, the Observatory and the Shangri-La’s Mactan property is a doubly enchanting sight under a radiant sun — from the moment you are gently stirred awake by light filtering through the heavy drapes. You throw them open and realize there’s no work to do today. You are miles and miles away from your inbox, nestled in a complete oasis as described by GM Juergen Doerr. “Our product is complete — offering a large variety of features that other hotels do not: a spa, the beach, swimming pools, restaurants, and function rooms, and others,” he says in an exclusive interview with The STAR at the hotel’s lobby lounge.

Shangri-La Mactan’s GM Juergen Doerr and director of sales and marketing Agnes Pacis

Truth to tell, Mactan has turned into a true resort town replete with tourist traps (and trappings). A bewildering array of boutique hotels and themed resorts dot the historic island — awaiting a multitude of visitors, both local and foreign.

Even as these operations compete with Shangri-La Mactan’s pie slice, Doerr isn’t bothered. He’s a bigger-picture kind of guy — suffused with bottom line thinking about operational implications.

“I don’t want to sound arrogant,” he explains, “but, overall, we’re competing more with international destinations such as Bali or Phuket.”

Doerr concedes that these destinations are more famous than Cebu, but he’s banking on the unique value propositions of the resort, in addition to the vaunted Shangri-La reputation, to tip the scales in its favor. “Shangri-La is a well-established brand throughout the world. Guests have high expectations when they check into a Shangri-La resort. Still, we want to exceed those expectations.”

Covering 13 hectares (with an additional undeveloped six still in the land bank), Shangri-La’s Mactan Resort and Spa is located on Punta Engaño Road, Lapu-Lapu City. It boasts 530 rooms — 198 of which have just been recently refurbished. Doerr says more (this time at the main or lobby wing) rooms, along with the Chinese outlet Tea of Spring and the lobby lounge, will be renovated next year. He also promises the “revitalization of food and beverage concepts.”

This sort of adroitness is a little surprising for an established brand like Shangri-La, but Doerr sees no other way to maintain leadership. Ensconced in a refurbished and fully appointed 36 square-meter Deluxe Sea View Room painted and decorated in apt island/sea hues, I have no compunction to do anything else but enjoy taking in the sight of the resort pool below and the shoreline and beach beyond it.

That’s a shame, of course, so I leave the embrace of tranquil slumber to explore the sprawling resort. Aside from the standard hotel facilities, Shangri-La’s Mactan Resort and Spa boasts an array of thoughtful amenities, attractions, and features that are designed to cater to most your whims and inclinations that you need not go out of its expansive confines at all.

Casa suite living room

The choice is yours: swim with humans or fish; seriously work those wedges and putters in the resort’s pitch-and-putt course or leisurely negotiate a miniature golf course (thoughtfully designed to highlight Philippine landmarks); hit the gym or unknot those muscles at the one-hectare Chi Spa complex; Jet Ski or scuba dive or parasail or whatever…

Endless choices are delightful, particularly for finicky guests of all ages. “Our property is quite unique because we can cater to a vast variety of clientele,” declares Doerr. If the Mactan resort’s Metro Manila siblings are businessmen’s haunts, it styles itself as a “leisure family resort.”

That means even kids are given the latitude of choice — and the parents, if they so wish, can have their “we” time while comforted with the knowledge that the kids are taken care of and happy. “We have a kids’ club where the children can be looked after from breakfast to dinner,” explains the resort GM.

Declared a marine sanctuary five years ago, the resort’s waterfront and reef within is looked after by Shangri-La, its local dive shop/watersports operator Scotty’s and other partners such as the Amores Foundation. That’s why it is not uncommon to spot docile schools of fish that converge on bathers feeding them. These have learned to trust the two-legged mammals — just proof of how high corporate social responsibility rightfully ranks on the hotel’s list of priorities.

One of the things the collective works for is making “sure that the corals grow back, because they have been bombed out in the past,” shares Doerr.

Shangri-La also strives toward self-sufficiency in terms of water use. Even if it buys water from the city, the vast majority of water used in operations comes from the re sort’s own desalination plant. The ultimate goal, enthuses Doerr, is to reach 100 percent water independence.

Doerr is proud of the resort’s “many activities that complement each other,” and insists on the importance of making the property “versatile.” That means appealing to a wide variety of nationalities.

“Plus, it’s a nice challenge because it keeps you on your toes,” he continues. “You must be able to cater to each segment.”

They have multi-lingual Filipino staff, as well as foreign ones. On the day of The STAR’s departure, a huge delegation of Russians — numbering around 500 — plane in from the mainland and Manila. The resort is in all-hands-on-deck mode, and additionally conscripts Russian-speaking guests relations officers. A good ol’ fashioned Filipino welcome is in order, and dancers and musicians line up at the lobby to greet the foreigners as they arrive in bus after bus. Smiles are exchanged, nods of acknowledgment are made, and Doerr — in his spiffy short-sleeved barong — looks on like a proud father.

“The Philippine service culture is fantastic,” Doerr beams, and makes no bones about the fact that it is a large part of what has made this prime resort under the Mactan sun the happy place for an increasing number of tourists, foreign and domestic. Photos by Fernan Nebres