Four days ago, my friends and I flew to Boracay for a vacation amidst warnings of a few torrential rains and thunderstorms. But it didn’t matter since one of us had offered 12 eggs to the Gods to bless us with fair weather, hehe, and it worked wonders! And after all, I hadn’t set foot there for three years because I’m not a real big beach fan, but the trip turned out to be a very pleasant surprise.

We stayed at The Tides and it was a more than decent resort, but whatever good attributes it had was totally overshadowed and trumped when we were toured around Shangri-La’s Resort & Spa by our contact Yvette Recto. By definition:

Shan·gri-la \ (shnggr-lä) \ noun
1: an imaginary remote paradise on earth; utopia.
2: a distant and secluded hideaway, usually of great beauty and peacefulness.

And boy, was it that and more! I have been to quite a few resorts here and around the globe, and I’m a very picky too, but I can say that this resort is definitely world-class. We arrived at Shangri-La about half past eleven and we were treated to a sumptuous lunch buffet at the Vintana. The food was exquisite and not the typical buffet where food is stuffed in your face from all over and you’re bloated even before you’ve started. The mix of cuisines from East and West was a great combination and the desserts tickled your sweet-tooth with its fanciful variety.

After our hearty lunch we were whisked off to the guided tour of the resort. Just to give you guys an idea as to how huge the place was, we started touring from the main lobby at 2:30pm and ended up back there riding in our golf carts at around 4:30pm. And to think we probably walked through only half of the entire resort and it took us 2 full hours! All the images contained here are directly from my camera, raw, and this is exactly what we saw walking around this pure Utopia.

We started from the lobby and moved to their deluxe room, which is their smallest room at 60sqm and has broadband access coupled with a flatscreen TV, an iPod dock, and a private balcony with a daybed facing the sea. From there, we moved to their function rooms and then to the Entertainment Centre! This place had everything! It has 2 billiard tables, a karaoke room, an X Box 360, an air hockey table, a ping-pong table, and even a basketball arcade!

And right beside it is the Adventure Zone, a kid’s paradise with 2 huge slides! One that holds 3 to race and drops you down wearing a sack, while the other one dropping you down on a myriad of bouncy balls! I’m telling you, a family can stay here for hours on end and not be bored at all!

After that, we were brought to their gym and gee whiz, you wouldn’t think a resort would have this kind of a facility. It’s state-of-the-art with jacuzzi’s and sauna rooms and a really huge locker room and honestly, I didn’t expect to see this kind of quality. Moving further down, we had a short walk to the Villas, which is really one of the highlights of the tour. It was 99sqm and you would be wowed by how it looked inside. And when you open your door to the outside, it’s already the beachside!

And lastly, the jewel of the resort is the 5,714-square-metre Chi Spa. It is separated into pavillions built specifically to cater to your particular needs and designed as a sanctuary within the resort. If you were looking for a blissful place to relax and soothe those aching muscles from a whole day at the beach, then this is your haven.

Between that and the infinity pools and seemingly endless forest-like paths, the walk was absolutely breathtaking. I was ooohing and aahhhing on practically every place we set foot on and to think ALL of this is part of the package when you stay in the Shangri-La in Boracay.

The cost of staying in paradise? Their promo until October is a mere 14,000++ Php for 3 days/2 nights for 2 pax with the 2nd night free along with breakfast and transfer to and from the airport! All the perks in this resort for 14k is a gift if you ask me compared to whatever resort you’re staying in wherever in the world. I think I’ll go pack now and book another flight to Boracay again for next week, haha!