Festive Philippines
The Lind Boracay Island is a five star resort hotel located on White Beach at Station 1. It has a cool tropical vibe. The off white and aquamarine colour scheme is carried out throughout the public and private spaces.
Following a bloggers convention in Manila, TBEX Asia 2016, I took part in a post-event familiarization trip to North Palawan, which was great fun.
Local tourism authorities had organized a very exciting itinerary for us. We hiked up a steep hill to get a panoramic view of the town of Coron and Coron Bay. We toured the bay by catamaran, making several stops to go snorkeling and take a dip in a cool lagoon.
We stopped at a private beach, where we had an informal picnic lunch in a scene right out of Robinson Crusoe. We took a relaxing dip in a hot spring as the sun set. And we had a mouth-watering dinner at a restaurant serving regional dishes that was favoured by locals.
After the fam trip ended, I set off on my own, spending four more nights in Palawan before boarding a nine-seater aircraft for an exhilarating flight to Boracay, which was definitely one of the highlights of my four week adventure in the Philippines.
I spent a total of 10 nights in Boracay, staying at three hotels. The Lind Boracay Island was the second hotel on my itinerary. The hotel opened in 2016. It is one of the newest hotels to open along Station 1 on White Beach, which is considered to be Boracay’s prestige location.
And Boracay is considered to be either the world’s best or second best island – depending on which reader survey you read. I met representatives of the hotel during a speed dating session at TBEX Manila.
Accommodation
The hotel has 119 rooms ranging in size from 47 to 181 square meters. Each room has a spacious balcony overlooking the gardens, the swimming pool, or the sea. In my case, I had a view of all three!
There are 60 garden rooms with twin double or king size beds. There are also 19 sea rooms, 14 beach rooms, 11 pool rooms, six garden premier rooms, and six sea premier rooms.
Fully 14 rooms have cool dips. I stayed in room 201, one of 11 garden rooms with a cool dip at one end of the balcony. Two sea view rooms and the Presidential Suite also have cool dips.
My balcony had a sofa, coffee table, and armchair. Adjoining the balcony was a refreshing cool dip. I had a panoramic view of the ocean. The sunsets were magnificent.
Rooms are smartly furnished in natural earth tones reflecting the sand and surf with either twin or king size beds. Mine had a king size bed, a work station, and a sofa.
Decorative lighting in the living space and bathroom added a dramatic touch. There was a convenient spot to put luggage and a spacious closet.
Best of all was the the work station, which had two tiers with lots of surface space. Universal electrical outlets were conveniently placed on the wall just above the second tier – no need to get on your hands and knees to plug in your electronic gadgets.
Some mouth-watering snacks were laid out on the coffee table to welcome me, and boy were they delicious! My favourites were the chocolate bars on a stick! Not sure if that was a standard feature or if it was because I was a VIP of sorts.
Food and Beverage
The hotel has three food and beverage outlets and an events space, which offers sweeping views of the beach and the sea.
Tartine is the hotel’s all-day dining restaurant, serving breakfast, lunch, and dinner. This is where I had breakfast both mornings during my two-night, hosted stay, and I must say, the lavish breakfast buffets were top of the line.
There really was something for everyone, from healthy choices for those watching their weight to decadent pastries for those throwing caution to the wind.
There were both local and international dishes served from several stations. Refrigerated units held juices, fresh fruits, yogurts – the list goes on.
Beach Café and Bar Crust is located between the courtyard swimming pool and the beach. It is open for lunch and dinner as well as cocktails. Pizzas hot out of the wood-fire oven, open faced sandwiches, and wraps are specialties of the house.
Lobby Lounge and Bar +36 is open from early morning to 1 am. It serves quick snacks, wines and spirits, and an a la carte menu with both hot and cold dishes.
I didn’t get to try either one of these food and beverage outlets during my stay because I decided to dine in town instead.
Actually, I skipped lunch because of my generous breakfasts. Both of my dinners were at a Mexican restaurant in a nearby shopping mall. I’m from California, and I have a weakness for Mexican food.
Facilities
The hotel has two outdoor swimming pools. The rooftop infinity pool is on the same level as the lobby, and it is the perfect spot to do laps – assuming that you prefer to do laps in a pool basking in sunlight, as I do.
Because of its roof-top location, this pool is shadow-free from early morning until the sun goes down. This was my preferred pool for doing laps because I prefer swimming in a sun-bathed swimming pool.
A larger pool is located on beach level in the courtyard. There are umbrellas and lounge chairs alongside both the rooftop and courtyard pools. This pool would be preferable for swimmers wanting to do laps in a pool in a less sunny location.
Other facilities include a fitness room, a spa, and a kid’s club for children from four to 12 years of age. Children under four must be accompanied by a guardian.
Origami classes, story-telling, and painting are among the fun and educational activities on offer at the kid’s club, which will keep the kids busy while their parents have spa treatments, go shopping, or soak up some rays on the beach.
The spa offers a full menu of treatments in the spa itself, by the pool, or in the hotel’s guest rooms – the choice is yours!
The hotel also has banquet facilities that can handle from 14 participants in a boardroom setup to as many as 250 participants in a theatre configuration or 750 standing guests at a cocktail reception.
Location, Location, Location
The hotel is located on the northern end of White Beach at Station One, which is considered to be Boracay’s premier location.
The hotel offers a complimentary shuttle bus to a nearby shopping complex called D’Mall, an outdoor arcade of sorts full of shops and boutiques selling what you would expect to find on a tropical island.
There are also numerous food and beverage outlets ranging from fast-food joints to a couple of fine-dining restaurants – and everything in between.
This is where I usually dined at dinner during my 10 night stay in Boracay. The three hotels I stayed at all included breakfast and I usually skipped lunch.
Getting back to the mall, if you would prefer to walk there rather than taking the shuttle, a stroll down the beach would take 30 to 45 minutes – longer if you get carried away taking selfies!
And what a stroll it is! You will pass numerous other hotels and guests houses as well as cafes and bars, beach boys building sand castles, itinerant vendors selling everything from suntan lotion to sunglasses, Frisbee players, and that spectacular rock formation jutting into the surf called Willy’s Rock.
Feel free to go barefoot! The sand on White Beach is tightly packed and very cool to walk on – even when the sun is beating down. From Hawaii to Thailand to Bali, I cannot remember ever walking on sand this easy on the feet!
How to Get There
Boracay is served by two airports: a small local airport served exclusively by domestic airlines and a larger international airport with both domestic flights and flights to a growing number of nearby international travel destinations.
Travel to both airports requires a short trip by jetty, which is an adventure in itself.
Boracay Airport is the closest airport, and it offers frequent flights to Cebu, Manila, Clark, and other domestic travel destinations. The airport is served by Air Juan, Cebu Pacific Air, Philippines Airlines, and SkyJet.
I took the twice-weekly flight on Air Juan from Coron in North Palawan to Boracay. The flight was in a small, nine-seater aircraft, and the views were spectacular thanks to perfect weather and the low cruising altitude.
Be aware, however, that the airline doesn’t accept payment by credit card, which led to a major inconvenience because I was not aware of this when I booked my flight.
Kalibo International Airport – a bit more distant – offer flights to both domestic and foreign travel destinations. Cebu Pacific Air recently launched non-stop flights to Hong Kong.
Xian Airlines plans to launch service to Xi’an and Fuzhou, China, in May 2017. Other scheduled service is offered to such international travel destinations as to Beijing, China; Busan, Korea; Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia; Seoul, Korea; Singapore; and Taipei, Taiwan.
The airport is a hub for AirAsia Philippines and Cebu Pacific Air. It is a focus city for Philipine Airlines.
The hotel operates a shuttle bus to the jetty terminal, which is a hop, skip, and a jump from Boracay Airport. Transportation to the airport is complimentary.
While the hotel offers a free shuttle service to and from Boracay Airport, guests traveling by way of Kalibo Airport are charged. Since the charge is based on the trip, the more guests taking the trip, the lower the cost per person.
While the trip takes one hour and 45 minutes to two hours, I totally enjoyed it. The scenery along the way was breathtaking, and it was interesting passing through the small towns.
I was also lucky enough to be seated next to the driver, and we had a pleasant conversation along the way. It would have been rather boring, however, if I had made the trip after dark.
Where
The Lind Boracay, Station One, White Beach, Boracay, Philippines. Telephone: 02-835-8888.
Check room rates and hotel guest reviews on: TripAdvisor – Hotels.com