FOR MANY BUSINESS TRAVELers, work and play should go together.
Fairways and Bluewater in Boracay, which recently became a luxurious hotel and resort facility, has thus spruced up its image and amenities to entice these travelers to visit and stay a few days.
Improvements
Behind the improvements is Hong Kong and Manila-based Quantum Hotels and Resorts, which manages and runs hotels and condotels.
Quantum is positioning Fairways and Bluewater to cater to the growing business and leisure market.
Joey Bernardo, Quantum Hotels and Resorts vice president for operations, said the hotel?s clients are usually groups of employees from companies in Taiwan and Korea.
?Fairways and Bluewater is the only accommodation in Boracay that offers a golf course, horseback riding, and private beaches. The place appeals a lot to business travelers and executives and their families,? said Bernardo.
The 120 hectare property, which boasts of a championship par 72 golf course (18 holes), offers Spanish inspired villas, private white beaches, spa facility, big swimming pools, fine dining restaurants, amphitheater and horseback riding.
The Residences
Quantum Hotels and Resorts manages a cluster of midrise condotels branded under the name The Residences.
Each building carries names such as Mouligan, Isabel, Maria, Margarita and Balayhara, representing themes and interiors of the guest rooms.
All of them feature spacious rooms with amenities like a kitchen and wide balconies that offer a view of the golf course and the island?s world-famous white sand beach.
Bernardo said Fairways and Bluewater is the first beach resort property under the company?s wing.
Other hotels and condotels managed and run by Quantum Hotels and Resorts are in Makati, Ortigas and Quezon City.
Fairways and Bluewater was developed by the New Coast Group in partnership with Fil Estate.
It was initially offered as exclusive club membership and individual condominium ownership.
The residential condominiums remain within the big property group, separated from the new hotel buildings, which are located nearer the beach and the golf course.
New management
In 2008, Quantum Hotels and Resorts came in to manage the hotel, resort part of the property.
Fairways and Bluewater?s transition into a hotel and resort is a welcome change for the owners of the property, according to Bernardo.
Bernardo said business has been good following the transformation.
Current occupancy enjoyed by hotel is at 60 percent even though it is considered off season in Boracay.
To make the property a hotel, Quantum Hotels and Resorts implemented major changes such as setting up the front desk, concierge, 24-hour shuttle services, marketing department and establishment of a welcome center in Caticlan to provide ferries to guests.
?The company does not only do sales and marketing locally. We have international offices. We make sure that we do not only cater to the local clients but international clients as well. We have a sales and marketing team stationed in each property we manage, so we make sure that each property is supported.? he said.
Quantum Hotels and Resorts plans to operate two more resorts in Boracay.
For the meantime, the company is busy highlighting the advantage Fairways and Bluewater has over other accommodations in Boracay?the private beach and the golf course.
