Cebu 101: Where to Stay, What to Eat and What to Do When In Cebu!

 By Frank Ruaya & Mae Ilagan on March 12, 2013

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And so the adventures of Frank and Mae continue on and for this week,   they’ve decided to crossover Luzon island and fly directly to the Queen City of the south to discover  and experience its magnificence and to give you all a heads up on the things you never should miss when going to Cebu! 

There is no doubt that it’s truly more fun in the Philippines with all the various sites, sounds and experiences all readily there for everyone to adore!

Experience a luxurious and comfortable life + affordable rates and plans. Click here.

Choosing a place to stay is indeed very vital in any vacation of course! Keep in mind that these occasions serve as your reward to yourselves so before booking a hotel or a resort, it pays to do much research to get your money’s worth. For us, a place must have a good location, great amenities, fantastic food and one-of-a-kind service.. basically, a place which can remind you how great life is! Yeah, that’s how we epicureans think!

Ok time to start the journey again and take you to majestic Cebu with our photos!!  

Like most Filipinos, we also enjoy  booking flights whenever Cebu Pacific  sell very affordable fares! Cebu Pacific  made it sooo possible for locals to fly and see the country! Before, flying was considered as a luxury and only for a few who can afford it, but now Cebu Pacific fares are sometimes even more affordable than land travel!  Flying via Cebu Pacific is very easy and safe and no matter how other airlines would also offer affordable rates, we still go for a tried and tested name like Cebu Pacific!

The flight from Manila to Cebu lasted for about an hour via Cebu Pacific. We arrived at the Mactan Int’l Airport around noon and we were just in time for our check-in at our preferred resort for this trip - Crimson Mactan! 

 Crimson Mactan: Our home in Cebu  

Crimson Mactan is definitely one of those places which provide you with a glimpse of paradise! Yeah, the sites were breathtaking with awesome amenities and service! Everything looked so perfect, calm and serene! 

 hello paradise!

I’m so glad we made the decision to stay at Crimson Mactan!

We noticed that majority of visitors were foreigners. I couldn’t help but feel a bit melancholy… I wish more Filipinos would get to experience this paradise as well!  Perfect for romantic getaways, family outings and honeymoons!

 

 and now, we go to our villa!  Our villa was super cute! Looked more like a small home loaded with all the stuff you need!

 It felt like playing “Bahay-bahayan” the entire weekend!

 Here at Crimson Mactan, guests are given VIP treatment and much pampering! 

 Our villa was just perfect! From the design down to the intricate artsy details! Bravo!

cool ey?

It’s one of those places which make you feel so at home! We sooo love everything about it and we can only say great things about Crimson Mactan!

Our villa even had its own mini pool/Jacuzzi inside! It was such a delight to see Frank already taking a dip when I woke up 

 from all the places we’ve been to, Crimson Mactan had the most elegant and spacious bathroom with all the luxurious amenities you can ever think of!

it even had its own lcd tv! 

The Food:

Oh! Their buffets were all satisfying! I remember spending a lot of hours devouring on their dishes! We loved their desserts station so much! Their cakes were so delectable! We also loved their healthy smoothies!  The restaurant staff were also very warm and attended to our every need!

 they got a really nice selection of dishes at their buffet! Frank and I had such memorable meals during our stay!

Frank and I always look forward to breakfasts and we sure had wonderful ones during our stay at Crimson Mactan!

I even remember having breakfast for almost 4 hours!!  When you’re at Crimson Mactan, you wouldn’t wanna go out anymore.. SERIOUSLY!!

expect glorious meals at Crimson Mactan 

Crimson Mactan was just soooo perfect that we didn’t want to leave the whole weekend! But of course, it would be a shame not to experience the majesty of the Queen City of the South so Frank and I made and effort to search for MUST EXPERIENCE things when in Cebu!

When in Cebu City, please visit http://www.gregmelep.com for your real estate and retirement needs. Avail of the opportunity to own a condominium unit in Cebu City at the low amount of only P 9,333.33 and House and Lot @ P 7,306.81/month only. Hurry while supply of units still last. Just call the Tel. Nos. shown herein: (053)555-84-64/09164422611/09173373687.

Business hotel to open soon

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By Katlene O. Cacho

Thursday, November 1, 2012

AN 83-room four-star international business hotel is scheduled to soft-open this December.

Best Western Plus Lex Cebu general manager Bernard Neil Tanchan said Cebu needs additional hotel rooms that follow international standards to cater to the growing business travelers.

“We have decided to venture into the hotel business given that the city lacks more international brand hotels that would specifically deliver international standards for medium-range markets,” Tanchan said in a press briefing yesterday.

Best Western Plus Lex Cebu is located on the corner of Escario St. and Juana Osmena Ext. The hotel will officially open in January.

The 10-storey business hotel is owned and managed by Cebu-based Tanchan Business Ventures Inc., whose core businesses include Cold Storage Inc. and Alpine Ice Plant.

Aside from the city’s need for additional hotel rooms, Tanchan said it is Cebu’s vibrant tourism industry that prompted them to invest in the hotel industry. The firm invested over P150 million to put up the hotel, which is the family’s first hotel venture.

The firm tapped the expertise of Best Western International Inc. (BWI) to help them run the business. Tanchan said the hotel staff is trained by BWI.

BWI is an American hotel brand based in Phoenix, Arizona. It is reported to be the world’s biggest hotel chain with over 4,100 independently-owned and operated hotels in 100 countries and territories worldwide.

Best Western Plus Lex Cebu falls under BWI Asia’s four-star hotel category. The hotel in Cebu is the first Best Western Plus hotel in the Philippines.

Best Western Plus Lex Cebu hotel consultant Fay Paras is confident the hotel will do well in Cebu, given the perceived gap in the international hotels here. She said Best Western Plus Lex Cebu is right in the middle to address both value-for-money and high quality of service.

Paras said the Best Western Plus brand offers “above-standard features and services.”

Its distinct amenities are designed for the modern-day traveler who is practical, updated and appreciates great comfort. The hotel’s room prices range from P3,200 to P3,800.

“We are targeting the business transients who frequent Cebu with an average stay of 1.5 days here,” Paras said.

BWI is upbeat on the expansion, citing Asia as one of its key growth areas. BWI vice president for international operations Asia & Middle East Glenn de Souza said the company plans to increase the number of member- properties in the Philippines from 12 to 19 by 2015 and from nine to 15 in Vietnam.

BWI will also expand in Indonesia, Japan and South Korea. Other growth markets include Malaysia and Singapore as well as emerging markets such as Bangladesh and Iraq.

In the Philippines, Paras said BWI will put up hotels in Pampanga, Boracay, Palawan and Bohol.

After Cebu, Tanchan is looking at opening a hotel in Palawan under the same brand in the next five to seven years. He said it will probably be a resort and spa hotel type.

Best Western Plus Lex Cebu has 60 superior rooms, eight business class rooms, 10 deluxe rooms, one junior suite and four deluxe suites. Among its amenities are a fitness center, business center and meeting facilities such as 120-capacity ballroom, meeting rooms and a board room. The hotel is also part of BWI’s reservation system.

When in Cebu City, please visit gregmelep.com for your real estate and retirement needs. 

Avail of the opportunity to own a condominium unit in Cebu City for only P12,000.00/month with your own parking lot. Hurry while the supply of units last. Just call the Tel. Nos. shown below.

Tel. No. 555-8464/09164422611/09173373687.

Published in the Sun.Star Cebu newspaper on November 01, 2012.

Tourism sector eyes bigger market

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By Mia A. Aznar

AS THE World Tourism Organization sees the Asia Pacific region as the next region to see in 10 to 20 years, local tourism stakeholders are aiming to get the Philippines on the large global tourism market.

Research, Education and Institutional Development (REID) Foundation vice president Cherrylyn Rodolfo, who presented to local stakeholders the state of Philippine tourism, said the country is ready to take advantage of this due to its strategic location in the Asia Pacific region and in Southeast Asia.

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The Asia Pacific region has an annual tourism growth rate of 6.3 percent while Southeast Asian countries grew 6.8 percent.

She said that if the Philippines wants to catch up with its neighbors, it has to come up with new products to offer tourists. Rodolfo said the country had a “dismal performance” from 1980 to 2010.

They learned that it takes a visitor several years to realize his desire to travel to the Philippines. When they determined to find out why, she said there were indications that tourism suppliers had to turn guests away at certain times of the year due to a lack of capacity to accommodate them.

There is also a lack of products to lure them.

These, she said, were mostly during peak season.

Constraints

“So even if the Philippines was number one in their list, the visit was not realized because of the constraints they faced,” said Rodolfo.

Still, she believes the landscape of Philippine tourism is about to change, with the government completing its National Tourism Development Plan (NTDP) to come up with competitive tourism products, enhance connectivity and strengthen governance.

Rodolfo noted that in the product portfolio of the Philippines, which are sun and beach, culture, nature and cruise and nautical tourism, Cebu is able to offer all of these. “The question now is, do we want to part of that growth or are we content to watch at the sidelines?” she told those present.

Following the NTDP, she said some provinces have begun setting up their own tourism plan. Rodolfo said Cebu seems to have a major role for many of these provinces.

She explained that the Mactan-Cebu International Airport serves as a major gateway to many provinces and that the success of these destinations will also depend on how well the airport is positioned. She was glad to hear of the plans to expand it and added that the airport still has room for expansion so that it can serve other tourism development areas.

Rodolfo cited Bohol as a province that considers its linkage with Cebu as critical to their tourism plans and that there have been moves to work on tourism loops similar to what Hong Kong and Macau have. She said this can be explored by improving the ferry services and the port facilities and offering online bookings.

Competitors

Despite Cebu’s critical role in the development of other provinces, Rodolfo warned that even if they can be allies, these other provinces could also become competitors if Cebu does not work on its own tourism plan. Currently, there are plans to complete an international airport in Panglao, Bohol while other airports are also being improved. She added that Iloilo, which is the third busiest airport in the country, currently has no international flights. However, it will start its international flight to and from Hong Kong by November.

When in Cebu City, please visit gregmelep.com the new retirement paradise in the South.

Avail of the opportunity to own a condominium unit in Cebu City for only P12,000.00/month with its own parking lot. Hurry while the supply of units last. Just call the Tel. Nos. shown below.

Tel. Nos. (032)555-8464/09164422611/09173378637

Published in the Sun.Star Cebu newspaper on September 28, 2012.

Survey finds Cebu City ‘most honest’

CEBU City was awarded as the most honest and transparent city among metro growth centers outside Metro Manila.

It also fared well in a survey on the quality of life, cost of doing business, dynamism of the local economy, human resources and training, infrastructure, and responsiveness of local government units (LGUs) to business needs.

Cebu City, along with Dagupan and Cagayan de Oro, was named the most competitive city outside Metro Manila in the Philippine Cities Competiveness Ranking Project 2009 (PCCRP) of the Asian Institute of Management (AIM) Policy Center.

Cebu City was also recognized as the Best in Disaster Preparedness, Best in the Dynamism of its Local Economy and Best in Infrastructure.

According to the AIM Policy Center website, Cebu City figured in all the award categories, which included Best Compliance with Government-Mandated Plans, Entrepreneurs’ Award for Most Supportive to MSMEs, Entrepreneurs’ Award for Most Honest and Transparent Cities, Dynamism of Local Economy, Infrastructure, and Quality of Life.

“I’m very proud of this and I’m proud our city government. At least, I have something to show to our critics and I can just laugh at them,” said former Cebu City mayor Tomas Osmeña, who received the award last week.

The PCCRP study was based on government data, a perception survey among business owners, and interviews with local chief executives and local business group’s representative.

It also classified the cities into three groups: metropolitan growth centers, growth centers and emergent cities.

According to the summary of findings and a report published by Newsbreak Online, Cebu City bested Davao in the metro growth center category, which refers to cities with an average of P3.05 billion total income and average population of 1.08 million.

The city received the Entrepreneurs’ Award for “Most Honest and Transparent in its Dealings” among metro growth cities.

It was credited for disclosing financial accountability, as well as using participation in its planning and budgeting processes.

Cebu City was also named the top performer in disaster preparedness.

It was commended for its City Disaster Coordinating Council, disaster preparedness plan and documents on tracking of informal settlers. It also met the minimum ratio for the number of firemen for every 100,000 residents.

The city also bested other cities for its dynamic economy, measured in terms of per capita income, number of commercial and universal banks, building construction area, membership in local chambers of commerce and industry, access to finance, level of foreign interest, number of Department of Tourism accredited establishments and historical sites.

It bested Davao City in infrastructure for the reduced travel time to its seaport, reduced travel time for road maintenance, commercial water connections, subscribed telephone lines and reliability of water service.

Cagayan de Oro, meanwhile, topped in the growth centers category, which included the cities of General Santos, Baguio, Lapu-Lapu, Zamboanga, Olongapo, Batangas, Iloilo, Bacolod and Mandaue. These cities have an average income of P1.2 billion and population 421,165.

Dagupan City is the most competitive among the emergent cities.

It bested the cities of Angeles, Butuan, Cotabato, Lucena, Naga, Legaspi, Pagadian, Puerto Princesa, Ormoc, Iligan, Tagum, and San Fernando in La Union, Surigao, Tuguegarao, Tacloban and Santiago.

AIM conducted the study with support from the United States Agency for International Development and the German foundation gtz. (GAC)

Published in the Sun.Star Cebu newspaper on August 14, 2010.