Azalea Hotels & Residences Boracay Day 1

There’s a reason why a lot of people call Boracay Paradise—with its powdery white sand beautiful beaches and perhaps one of the most beautiful sunsets which will leave you breathless.

That’s  why I always get excited whenever there’s a chance for me to revisit the beautiful Island even though I’ve been there quite a few times.

Next to Palawan, Boracay is the only other place I think I’d never get tired of swimming on the beach. For some reason, I feel safe and relax wading in the clear azure waters, maybe because the place makes me feel at home.

My very first time in Boracay was in the early 90s when the beach was even clearer and bluer and the sand almost pure white. There was still no station 1,2 or 3.  In fact there wasn’t much yet except for the sailboats, fishermen and peddlers selling banana cue and halo halo on the outskirts of the beach. It wasn’t commercialized yet and there were only a few stores so the only thing you could really do was enjoy the beach and bask in its picturesque beauty.

It was almost two decades later when I got the chance to go back. It was in 2009 when my officemates found a good deal on plane tickets and convinced me to join them. We stayed in Station 2 and it was almost unrecognizable as compared to how it looked in the 90s-- it was a totally different island with all the restos, bars and hotels. But it was definitely more enjoyable as we went island hopping, fish feeding and snorkeling. I was also with my youngest son and it was our first travel together.

In 2015 I got invited to a media FAM Tour, but since it was for a hotel resort, we had a tight itinerary to follow-which was almost the same last year when we traveled by sea on board a ferry from Batangas to Boracay. We only had a full day to explore Boracay and had to leave very early in the morning to catch the trip back to Manila.

The Azalea Boracay Gang

Last month, I joined a group of bloggers who were invited by Azalea Boracay. I’ve already seen the hotel from my previous trip and even took photos promising myself that the next time I’m in Boracay, I would be staying at Azalea.

I guess my prayers were answered as my blogger friend Jeman Villanueva of Orangemagazine.ph and Sir Adrian Ramirez invited us to check out the resort and enjoy a more adventurous side of Boracay.

Day 1

We left Manila at around 330pm and arrived just before sunset at Azalea Hotels & Residences Boracay. We were ushered to room 579- A Two-Bedroom Suite that is best for a family or group of five to six.

It was like staying in a condo unit as it was fully furnished with a dining room a living room and kitchen.

Double Suite Room

Room keys

The Master's bedroom had an adjacent bathroom while the other had a separate toilet and bath.  I was with bloggers Ed Uy of whereiseduy.com, Martin Andrade of MartinAndrade.com and Erica of EricaYuB.com and we shared the room. It was huge and spacious not like in other hotels which give you the same amenities but in a much smaller space.

If you prefer to cook your own meals and save some money, the kitchen has a set of pans and cooking utensils as well as plates you could use. All you need to do is buy from the nearby stores or D’ Talipapa.

Since it was almost dinner time,  we only had a short time to freshen up and take a quick tour of Azalea’s room types and amenities.

Buffet dinner was at Golden Phoenix Hotel by the the seaside where we enjoyed the cool night breeze and did some people watching. We decided to walk back to the hotel to give our Boracay virgins Rain and Martin a chance to take in the scenery and check out the nightlife. If you are into bars, you might want to join the nightly Pub Crawls

Nightlife in Boracay is almost the same in Manila. Its alive with a lot of videoke, bars with sing-along bands, dancing waiters and clubs if you want to dance the night away.

Unfortunately we were exhausted from our trip, and went into tita and tito mode and decided to call it a night to get ready for the next day's adventure.