Shangri-La’s Boracay Resort & Spa

My trip last April to Boracay was a short one but I got to stay in two of the island’s best hotels. My first night was spent at Discovery Shores and the next two nights I got to experience another level of luxury at Shangri-La’s Boracay Resort & Spa. How lucky was I?

We had to leave Discovery Shores because they were fully booked and we couldn’t extend our stay. I didn’t mind since I also really wanted to see Shangri-La’s beautiful resort.

lobby lounge

part of the lobby lounge

Really nice view from the lobby lounge which I never got to sit in at all.

After checking in we rode the golf cart to our rooms. You can call for a golf cart anytime you need to go anywhere. After a while we realized it was faster to walk and healthier too.

All our rooms were in the timog or south wing which had views of the sea. The hilaga or north wing had garden views.

My first stop was to see the suite of Elizabeth’s parents. It was huge!!!

seaview suite

The room even had an outdoor jacuzzi!

walk-in closet

The shower was double the size of the one in our deluxe room.

They also had a Nespresso machine as well as an electric hotpot for water.

I helped myself to an espresso.

I was so envious of the tea set-up. There were even two tea pots! Check out the 4 tins of loose leaf tea. The choices were green, earl, jasmine and oolong. Elizabeth’s mom was so nice to give me a couple of cans of tea.

glass bottled water

This was our first room. Why our first? We actually changed rooms three times. I was fine sharing this king bed with Elizabeth but she suggested we move to a room with two beds instead. Sure why not?

I noticed their linens were a bit crumpled.

deluxe seaview room

All the deluxe rooms had two daybeds in the balcony. It was a nice place to relax when I was tired of the beach and pool.

This was the view from the room.

The spacious bathroom had two doors.

L’Occitane toiletries

Only instant coffee and tea bags in this room.

An elevator ride down and a few steps away and we were at the beach.

The sand and water isn’t as nice as in White Beach in station one of Discovery Shores but it was very private. It felt like I had my own beach. There was hardly any people. There was another beach on the other side near the pool area.

I chanced upon a romantic and private dinner on the beach specially catered by the hotel.

special beachside dinner

From the beach there was a short cut to the pool.

I had a quick swim in the beautiful pool which had several sections. I knew the hotel was fully booked but I felt I was all alone in this paradise.

This was our second room, a deluxe seaview with two double beds. I was fine with it but Elizabeth swore she stayed in a bigger room with bigger beds before.

I was surprised with a much smaller bathroom with only one door and one sink.

There was no glass shower enclosures either. I wonder if this was for handicap access or the shower curtains were just to save space. It was unacceptable to us so we requested to change to another room.

The staff were really accommodating and moved all our belongings while we had dinner in the hotel’s restaurant. Finally we got the room we loved. The room was indeed much bigger and had two queen beds. This room can easily sleep four people.

premiere family seaview room

The bathroom was identical to the first room so we were very happy.

Look what I found on my side table.

On the basement level of the resort was the health club, a boutique and the entertainment center.

regalo boutique

The entertainment center was really big.

entertainment center

Aside from the usual board games they also had sungka (local shell game).

I spent an hour of fun filled activities with Christine, Michelle and Andrew the nieces and nephew of Elizabeth. Naturally they beat me in basketball, air hockey, table tennis and foosball. I didn’t bother with billiards since I’m sure they will laugh at my amateur efforts.

There were even two rooms for video games. I was glad there were no kids playing there since the point of going to the beach was to get them away from video games.

Karoke rooms were available too.

They also had books and dvds you can borrow and take to your rooms.

Shangri-La’s resort was really world class. The rooms were very luxurious and surprisingly the rates were almost the same as Discovery Shores. I’m sure you’re all wondering which hotel I liked better? Believe me I asked myself the same thing over and over again. I’m really torn and can’t decide.

For location and the beach my choice would be Discovery Shores. Their service and ‘freebies’ are also top notch. But for an overall resort and hotel accommodation the facilities of Shangri-La can’t be beat. I was extremely happy and lucky to have experienced both fantastic hotels in one trip.

Shangri-La’s Boracay Resort & Spa
Barangay Yapak, Boracay Island, Malay, Aklan, 5608, Philippines
telephone: (63 36) 288-4988
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