Never say never…Why we changed our minds about Boracay

My fiance and I went to Boracay about four summers ago. We didn’t like it. We thought the island was overrated–being anti-social vacationers, we detested the crowd and the noise and vowed never to go back.

Fast forward to 2009. Fiance asked me to plan a getaway vacation in the middle of October. We were both stressed out from work and we needed a break. I decided to flip out my Enjoy card and checked out the affiliated hotels and resorts. On a whim, I checked out Patio Pacific Boracay’s site. I asked my fiance if he was willing to give Boracay another try. Friends kept telling me to go there on off-season to avoid the crowds plus resorts give great promotional rates at these times.

I contacted Patio Pacific then reserved a room for 4 days and 3 nights (we booked the trip a couple of weeks before Ondoy hit). Arranging the reservations with my Enjoy card perks was a breeze. All transactions were via email. The sales rep was so accommodating and was able to answer all my questions. I personally think that our stay at this resort-hotel was what made the trip so worth it.

The resort staff were great–friendly and really accommodating. Hotel location was great as well. It wasn’t beach front (which was fine with us since it was less noisy that way) but the beach was like two minutes walk away. The resort was in Station 1 and a stone’s throw away from D’Mall.

The entrance to our hotel from the beach

Our hotel room. My fiance and I were surprised with the rose petals and the swans but we totally dug them.

I love the bathroom! Small but very, very clean. I enjoyed the bathtub...I actually ordered a glass of frozen margarita while I lay in the bubbles.

Being the foodies that we are, first order of business was getting a late lunch. A friend referred us to SMOKED!, a small restaurant at D’Mall. The sizzling bulalo and the sweet & spicy shrimps were perfect. It was the first of the wonderful meals we had during our stay.

Sizzling Bulalo from SMOKED!

Sweet and Spicy Shrimps from SMOKED! YUMMY!!!

More of the delicious food we tried out in Boracay:

Baby Back Ribs at Hawaiian BBQ (just a few steps away from our hotel)

Mac enjoying his sweet and spicy crab. I already finished my shrimps cooked in garlic and honey (sarap!).

Free dinner at Patio Pacific courtesy of my Enjoy Card voucher. The Patio Pacific chicken was delicious!

Of course, we did most of the tourist-y stuff:

snorkeling and island hopping

Posing...

...and taking lots of pictures of the beach...

...and the sunsets.

Walked around the beach, digging our toes into the sand.

Night swimming at the resort pool.

Although we told ourselves we’d try para-sailing on our last day at Boracay, we spent the day lounging by the beach and swimming in the resort pool instead. We felt completely lethargic and since it was the middle of the week in October, there were literally only  a few people around. We loved it!

This second trip to Boracay was loads better than our first. We enjoyed it so much that we’ll go back very soon…still on off-season of course.