For a family of three working all week on homeschooling while running a business, a staycation is a welcome weekend. I got an invitation from Movenpick Hotel in Mactan to visit their place as they have been recently confirmed as a safe place to stay in despite the recent 7.2 magnitude earthquake that hit Bohol and also affected structures in Cebu.
Knowing about that would give you a sigh of relief. When you are a frequent traveler, you might catch yourself one day in a hotel room with a 7-ish magnitude earthquake rocking you awake. Assessment of buildings like these would give you the peace of mind that no harm will come to you when you stay in the hotel. Such is Movenpick Hotel in Mactan as they have been declared structurally safe.
I, of course, took the offer and asked for a weekend schedule. I was also surprised to know that they also prepared 4 buffet meals for us throughout the stay. So at the end of it all, we ended up being ever so pampered without a coin out of our pocket. Needless to say, it was a staycation worth remembering.
So now, my task here is to show you what we saw and experienced throughout our stay. I will be separating the posts for the Ibiza Churrasco and the Asian Fusion dining experience because it's worth separate stories to share!
To give you an overview, Movenpick Hotel is an "upscale international Swiss hotel chain". These are five star hotels that you shouldn't miss visiting in a lifetime. Here are some details to get you started in case you want to visit too!
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Hotel Name: Movenpick Hotel Mactan Island Cebu
Opened: December 2012
Location: Punta Engaño, Mactan Island, 6015 Cebu City
Website URL: http://www.moevenpick-cebu.com/hotels
Facebook URL: https://www.facebook.com/moevenpickhotelmactanislandcebu
Contact Info
Phone: (032) 492 7777
Email: social.cebu@moevenpick.com, hotel.cebu@moevenpick.com
Source: https://www.facebook.com/moevenpickhotelmactanislandcebu/info
The Mövenpick Hotel Mactan Island Cebu is a world class beachfront hotel and resort that combines a truly indulgent lifestyle experience with superb facilities and impeccable service.
General Information
Rooms and Amenities:
Guests may wake up to any of the hotel’s 244 rooms and suites. All of which, feature contemporary interiors, a full range of modern amenities and spectacular full ocean and island views.
Dining & Entertainment:
The Mövenpick Hotel Mactan Island Cebu prides itself on the authenticity of its restaurants, as well as on its unquestionably high caliber of world class dishes and service quality.
The Sails: The hotel’s all-day-dining restaurant, it offers the famous Mövenpick breakfast buffet. It is also widely popular for its varied roster of superb internationally themed dinners.
6AM – 11PM Daily
Ibiza Beach Club Churrasco Grill: The most gratifying Churrasco experience that guests have surely encountered so far features dishes that mainly focus on a wide variety of exotically marinated meats grilled to perfection, cut and served directly at their table. Guests are able to walk away with a truly unique dining experience.
6PM – 10PM Daily
Ibiza Beach Club Tapas: Serving the best Spanish tapas on the island, guests are treated to breathtaking ocean views while enjoying a variety of truly flavorful dishes paired with fine wines of their choice.
12NN – 11PM Daily
Ibiza Beach Club: An unparalleled beach club unique to the Philippines, it offers a wide range of signature cocktails while guest can enjoy its roster of world class performances. Featuring renowned DJ Tony M who hails from the hottest beach clubs in Ibiza, Spain, it has established itself as the most hip and happening venue in Cebu. It is where guests can lose themselves in the unique and dynamic atmosphere of international music and entertainment.
11AM - Late
Sport & Leisure:
Guests may take a relaxing dip in our swimming pool after they have enjoyed our white beach and private marine sanctuary. We also offer an exquisite selection of watersports activities, spa and health treatments and other facilities that offer everything from fun and excitement to serenity and relaxation.
Wellness Facilities: Our Spa del Mar is a five star health and wellness facility that offers a diverse selection of signature beauty and massage treatments ideal for guests’ rejuvenation.
Fitness center: The gym is a spacious, air-conditioned facility that features a complete line of the latest fitness machines and exercise equipment. Accompanied by floor to ceiling windows and TV screens to keep guests entertained as they work out, it is the perfect place for fitness enthusiasts.
Meetings & Festivities: If you wish to organize a private event or a business meeting, the hotel offers 9 fully-equipped function rooms. Our meeting rooms offer capacity from ten to up to 470 people and a catering team at your disposal to help you with your every need.
Promos? Check out their Facebook page as they usually feature recent promos like these:
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Highlights
The most noteable feature of this hotel for me is that it's bare-foot friendly. Hotel guests can walk around barefoot without being concerned of slipping, falling. Their floors are either carpeted or using a special wood with decorative screws.
There are slopes instead of stairs going to the Ibiza Beach Club and that's a plus given that you want to look around and enjoy the view instead of trying hard not to miss a step.
Another thing I like about the hotel is the hospitality of the staff. It's hard not to put a smile on your face when everyone's super friendly around you!
Get your ZZZs at a Suite Room
We were given the deluxe room with king bed when we visited. And boy, did the boys had fun!
For the tour, we got to see the twin bed version of our room and of course the suite room. The suite room has a bigger balcony and also a nice view of the ocean and tip of Mactan Island.
Getting High with The Chocolate Hour
As soon as we arrived, we got a letter with a list of activities that the hotel has daily. It was almost late afternoon but luckily, we were able to join The Chocolate Hour. It's when they display a wide array of chocolates. Such delight for kids and adults alike! A staff goes around and hands out chocolates for guests at the lobby to taste.
What caught my eye was seeing that my favorite Pastel de Ibiza is also for sale there at Php 550. We got to taste it during our lunch at The Sails and my, it was a delicacy that I look forward to eating again! Seriously, if I could just go back to Movenpick just for pastel, I would do so!
Nature Calls at The Lobby Restroom
Movenpick has one of the weirdest restroom we've seen so far. It has huge sinks that hang from the top of the ceiling in hues of green and look like machines from Dr. Seuss' books. Their doors are clearly marked with Female, Male, Handicap. Very colorful and hard to miss! The funny thing was that The Sails staff came running to us to the restrooms because we forgot to sign the bill after taking our lunch. LOL!
Lounge Around at The Forum
The Forum is a secluded lounge area though it has chairs outside too for those who prefer to smoke and hangout by the poolside. Inside is an array of imported and aged spirits that could range up to Php 48,000. Did someone by it for that price? Our tour guide said definitely!
Chilling by the Beach at Ibiza Beach Club
Ibiza Beach Club. Much memories on Churrasco and Asian Fusion dining. But what makes it great is that club-goers have an option by the beach instead of partying in a club in the busy city of Cebu. This is the long route you will take going to Ibiza from the entrance. But don't worry. The breathtaking view is worth the stroll.
It's by the beach! The lights are spectacular here at night and one that you shouldn't miss when you visit Movenpick. On the edge are nets where you can lie down and lounge around. The staff assured me that they are definitely safe to use. No need to imagine yourself falling into the sea. :)
The guide told me that they are open up until the wee hours in the morning. They have condominiums also so they definitely have to keep the noise down so as not to disturb the guests. I would imagine though it's not a worse as our neighbor's videoke at night.
So they do have a place with AC if you prefer to dine inside. This is where they have the Asian Fusion brunch during Sundays.
And yes, they have a spectacular view of the towers here from Ibiza.
There's a jacuzzi right in the middle of the dining area outside and Mark and I wondered if people actually use it while there are also strangers partying around. I would say the answer is yes especially if you book the whole place only for you and your guests. It would be spectacular.
Here's one staff going around and feeding the fishes.
When our tour at Ibiza finished, I got a shot of the roads that diverge. Left goes to the beach and the right goes to the pool area and game room straight to the lobby. We chose to head to the beach.
The beach is one of our favorite places here. Coming from a recent trip in Boracay, it's not so comparable but I will take any kind of beach any day! The kiddo loved making sand castles and floating in the salty water. :)
It's open from 7AM-6PM so after our tour, we rushed to get out stuff to take a dip!
Relaxing at Spa Delmar
We also visited the Spa at Movenpick. The moment you enter the pace, you can smell the wonderful scent of oils that they use. Here is one room that they have at the Spa named Serenity. So reminded me of Firefly and I had to take a pic.
On this staff table, they have 3 that you can smell and choose when you'll have your relaxing massage.
They have a room for couples too who would want to relax together. :) I could only imagine how relaxing it would be! Here are more shots of the spa area.
This is the area in the spa with a view of Ibiza and the ocean. What our guide told us was that sometimes guests would order their food and have it served here at the area. Wonderful idea as you can get to see the bikini-clad guests at the beach side too.
Getting Wet! The Beach and Pool.
Our favorite place ever: The Beach and The Pool. The place became memorable for Dabby because this is where the kiddo learned how to dog paddle. Ever since his experience here, he has been begging us to go back again and visit Movenpick! Oh my.
They have these beachside area where can lie and get a tan. Towels can be borrowed from here as you can't use your towels from the room.
Here are my beach shots at different filters from our Canon point-and-shoot camera..
The beach of course lights during dusk as Ibiza turns on its lights and it becomes and fairyland. :) So beautiful!
When the beach closed at 6PM (they are not that strict by the way as I saw some guests still coming in during closing time), we immediately headed to the pool. We love swimming pools!!! Well, I mean Dabby and I. :) Mark prefers to just lounge around and play at the game room. But during our first dip, Mark was there to enjoy the pool with us. We stayed there for an hour!
These seats that look so pretty when near the pool lights, I would say, are one of the beautiful things to look at in the pool area. Yes, you can definitely move the seats around so don't worry.
Dabby here is taking a dip at the very shallow part where the seats are. Don't wanna risk it as he doesn't know how to swim yet. But the good thing was that he learned how to dog paddle. The pool is up to 5 ft deep so we stayed at the 3-4 ft area and had him paddle back to the pool sides. He loved it and tried his trick over and over again! Definitely looking forward to the next pool visit to try out his new skill. :)
Having fun at the Game Room
Ahhh! The Game Room. This place has tons of memories for us. The Game Room has chess board, table football (foosball), a billiards table, and of course Dabby's favorite - a Xbox Kinect! Here are the boys trying their hand at billiards.
We spent several rounds of billiards and came back again the next day to play again at the game room.
So if you are visiting Mactan Island, don't forget to add Movenpick to your list of places to stay in. The place has high end amenities, friendly staff, and great restaurants that will make your stay unforgettable! We know cause we definitely had fun times here. Thank you Movenpick Hotel!!
