By Zsarlene B. Chua

​MÖVENPICK Hotel and Resorts have added another Philippine property to their portfolio as they are set to open Mövenpick Boracay in the second quarter of 2016.

The Switzerland-based hotel management company has acquired management rights to what was the Sol Marina Resort (better known as Club Panoly) located at Punta Bunga beach in Boracay, Aklan, and is now working to complete the 333-room hotel and resort spread over nine buildings, with eight food and beverage outlets, and what is said to be the “largest multi-level swimming pool in Boracay.”

“We have extended the hotel to 333 rooms [from 150]. We have renovated the rooms, especially those in the [former Club] Panoly building which is under renovation right now,” Mövenpick Boracay Stefan Keel told BusinessWorld in a phone interview last month.

He described the 3.8-hectare property as having a “village feel” which sets it apart from the Mediterranean-style Mövenpick Hotel in Mactan, Cebu is known for. He added that in keeping with the aforementioned style, the nine buildings will only have two to three storeys making them “guest friendly” as it is “not complicated” to navigate.

In the middle of everything would be the pool (though Mr. Keel did not say how big it would be) and the food outlets around it.

A Mövenpick signature would come in the form of a beach club like the Cebu hotel’s Ibiza beach club where guests can enjoy live music, dinner shows and other events.

The Boracay property — 10 minutes from the busy Boracay strip — will also have conference rooms and a convention center which can accommodate around 500 people.

It will also have 12 room categories including a Royal Beach Villa and Executive Suite Villas.

“Overall we have all kinds of markets from individual travelers, to honeymooners, to colleagues, friends and families and there is something for everybody who wants an escape. And because of the location, you have leisure, of course, but with our conference and convention centers we’re also looking at corporate clients,” Mr. Keel said.

He foresees a market split in half between local and foreign tourists, mostly from Asia, and because the Mövenpick brand “is quite strong” in the Middle Eastern market, he sees that tourists from there will likewise be drawn to the Boracay branch.

The resort is located at one of Asia’s luxury resort hot spots and it’s nearest neighbor (almost a literally a stone’s throw away) is the famed Shangri-La Boracay Resort and Spa, something that doesn’t bother Mr. Keel in the least.

“Although Shangri-La is directly beside us but it’s not [going to be] competition but a completion as Shangri-La is more of the luxury and we are upscale so we’re actually completing each other,” he remarked.

Mövenpick Boracay’s soft opening is slated for the second quarter of the year, with the grand opening to be held in August. Mr. Keel said that they are looking at around 350 staff members, mostly from the local community

“Maximum — or all of them — will be local… to support the local community,” he said.

Aside from the Boracay property, Mövenpick is set to open another property in Pattaya, Thailand (its third after Phuket and KohSamui) on Jan. 15; in Quy Nhon, Vietnam within two years; and in Bali, Indonesia in August or September.

“Mövenpick is a company that is very much focused on the Asian market… right now we’re talking [to open] at around 25 properties in the pipeline within the next five years,” he said before adding that officially, there is no information regarding managing another property in the Philippines.

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