Plantation Bay Resort and Spa: one of Asia's best

A contented guest or good words from colleagues are probably some of the best news that those in the hotel and resort industry would want to hear. So imagine the euphoria of the management and staff of the Plantation Bay Resort and Spa when they heard of the news that the resort was chosen as one of the top resorts in Asia by the readers of Condé Nast Traveler!

“We are so happy, very, very happy,” said a beaming Efren Belarmino, the resort’s general manager. “I would like to thank the staff who made this happen, the owners who are very supportive, and of course our guests.”

With a score of 90.0, Plantation Bay Resort and Spa ranked 16th out of 25 in the Top Asian Resorts category in the 21st annual Readers’ Choice Awards of US-based Condé Nast Traveler magazine. The Readers’ Choice Awards, which has been going on since 1988, is not only an award for the destinations, lodgings, and modes of transportation that exceed expectations. According to the Condé Nast website, it is also a credit to the worldly expertise of its readers. For the 2008 survey, a questionnaire was available to all readers through a secure web site. Questionnaires contained lists of candidates (individual cities, hotels, etc.), and write-ins were allowed. Only candidates that received a required minimum number of responses were deemed eligible for an award. Resorts such as the Plantation Bay, were judged according to their activities/facilities, food/dining, location, overall design, rooms and services.

Aside from being ranked number 16 among the resorts in Asia, Plantation Bay, which is wholly Filipino-owned and managed, also prides in being the only resort in the Philippines that was included in the list. Its score of 90.0 also surpassed the scores of resorts located in Phuket, Koh Samui, Bali and Langkawi and is also higher than the scores of other properties in the country which were included in the list of top hotels in the region.

“This is really good news for us because it shows that our guests really enjoyed their experience here enough to actually vote for us. It’s different when somebody really felt so much of an impact from the place that they had something to say about it,” shared PR associate Joanna Marie Cuenco.

Mr. Belarmino and Joanna stressed that the management and staff of the resort really take the comments of guests seriously and that to serve guests better, everyone in the resort gets a chance to be sent to training.

“The management, led by our founder and CEO Mr. Manny Gonzalez, invests on its people. We send staff abroad for training on all aspects of running the resort, from culinary to hotel management, even marketing,” Mr. Belarmino said.

Joanna added that aside from putting premium on customer satisfaction, Plantation Bay also treats its staff like family and are constantly on the lookout for everyone’s advancement.

Three of the resort’s restaurants were also recognized recently by the Philippine Tattler. Palermo, an informal Italian restaurant; Fiji, which serves seafood and other Asian specialties; and Kilimanjaro Kafe are among the best restaurants in the country, according to the Philippine Tattler.

But the management and staff of Plantation Bay are far from resting on their laurels. Mr. Belarmino said that the recognitions that the resort received mean that they have to work harder. “We have to maintain the level of excellence or even surpass it because people would expect a lot from the resort,” he stressed.

Already, Plantation Bay is busy with improvements. Mr. Belarmino shared that the resort has started renovating some of the rooms to give these a new look. With the tall order of being named as one of the top resorts in Asia, guests at the Plantation Bay can expect more improvements, especially since the race for excellence has no finish line.