Out Of This World Hotel Accomodations: Boracay Sands Hotel

The Boracay Sands Hotel.

The tag line is simple really:

Perfect.

That's the whole idea. However, getting things to be as 'perfect' as can be has been quite a life-altering occupation. The fact that its located in no-less than the world-famous Boracay Island in Malay, Aklan (somewhere in the southern part of the Philippine archipelago) and the simpe fact that the place itself is obviously a tropical paradise, makes the whole enterprise something of a paradox.

Its really really hard getting things built along the white sandy beaches of 'Bora' because all your building materials, equipment, furniture (98.743333333% customized) comes from outside of the island. Fortunately we hired a great design team that really did a fantastic job. Even then, we had a bit of a hard time finding these guys from an ocean of architectural firms that would've been eager to take on the er, challenge of working in a tropical paradise.

That the design team probably came from outer space and had multiple brains and digestive systems didn't deter us from our mission of building the best hotel in Boat Station Three (there are three boat stations on the island). Eventually, Sands became the yardstick upon which future hotels would be measured in that particular part of the beach.

Its design is basically Mediterranean (did I spell tht right) with a consulate flavor -so we could put flags at the front. I like flags. And no matter what anybody says, THE FLAGS WERE MY IDEA. True, the chief designer may have had the same idea but he never told me and I said it first. End of story.

Oh yes. The design.. Well, lets see.. The lines of Sands Hotel are deceptively traditional -classical even. But modern in execution. You may not notice it but it has a clean look to it, coupled by the sense that the place is larger than it actually is. The perspective seems to genuinely recede as you look at the interior and exterior. This is due to some architectural techniques that the (alien) designers have employed to create a fantastically grand effect.

Arriving at the front beach of Sands is a very memorable affair -especially if you arrive just before sunset. Its absatively pretty. The setting sun amplifies the architectural impact of the hotel; all the colors are aflame and there is lots of visual drama. Since the color of the hotel was chosen from a very unique variety of er, office supplies the ensuing 'white' that was finally chosen seems to glow under the very dramatic lighting conditions created at sunset. Why office supplies? Well, the color that was chosen is called, quite simply, 'folder-white'. Apparently the paint swatches were all over the office. Or the aliens probably thought they were paint swatches.

Once you step inside you are immediately transported into another world. The pretty lobby (which looks harmles enough) leads into a courtyard that runs most of the length of the building; it is surrounded by the common hallways which rise from the ground floor all the way to the very top. The courtyard has no roof. You can see the sky during the day and the stars at night. At the center of the courtyard, there is a pool. A very pretty pool. In-house manufactured and alien-designed.

There're even lights emanating from bottom of the pool (actually, they turned out to be fiber optics inlaid during construction, not some advanced alien energy designed to make whoever swims in the pool young again).

Wifi is free.

There are shuttle services from the airport and on the island (these are available by arrangement with the hotel) and a very pretty boat called Sands 1: it is what is called a 'motorbanca'. Basically a large outrigger, the hotel sea-shuttle (which can also be used for island-hopping tours upon arrangement at the front desk) is fast and looks sleek. Probably the nicest-looking motorbanca in Boracay. Oh, and its the only one with metallic-silver and white paint scheme. If International Rescue (as in Thunderbirds) were to make a motorbanca for Sands, they'd probably paint it just like that.

Okay. Now what else.

Oh, there's a new restaurant (we're still setting up) and a dive shop at the hotel. Also, there's an ice cream cafe at the front too. Yes.

In the evening, there's outdoor dining (provided it doesn't rain, other wise it would be pointless now wouldnt it?) and at certain times of the year, there'll be beach parties out on the well, beach.

Its loads of fun working at the hotel. Its like a starship (alien architects and all) with an intrepid crew to man it. Its hard work and the challenges never seem to abate. It is however extremely rewarding, like being able to drive a Maclren F1 supercar to the limit in dense fog and driving rain and still walk away from the car afterwards without the help of rescue personnel. The effect is the same: you're wired but also elated. And glad to still have your sanity intact.

So far.