Stunning Fairways and Bluewater Resort, Boracay

Posted By Jon Nickel-D'Andrea on Dec 26, 2016 | 5 comments

Kalibo airport can be a confusing jumbled mess of people running to and fro, so we booked ourselves a transfer before leaving Puerto Princesa.

For just $11 each, we would get an air conditioned coach service from Kalibo to the port, a personal escort through the nightmare that is the Caticlan port,

a boat ride across,

a shuttle waiting for us on the other side, and direct transfer to our hotel. For $11, this was a steal!

Once we got to the Fairways and Bluewater Resort (FBR for short) we knew that we chose the right hotel to stay at for three nights. This is the largest property on the island. It boasts 22 buildings with over 500 rooms, an 18 hole golf course, around-the-clock security outside of each villa, and free golf cart shuttle service to and from anywhere in the resort.

Upon check in we were greeted and offered a refreshing juice.

We filled out some customary paperwork and were whisked down to our Villa. #19, the Margarita.

Since we wanted to stay in style, we booked the largest suite they had. At roughly 2300 sq ft, it was huge. There are 2 bedrooms,

3 full bathrooms each with their own shower,

full kitchen,

full dining room,

and balcony.

The cost for this monstrosity of a room? $130 a night ☺ Including breakfast.

The resort offers two full-service restaurants, and since we didn’t feel like heading out on a trike to find street food (yet), we opted to try some of the dining options on site. I won’t bore you with all the details of each restaurant, but we had some excellent food! From a coconut/seafood dish:

To Paella:

To barbeque squid:

All were excellent.

When the restaurant found out it was my birthday, they brought out a little ice cream cup with candle for me, and when the front desk found out, they went full-on and sent a cake!

The cake was so good we decided to order a few more for our stay the next night ☺

It was November, so that means Christmas decorations everywhere in the hotel.

As you can see from some of the pictures on the grounds, they are all gorgeous and immaculately maintained.

They also have their own private beach, and it’s a quick 3 mintue shuttle ride there. Umbrellas/towels/chairs are all included for free, and there’s a bar on site to make you some of the best mango shakes you’ve ever had in your life (for $3).

While the water was clear, it was full of sea urchins and jellyfish, so swimming was not recommended. We did get out and wade up to our knees however, just to get some refreshing cool water on our sundrenched bodies.

Im trying to convince myself that one day I’ll get a tan, but yea, probably not.

Breakfast at the hotel was equally as complete, with new options every day. They did have different stations for different tastes such as the Asian station and the Western station, serving up such breakfast favorites as Mac and Cheese, Chicken Cordon Blue, Wok Fried Squid, and Pork Vienna Hot Dog. MMMMM!!!

Perhaps the best part were the people that worked there. We made friends with the staff, and they were all eager to help us explore their city. Our security guard Nueva took us outside of the city walls to help us try the local delicacy, Balut! For the uninitiated, it’s fertilized chicken egg. You can read more about that here.

When it was sadly time to go home, we inquired about the options for departure. While there was a helicopter pad (because how freaking cool would that have been) it was under repair, so we couldn’t use that. They hotel did offer an option for $16 a person. It would avail you of a private transfer to the dock (about a 30 minute drive), personal concierge at the dock (which means no lines and no waiting and no extra fees to pay), a private speedboat across the channel, and at the FBR welcome center on the other side, a representative with a private van to take you the 4 minutes to the airport. Again, for $16 this was a no brainer. Shoot, the uber ride from our house to Seattle airport runs $33.

When booking this they insist on a 3 hour pre-departure time because, you know, stupidity. So we insisted on a 2 hour departure. They made us sign a waiver, saying that they aren’t responsible if we’re late. Interesting touch. Sure enough, the entire journey took 45 minutes including both shuttles and the boat, so we made it to the airport with PLENTY of time.

There are dozens of options on Boracay, including many 4 and 5 star options. The main parts of the island (station 1, 2, and 3) have lots of hotels with great amenities, but in all honesty, this was truly the best option. It’s only a 10 minute shuttle ride to the touristy part of the island, and you get a true resort experience, instead of the party thumpa thumpa atmosphere that some of those hotels can offer. And speaking of that shuttle ride, it’s free, every hour, on the hour, and even every half hour from 4-7pm.

Regular, non-suite rooms start at around $60, and even some of the junior suites are only around $90, all include the same amenities mentioned above. When we return to Boracay, we will 100% stay here again, and we think that you should give them a try too.

Has anyone ever been to Boracay? What was your experience?