Russell wanted to share his experience in Boracay.

His flight was initially scheduled to leave Manila at 3PM of April 18, Wednesday. Until he received an email from Cebu Pacific that his flight got canceled and he was rescheduled to leave at 6:45PM to Kalibo International Airport instead of arriving in Caticlan. Which is a 2-hour-drive far from each other, hence the airline provided a shuttle service. But how about the 3 hour flight delay? NO, Cebu Pacific didn’t offer anything to make up for that. But since it’s vacation, Russell didn’t bother to dwell on it. :)

Upon Russell’s arrival in NAIA Terminal 3, just a few minutes before the boarding time, he received an anonymous call. It was from someone named Jobelle of Willy’s Beach Club Hotel. The hotel that Russell’s friends arranged for the trip. Jobelle mentioned that someone in Kalibo is now waiting for his arrival.

While waiting for the boarding time, Russell looked for something to munch on to kill time. Then there’s Cinnabon in the area.

This snack costs around Php 200.++. Good deal for a place located in an airport. :) Then there’s boarding time. Nothing memorable happened, just the usual. 

Upon arrival in Kalibo at 8PM, Russell looked for the staff that was assigned to pick him up and found a huge name sign (of him, of course). Turned out that he didn’t really had to ‘look’ for the staff. Who then pointed him to the bus (not van) that will transfer him to Caticlan where Jobelle is waiting.

It was a long (2 hours) but comfortable drive. Then he arrived in Caticlan Pier at 10PM, where Jobelle was waiting. Given the time of Russell’s arrival, it was pretty late already and there’s only one boat that was servicing tourists, thus the need to wait for hours as well.

Prior to entering the Pier Entrance, Jobelle gave Russell 3 stubs that were presented to 3 different Pier staff. Since Jobelle already arranged the stubs, payments et al, there was no need for Russell to fall in line. ;)

Then they entered the boat waiting area. Where quite a number of tourists were seated. But since Jobelle has already reserved a seat for Russell in the waiting area, there wasn’t a need (again) to wait for hours. ;)

Then there’s the boat which could only accompany 20 people. To Russell’s surprise, he was able to get on this boat. Total waiting time: 12 minutes. ;)

The boat ride was just for 7-10 minutes. Usually tourists need to ride a motorcycle to get to their hotel area. But since this trip was prearranged for Russell, he didn’t have to do that. There was a hotel van waiting for him EVEN though he arrived at 11PM.

The van driver was courteous too! 

The drive only lasted for 15 minutes. Then Russell arrived in his hotel room. There was a welcome Puka Shell necklace and a bottled water too, which was unexpected because of the late arrival.

Then there’s the morning after. The hotel is located in front of the famous Boracay Rock which is situated in Station 1.

The hotel provided buffet breakfast, the food was soooo good! :P

And the package also includes a free meal, you decide if you want to have it during lunch or dinner. :)

And who would forget about the dessert? :)

After 5 days of relaxing, clubbing, dancing, eating, swimming and walking, Russell had to leave very early in the morning of Sunday as his flight with AirPhilExpress will depart from Kalibo at 9AM. He gave his itinerary to the hotel frontdesk and everything else was taken care of.

AirPhilExpress also left ON TIME. This is the first time that Russell flew with this airline and will definitely be NOT the last. :)

To sum this experience up, the hotel played a huge part for Russell to have an AWESOME summer vacation in Boracay!

The transfers were seamless.

The food was great.

The staff were friendly and courteous.

The hotel location is “where you would like to be”. Not crowded, just plain relaxation.

There’s nothing else you could ask for! :)

Should you wish to have a similar vacation, you may do so by visiting the website of the hotel where Russell stayed: http://willysbeachclubhotel.com/

Enjoy and have fun! :D

(Source: RealRussellLucas)