Club Panoly Resort (Boracay, Malay, Aklan)

Club Panoly Resort

During our 1990 visit to Boracay, my first such visit, we made an ocular visit of the new (opened November 1989), 4-hectare, Singaporean-owned (CTW Group) and operated Club Panoly Resort, the first triple AAA resort in Boracay. A year later, the resort was the site of the 1991 RPN-9 mini-series Boracay which starred Dina Bonnevie, Fe Delos Reyes (singer/comedienne), Joel Torre, Rollie Quizon and Noel Trinidad (the fictional resort owner).

Posing at the resort entrance

Six years later, Grace and I decided to plan our next stay on the island on this world-class resort, staying here for 5 days and 4 nights.  Together with our kids Jandy and Cheska, we departed for Kalibo on the 9 AM Philippine Airlines flight, arrived by 10 AM and, from Kalibo Airport, boarded an airconditioned  Boracay Star bus for Jetty Port in Brgy. Caticlan, arriving there by 11:30 AM.

Cafe Punta Bunga

At the port, we boarded the resort’s shuttle boat and arrived at Club Panoly in time for lunch at Cafe Punta Bunga, the resort’s coffee shop.   Sprawled throughout this luxurious resort are 8 native-style octagonal clusters with 5 cottages, all fully air conditioned, with hot and cold shower, cable TV, minibar, complimentary coffee and tea and 24-hour IDD telephone facilities, all standard features in all rooms. The custom-designed furniture were made with indigenous creativity and materials. 

Lounging by the swimming pool and poolside bar

Aside from Cafe Punta Punta, the resort also has a restaurant, a bar (El Capitan) and a beach bar.  There’s also has a swimming pool (with poolside bar), a plexi-paved tennis court, two jacuzzis, spa, sauna, multi-purpose conference room, billiards, children’s playground, souvenir shop, seaport and offers waterskiing, windsurfing, jetskiing, diving, paddle boating and speed boats.

Trying out the jacuzzi
Club Panoly Resort: Sitio Punta Bunga, Brgy. Yapak, Boracay Island, Malay, Aklan. Tel: (032) 288-3011. Fax: (036) 288-3134.  Metro Manila booking office: International Vacations Corp.,  G/F, ACT Tower, 135 Sen. Gil Puyat Ave., Salcedo Village, Makati City.  Tel: (632) 812-2233 local 107 or 403.  Fax: (632) 812-6455 and 812-6434.  E-mail: info@thepanoly.com.  Website: www.thepanoly.com.

La Paz Batchoy (Iloilo City, Iloilo)

Early in the morning of the next day, Easter Sunday, we departed Guimaras for Iloilo City, bringing along a memento of our Guimaras visit – a kaing (bamboo basket)  of delectable Guimaras mangoes.  We were dropped off at Plaza Libertad where we heard mass at the Church of St. Joseph.  

Dining on La Paz batchoy
Later, we were driven to SM Iloilo, in the city’s bustling commercial district, where we all had lunch at Teddy’s La Paz Batchoy. We each had a bowl of the famous La Paz batchoy, Iloilo City’s most popular dish  This soup is made with pork organs (liver, spleen, kidney and heart),  shrimp, vegetables, chicken stock, chicken breast, beef loin and round noodles with soy sauce added and topped crushed pork cracklings (chicharon) and leeks.   After this delicious repast, we still had time to visit the Amusement Center where Jandy and Cheska took a train ride.
Jandy and Cheska


The original SM Iloilo (opened on May 1979), located at the cor. of Delgado and Valeria St., was demolished on February 2, 2004 and a new building was build in the vicinity (inaugurated on December 8 that same year).  In 2007, an annex building was built to complete the shopping center’s redevelopment.

From SM Iloilo, we all left for our afternoon Philippine Airlines (PAL) flight back to Manila.