A fine Pinoy hotel in Batangas City

For the ever hospitable Filipino, there is no such thing as an uninvited guest or a bad time to visit. A typical Filipino house is not completely called a home without any facility ready for unexpected visitors. It is filled with new and lovely items reserved only for them. Serving his guests the best of what they have is an honor and leaves a promise of true friendship.

Hotel Pontefino in Batangas City lives up to this Filipino trait. The first Filipino-owned five-star hotel in the said city, it showcases the best of Filipino warmth and hospitality, its strongest assets.

"While Malaysia has Shangri-La and Singapore has Raffles, the Philippines still does not have a hotel chain to call its own. We’re known all over the world for hospitality and it is unfortunate that we don’t have our own hotel brand that we can brag about to the world, which utilizes 100 percent Filipino talent and all-Filipino standards. This is what we want to achieve," said chief operating officer Danny Cabulay.

Aside from the property in San Francisco, Pontefino also has a 60-room, five–star hotel in The Fort, Taguig City to open in 2009. Plans to develop resorts in Boracay in Aklan, Panglao in Bohol, and Basco in Batanes are also up in the air.

Plans are underway to build a Pontefino in San Francisco in the United States, Cabulay revealed, where there is a high concentration of Filipino migrants.

THE MODERN FILIPINO HOTEL

Owned and operated by Hotel Concepts, Inc. of the famed Chateau Group of Restaurants, Hotel Pontefino is the newest leisure boutique hotel in Batangas City. Only two hours away from Metro Manila, the hotel reflects all facets of a fine Filipino home while redefining luxury, grandeur, comfort, and graciousness in style, elegance, and service.

This four-storey vacation citadel sits atop a hill and has 60 rooms that are categorized into premium rooms and suites. All rooms are furnished to the finest detail and decorated with a touch of world–renowned Filipino warmth as designed by Yoly Zimmer and Erik Paras who count the Lagen Resort in El Nido, Palawan as one of their creations.

The facade assumes that of a grand colonial Filipino manor. It was patterned after the villas built during the Spanish colonial period with no primitive ethnic patterns, just a clean, linear design, elegant minimalist rooms.

Modern features have been added to keep up with the times - two infinity pools for adults and children; a large tent for weddings, parties, seminars, and other functions that can accommodate up to 500 people; a business center with video conferencing; wireless internet access; function rooms; fully–equipped gym; KTV room; and a spa offering treatments such as the Taal Hot Lava Stone Therapy and hilot.

Mouth-watering foodfare are available at the hotel’s two restaurants – Robusta, a coffee shop offering Batangas specialties; and Pastorelli, a fine dining restaurant serving a fusion of Asian cuisine.

Currently, Pontefino is undergoing an expansion and will add 25 studio units and 35 two- to three–bedroom units which will cater to retirees.

"The Philippines is often the first choice especially for those who want to settle in Asia, not just for business prospects, but also for the quality of life here," Cabulay added.

When it is time to head to the great outdoors, guests can choose from a selection of Hotel Pontefino’s affordable Discovery Tours aimed at exploring Batangas City and its environs. One may have the Heritage Tour to see the ancestral houses of historical figures Marcela Agoncillo and Leon Apacible, go on a Visita Iglesia and admire the centuries-old churches of the province, or nature tripping at Calumpang River.

And as for shopping, Batangas artistry abounds -- from embroidery to balisong, rattan and bamboo handicraft, plus the local coffee (kapeng barako) and delicacies.

[ Leon Apacible Historical Landmark ]