This resort is a reason to visit Pampanga

There are many reasons that make Pampanga a tourist destination.

Exotic food is one. With a tradition of perfecting culinary skills, this

province is home of be best cooks of the country, and naturally, of the

best foods.

Another reason is a five-star hotel - the

Holiday Inn Resort Clark Field. Nestled in

the middle of a 250-hectare property

colored by so many mimosa rain trees,

this resort is only an hour-and-half drive

from Metro Manila via the North

Expressway.

Aside from the many Duty Free shops

located inside Clark Field, this province is

home to some of the country's best wood carvers and furniture-makers. The

making of giant, kaleidoscopic holiday lanterns is also a noted industry here.

To make the Fil-Hispanic-inspired Holiday Inn a standout, it has for neighbors

the Nelson, Wright & Haworth-designed Mimosa Golf and Country Club and

the Paul Steelman-styled Mimosa Regency Casino.

Holiday Inn Resort, since its opening in 1996 to the present, is under the helm

of seasoned hotelier Michael Weiss of Germany.

For dining and entertainment, the hotel has five outlets. Mequeni (Pampango

word for "come here") is an all-day dining restaurant with inviting dishes culled

from local favorites - like stir-fried crickets, skewered rice field frogs, buro

(fermented food) and other seasonal delights - to the most celebrated Asian

and Western fares.

Clad in native attire, friendly

Kapampangan attendants will only be too

eager to dish out, along with your orders,

tips on where to buy the best native

kakanin (goodies) and other sweets that

make Pampanga famous cuisinewise.

Try asking for these yummy treats:

tocino del cielo (tiny version of leche flan or custard cake), turrones de mani

(honeyed peanut brittle candy), tibok-tibok (glutinous rice cooked in fresh

carabao milk), tamales (toasted rice with nuts, soaked in water then steamed

with chicken bits and salted egg, similar to the Chinese machang), among

others.

To unwind and enjoy a little bit of cocktails and live piano entertainment, the

13th Lounge is a perfect water hole. The pool bar is another snack and/or

swim treat.

Mequedeli, a tjte-`-tjte nook where guests can enjoy snacks and cakes, also

serves a wide variety of baked goods, specialty coffee and other delicacies for

the sweet tooth.

For an al fresco dining, have fun for lunch or dinner at the Mongolian Barbecue

Restaurant right at the hotel rooftop! It gives a perky panoramic view by

midday and a romantic one by night.

The Holiday Inn Resort is ideal for both corporate and leisure markets.

Businessmen, whether individual or group, will be impressed with the

property's conference network. It has state-of-the-art audio-visual equipment

and a fully equipped business center with complete secretarial services. So,

meetings and conferences in this part of town will surely be successful.

The plus factor here is the highceilinged ballroom. Located at the second floor

of the hotel's seminar building annex, the Jose Maqosa-designed ballroom in

neo-classic has a spacious pre-function area that can serve up to 1,000

guests for cocktails and 600 for sit-down events. Aside from seminars and

conferences, fashion shows can also be mounted here.

Three smaller function rooms - Molave, Acacia, Mahogany - can squeeze in

from 100 up to 210, depending on the event: class, theater, banquet, buffet,

reception.

On the ground floor, the Seminar Room, which is divisible into three - Narra,

Pine, Kamagong - can gather up to 225 persons, theater-style. This area is

accessible through the main lobby of the annex building and has its own

pre-function space.

Holiday Inn's 273 individually controlled air-conditioned rooms - including

standard rooms, junior suites and wheelchair rooms - have first-class

amenities and facilities. There are also non-smoking rooms and

handicap-friendly rooms.

To make sure guests will stay healthy and fit, the hotel's sports and

recreational facilities include adult's and children's pools amid the tropical

garden setting, fully-equipped fitness center, rooftop sundeck with jacuzzis,

biking and jogging trails, golf, tennis, billiard and table tennis.

If guests need to tag along kids without nannies, the hotel boasts of the

first-of-its kind Kids' Inn. The nursery type baby-sitting center has play

stations, arts and crafts sessions, video showings, and a whole library of

kid-friendly toys, games and books that will make kids learn to read and

socialize the fun way.

Holiday Inn Resort has tucked away four prestigious awards through the

years: 1996 Newcomer of the Year by Holiday Hospitality Corp. as the best

Holiday Inn property that entered the system that year; 1997 Kalakbay

"Resort of the Year AAA" given by the Department of Tourism; 1998 Quality

Excellence Award cited by Bass Hotels and Resorts "for maintaining the

highest standards in product quality, hotel operation and customer

satisfaction; and 1999 "Leading in Adversity" award during the 1999 Asia

Pacific Holiday Inn General Manager's Conference in Singapore, a kudos for

maintaining product quality and guest satisfaction amid the regional economic

crisis.