La Carmela de Boracay Resort Hotel

 We stayed at La Carmela de Boracay on our Boracay trip. The standard quadruple-sharing room we got was just right for us. It was spotless and there was enough room for our luggages which was a relief.

The bathroom was clean with the usual complimentary toiletries but the glass enclosure was elevated off the floor which made the toilet area wet after someone uses the shower.

The complimentary breakfast was good enough, but choices were limited and the restaurant is small so you better show up for breakfast earlier if you wanted to be served immediately.

The pool is nice but I had the feeling when I jumped in that every kid there has urinated in it because the water was weirdly warm and way too chlorinated.

Nevertheless, we had fun at La Carmela. The building is beachfront and is very close to D'mall, D' Talipapa and the fire dancing bars. The 3200/night we paid for our room was more than worth the fun we had at "the world's best beach".

La Carmela de Boracay Resort Hotel
Station 2, Balabag, Boracay Island
Malay, Aklan
Email: info@lacarmeladeboracay.com
Phone: +63 36 288 5423, +63 2 8979184

The Venetian Macao

The Venetian Macao is huge. It is the largest single structure hotel building in Asia and the largest casino in the world. It has the usual casino amenities but what sets it apart from the rest is the Venice-inspired part of the building where visitors can ride a gondola around the San Luca canal while the gondolier sings.

But first we needed to get some lunch. We went to the Venetian's food court and ordered some Hainanese chicken which was great and this beef soup that was so hot even for us Bicolanas, it practically burned our tongues!

Good thing we had plenty of water to wash it down, but our Mama was just floored by how ridiculously hot it was. So my sister Maris and I just shared our food with her because that soup was just unbearable.

We walked around and found the Venice side of the building. Hmmm that ceiling was really cool. It looked like real clouds up there. A gondola passed by and the song the gondolier was singing was "Dahil Sa Yo" a Filipino love song. It's true then, you can find Filipino workers everywhere!

                       
The ornate ceiling fascinated me--truly, casinos go for this kind of thing--the flashier the better. The golden orb in the lobby was no slouch either and we enjoyed the opulence of the place by posing for seemingly endless photos. The human statues in the hallways were pretty good too, but it must be a tough job. I hope they get to keep the money thrown at them at the end of their shifts.

It was a shock to step out of the building and see how bright and sunny (& hot!) it actually was. That virtual cloud really had as fooled for a while.