Travel: A Mommy's Guide to Boracay (Part 2)

[Read Part 1 here]

Choosing the Hotel

Boracay's long beach footpath is about two kilometers. It's lined with hotels, restaurants and other establishments for tourists. There are also other beaches in the island of Boracay. But the long beach is where the action is.

During off-peak seasons, most of the hotels have promotions and packages. If you're looking for a really good deal, try and go to Deal Grocer. They have awesome rates. The downside is that they dictate when you're going. You have to buy it ahead of time, and make sure the travel dates indicated correspond to your plans.

In my opinion, Station 1 has the best beachfront in the whole long beach. If you like convenience, opt for those hotels near Station 2, where there are more restaurants and bars. The best restaurants are there, even chains. Yep, they have Starbucks too. D'Mall is there too if you fancy a bit of shopping.

As for us, we stayed at Two Seasons, which is located at Station 1. We loved our stay there. My only beef with them is that they didn't tell us that the pool was being renovated. Good thing Allie loved the beach and the waves, because if she didn't, I would have complained like crazy. Their saving grace was that their beds are AAAAHHHMAZING. They must have used a really thick memory foam topper because we slept like babies. Allie never woke up in the middle of the night. Okay, it might be because we were all super tired from walking under the sun, but still, if you're staying in a hotel, choose the ones with the best beds right?

Tip for mommies: Most hotels don't charge for kids -- beds and food. But make sure to check first because some do.

Places to Eat

Breakfast was included in our hotel stay. It was buffet style. There was not a lot of choices like other hotels we've been to, but it was enough for us. They had fruit juices, different kinds of bread and fruits, marmalade and jams, an assortment of cheese (I think I took all their brie), cereal and oatmeal, pancakes and waffles at the continental breakfast area. They also had hot food dishes like traditional Filipino breakfast (yum!) -- tocino, tapa, danggit, pancit, steamed and garlic rice, two kinds of soup, and an omelette station.

The good thing about getting breakfast at your hotel is that you can eat at 6:30 am and just enjoy the day at the beach after. Walk to Station 2 and take your pick at the restaurants for lunch. We had lunch at Hawaiian BBQ near Astoria. They have big portions and very tasty. Don't think that this was all our food. We were with our friends for lunches and dinners.

It was raining that evening, and Allie wanted orange juice so bad. Guess where we had dinner. At Yellow Cab. Haha!

The next day, we had merienda at Ti Braz, which is known for its crepes. the servings reminded me of Cafe Breton. I had some nutella crepes. The photos of the other crepes didn't turn out good. Sorry. They had a promotion that day -- 50% off all crepes. It was so worth it.

For our last dinner at Boracay, we went to Epic down at D'Mall. It's a bit pricey but the food was good. My recommendations -- Epic Nachos, Epic Burger, Epic Paella. Yummy.

Tip for mommies: If your hotel package does not include breakfast, you can purchase breakfast or choose from restaurants and cafes at Station 2. If you want familiar things, Starbucks and Cinnabon are available too. There is a McDonald's in Boracay but not on the long beach; you need to take a tricycle. Also, try to get dinner early, because more and more people go out to bars at night, and most restaurants allow smoking.

to be continued...