What’s new at Mövenpick Cebu


IT'S been a while since my recent visit to Mövenpick Hotel in Mactan Island, Cebu.

It's good to be back and step into the trendy, bright white lobby with its signature ivory sails suspended over its expanse after eight long months. Nothing much has changed. The scene still excites me.




The trendy, signature white lobby of Movenpick Mactan




What was new to me was the view from the 21st floor. I was given a room on the opposite side of the building. This time it has a panoramic view of the Mactan Island peninsula, the blue waters of the Magellan Bay and Camotes Sea. It was indeed breathtaking. So what else is new with this 5-star beachfront hotel? For one, it was raking in accolades and awards (again) from the different award-giving organization both locally and abroad.




A view of the peninsula. Seen from my room on the 21st floor. A new view this time




Society publication, Philippine Tatler, revealed its 2016 Best Restaurants list with 170 establishments on it. For the second time (the first was in 2014), Ibiza Beach Club landed its named as one of the best dining and entertainment venues across the country.

TripAdvisor®, the world's most influential travel site, also recently named Ibiza Beach Club as one of the top restaurants and bars in its locale, awarding it with a Certificate of Excellence.




Ibiza Beach Club landed on the 2016 Best Restaurant list of Philippine Tatler & in Trip Advisor's top restaurants & bars in Cebu




To qualify for the Certificate of Excellence, businesses must maintain an overall rating of four or higher, out of a possible five. For another year in a row, Mövenpick Hotel Mactan Island Cebu bags the Gold Circle Award from Agoda.com, one of Asia’s leading hotel booking sites. The award is given to accommodations around the world that embody the best qualities of an online hospitality industry.

Now in its seventh year, the Gold Circle Awards were presented to properties based on aggregate customer reviews, competitiveness of pricing, utilization of Agoda.com’s custom-built Yield Control System (YCS) and a deep understanding of the complexities of the online booking industry.



Breathtaking, early morning sun seen from my room's 21st floor balcony.




On the dining scene, the hotel introduced a new themed buffet concept with “Dine Around the World at The Sails Restaurant,” a culinary journey that will treat the guests to a series of gastronomic feasts of different origins from weekdays until weekend. It’s East Meets West repertoire of flavors on Sundays and Mondays, Mediterranean on Tuesdays and Thursdays, a medley of ocean fresh bounty on Wednesdays, Filipino buffet on Fridays and Asian every Saturday. 




New at The Sails- themed buffet nightly




Recently, the hotel welcomed its new General Manager, Harold Rainfroy, a seasoned international hotelier whose impressive career in service and hospitality management spans Europe, the Middle East and Asia for almost 30 years.




The charming Frenchman, Harold Rainfroy, is the new Genral manager of Movenpick Mactan




This Frenchman has a wealth of experience in various hospitality disciplines. His first foray in the hotel industry saw him in different executive roles and senior positions in Food and Beverage, tasked to forge revenue and operations of luxury and international brand hotels. Within that period, he was able to develop and open more than 15 dining and entertainment concepts, from fine dining to night club, for prestigious hotel brands in countries including Dubai, United Arab Emirates and Seoul, Korea.

In the Middle East, he also took the role of Executive Assistant Manager for The Palace Ras Al Khaimah, and later as resident manager for a property in Dubai.

Before joining Mövenpick Hotels & Resorts, Mr. Rainfroy served as Hotel Manager at Eastern and Oriental Hotel in Penang, Malaysia.

Though Mövenpick Hotel Mactan Island Cebu is his first assignment in the Philippines, the Filipino culture is not new to him. He is married to a Filipina and has been visiting the country since 1983.

He sat with us, me and Meg Hernandez, the hotel’s Marketing Communications Manager, for casual chitchat.

The man was charming as he was good-looking, and lovable. Just when it's time for dessert, he told me and may I quote, “Have more, more, more!”, when I told him I was having a scoop of the ice cream.




The Movenpick Ice Cream collection is awarded with 5 Apples, the most number given by the Apples & Lemons Awards



The aftermath.  I took the GM's offer to have more, more, more of the Movenpick ice cream. Three was enough- at that moment.





May I add another award on the list? The Apples & Lemons Awards hands Mövenpick Ice Cream with the top score of five apples.




Movenpick Ice Cream





Visit their website at www.movenpick.com/cebu. Get first dibs on the latest room and dining offers and follow www.facebook.com/moevenpickhotelmactanislandcebu, @movenpickcebu on Instagram and @moevenpickcebu on Twitter.