Cebu Crown Regency Hotel





Planning a trip to Cebu? Check in at the Crown Regency-a small hotel with big personality; and as Jose Lorenzo Cruz discovers, a place where the chatty genial staff is kindness personified.

	OW WAS YOUR steak, sir? A standard question, true, but with the waiter saying it with such sincerity, it immediately made me feel like an old and valued friend. Indeed. The Crown Regency, in Mactan. Cebu Island, is the type of hotel	minton and basketball court, and the most luxurious and technologically innovative medical spa. Owners Richard and Rafael King have sprinkled the hotel with works from their extensive private collection of antique artifacts from all over Asia, and amusing pieces of pop culture from the recent decades, that's sure to provoke some sort of kid-in-a-candy-store glee. Enjoy a tempura fusion lunch at the Lobby Lounge Cafe amidst three feet tall origami lanterns. Follow it with a cup of coffee at the Best Brew Coffee and Deli. Later, take a dip at the pool with its original sorbetes (ice cream) cart. End the day with a game of pool at the Fabulous Fifties Cafe that features memorabilia straight from the fifties! Complete with Vicks Menthol prints and candy vending machines.
where you can kick off your shoes as soon as you walk in the door, grab a book and curl up on the sofa. Having opened just about a year ago, the hotel, a 1.5-hectare property of suites and villas, is located 15 minutes from the airport. It's a mere 30 minutes from the city center, and it boasts of being the first hotel in the island province with an all-suites concept, the only one with a high quality bad-





	All the suites are equipped wirh a small kirchenette and a huge orthopedic mattress that swallows you up like plush quicksand. There is even a piece of bamboo that acts as a foot massager. "We are passionate about well-	ness," says owner Richard King. "Wherher that means going to the Prana Spa, playing sports, having a good nighr's sleep, or having a feast of freshly grilled prawns, we want to make it possible for you."

	Vital Sanctuary Frazzled by the endless bargain shopping, snacking and sightseeing in Cebu? The Prana Medi-Spa provides the perfect balm. Jose Lorenzo Cruz surrenders to its soothing charms.	new Asia are used to great effecr. The dark teak furnishings, Thai Buddhas, and Filipino karitelas (horse carriage) all combine ro weave a srunning visual trear for the guests. Have a foot massage with only the sound of waves keeping you company, soak in the hot tub beneath sandstone sculptures of Balinese dancers. The spa's signature massage—urut and pijat-- are from Indonesia and are based on rhe meridians and acupoints. Detoxification and weight loss programs make up the other side of the menu. Experience the most advanced facial and body trearment with Prana's state-of-the-art oxygen machines and Jet Spa, the first and only one in Cebu. Here, you get far more than what you bargained for, which of course, is always welcome. Spa treatments are expert, invigorating, and a steal: PI, 600 for a 75-minute Indonesian deep tissue massage and spa jet session. The Prana Medi-Spa is located at the 10th Floor, Crown Regency Suites, Mactan. Tel (6332) 340-2460. Open daily from Warn to 11pm. Advanced bookings are highly recommended.

	Vibrant, neon-bright, and definitely busy 24-hours, Cebu is fasr putting itself on the map as one of Asia's most dynamic destinations. With all the sightseeing, dining and shopping the city has to offer, visitors are sure to be exhausted at the end of the day. But not to worry, rhe Prana Medi-Spa provides the perfect refuge. Opened a mere six monrhs ago, the Prana Medi-Spa is fast carving a reputation as one of Cebu's most luxurious, and technologically innovative spa. Located on the top floor of the Crown Regency Hotel in Mactan, the Prana, designed by Gerald Monreal, is a two-story, exotic Asian spa, where elements of old and

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