Скачать или смотреть Balesin Island Club Review | Should You Visit This Exclusive Island?

#Balesin #PrivateIsland #MoreFunInThePhilippines

In this video, I’ll share my experience of our stay. I’ll be reviewing the service, food, amenities, living spaces and overall experience.

Hangar and Flight
Today is our first day of 4 days on this island.

So far, the hangar experience could be better. For such an exclusive program catering to the most discerning taste, you’d expect a high-class lounge with snacks, nice furniture and music.

The charter plane from the Alphaland Hangar in Pasay is also quite basic. The interior was tattered, my seat wouldn’t recline but bearable for the 20 min flight.
First Impressions
Maybe the shabby hangar and plane was all part of their plan to lower your expectations because upon arrival, first impressions are incredible. Amazing architecture, landscaping, interior design and views.

Service:
Pros:
Very attentive and coordinated transportation staff. Vigilant on picking up guests walking.
Cons:
General staff aren’t very accommodating. Don’t expect any greetings walking by them.
Waiters forget requests and are inattentive.
Can’t expect Shangri-La level service here.

Food:
Overall, since the island is a captured high-end market, food is exponentially expensive. I would say prices are about 2x from a comparable restaurant in Manila. And food is surprisingly sort of a mixed bag.
Pros:
Toscana (Their Italian themed village) had the best food overall.
Costa Del Sol (Their Spain themed village) had the best Paellas I’ve ever had. Especially the black Paella.
Mykonos (Their Greek inspired restaurant) was slightly above average.
St. Tropez restaurant (France inspired) was also only slightly above average.
Cons:
Han Gang (the Korean restaurant) was very subpar.
Rico’s Hideaway’s Mongolian eat-all-you-can was very below average (but best value in the island given that it’s unlimited)
Clubhouse food was average.
Phuket (The Thai restaurant) was slightly below average.
Sakura (The Japanese restaurant) was also below average.

Amenities:
Pros:
Pools and most areas are very private. There are many pools to choose from.
You can easily have a pool and beach all to yourself.
Clubhouse pool and beach are stunning.
Cons:
The pool water is salty. This is probably because all the pools are near beaches.
Some outdoor areas are not so clean.
Some trees look damaged from strong winds.
Transportation can take very long. In most cases, there are no waiting areas where the arrival is visible. So you need to choose between being comfortable in your room and checking intermittently or waiting for the service outside.
Fortunately Golf Carts are available for rent daily. I highly recommend this to make the most of your visit. Unfortunately, these can be a bit expensive at 3700 per day.

Balesin is not for you...
If your idea of a vacation is
Exploring cultural destinations & getting to know the history of a place.
Getting to know people from all walks of life and their traditions.
Stepping into the shoes of the locals and experiencing their daily life/local public transport.
Trying exotic foods, the best restaurants/rustic street food experiences.
Staying at a 5 star hotel with excellent service or even spending the least on accommodations and putting that money to experiences and transit.
Experiencing the nightlife or night markets.
If you haven’t been anywhere else yet.
Sure, you can experience all 7 themed villages instantly but it’s still not the real thing.
It can give you that temporary sensation that you’re actually in Toscana, Costa Del Sol, St Tropez, Phuket, Bali, Mykonos but at the back of your mind, you’re still in the Philippines. Going to the actual place with real people, culture, history and food is still a much more rewarding experience - and possibly more affordable too. Which brings us to my last point -
If you can’t afford it.
Sorry to state the obvious, but this place is really high-end.
This is where politicians, celebrities, established businessmen and the like come for quick getaways.
Here’s a breakdown of all our costs for 4 people on a 4 days 3 nights visit.
And if you don’t have a member endorsement, one from the 2.5K members, the cost per night increases to 50K.

Balesin is for you if:
Your idea of a vacation is
Winding down in privacy and exclusivity.
Taking pictures and sharing on social media. It's a great place to bring a nice camera and lenses.
Being around beautiful architecture and interiors.
Moving around because you get bored too easily.
You love control over your surroundings and time.
Your time is valuable - The flight itself is just around 20 to 30 mins. It took us less than 1h from waiting to board the flight back straight to our house. In an international or even a domestic flight, that would easily become 3 to 6 hours.

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