A Corner of Paradise in Cebu: Dusit Thani Mactan Resort

A standout among the numerous resorts that line the northeast corner of Cebu's Mactan Island, Dusit Thani is a new addition to Cebu's offerings of luxury resorts and high-end escapes. Since its soft opening in March 2019, the hotel has been slowly improving throughout the year, our visit in November has confirmed the resort is up to speed in service and a clear competition for one of the top five-star resorts on the island.

The Rooms

One of the most important features in any hotel, like all Dusit Thanis around the world, each of the rooms here are spacious with a modern and luxury interior. Even the standard rooms are a very comfortable 32 square meters, with the super luxurious JG Suite offering a huge 160 square meters of space among its numerous rooms. Expect everything you'd want in a luxury hotel, the widescreen TV allows you to order food, check out the hotel's information and more.

The best part of the sea-facing rooms however is the balcony. Looking out towards the mountains of Cebu Island and across over Magellan Bay, the view is gorgeous especially during sunset and well worth the extra price.

Facilities

You'll find everything you'd expect at a luxury resort and more at the Dusit Thani including a fitness center with state-of-the-art equipment and a spa room for those in need of some relaxation or massage therapy. There are a number of rooms for private events such as the huge ballroom with a size of 1,235-square-meters. The six different venues are also available for wedding use.

The hotel has an ATM in the building if you need to take out cash during your stay, along with money exchange services at the front desk, although the rates are usually a little low. There's also a small shop in front of the front desk that sells swimwear and other equipment although again prices are a little high. If you want to book tours such as the popular island hopping boat trip, the front desk can also arrange it for you.

For those traveling with kids, the hotel has a 500 square meter 'fun zone' which offers a range of activities, sports and play areas for younger children if they get bored of the pool.

Dining Options

Breakfast is served daily at the Seabreeze Cafe, with a large range of foods on offer such as Filipino food along with sushi, omelette and pancake stations. The cafe also serves Lunch and Dinner buffets which are just as exceptional. There's also the Sunset Bar for a la cart options, mostly western food but with a few local dishes like sisig too. It's a little pricey but dishes are high quality and worth the extra pesos. Dusit Thani's signature Thai restaurant, Benjarong is also located on the second floor.

The resort is a little far from anywhere else in terms of dining options so you'll need to take a taxi to go anywhere else. It takes around 15 minutes to get to Mactan Newtown where there are a few restaurants and shops or over an hour to go into Cebu City. Be aware if you're getting a taxi from the hotel they'll usually charge an extra 100 PHP surcharge.

Day Usage

Like several other resorts in Cebu, Dusit Thani also offers a day usage plan for those who don't want to fork out the cash for an overnight stay. 2,500 PHP allows use of the pool from 8 AM to 8 PM including a delicious lunch buffet at the Sea Breeze Cafe.

Future Additions

While the hotel is fully open, it's not actually completed yet, with a few extras expected to be rolled out within the upcoming year. While the resort offers an infinity pool, the private beach is still under construction with only a small section complete as of November 2019 (Update: the beach can be accessed now in 2020). The hotel also features a pier and eventually plans to offer water transport from the hotel to the resort. The whole resort will feature 272 rooms, with one of the buildings still seeing the finishing touches of construction.

Apart from just the newly opened Dusit Thani, the Punta Engano area has a few developments currently in progress such as the Sheraton resort, a casino resort and Vertex Coast, a pair of luxury apartment buildings, just part of a strong addition of development in the next few years.

Access

While eventually guests will be able to travel from the airport to resort in style by boat, for now you'll have to make do arriving by land transport. It takes about 30 minutes by car from Mactan-Cebu Airport without traffic which should cost around 200-250 PHP. For a hassle-free but less budget-friendly airport transfer, the resort charges PHP 930 per vehicle for a one way ride to the hotel.

Conclusion

The resort is clearly one of the top choices to stay at around Cebu and Mactan Island, but with the few future additions it'll make it even more attractive. Some guests have complained about the fact that only a small section of the beach area is ready. If this is a major factor of your stay then it might be best to choose somewhere else for now such as Movenpick or Shangri-La until it's ready. When the beach area is finished however, Dusit Thani will have the longest private beach of the luxury resorts on Mactan along with its huge infinity pool that's already highly popular.

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A Corner of Paradise in Cebu: Dusit Thani Mactan Resort