Amorita Resort

A Little Darling’s Re-welcoming









With travel restrictions easing off by degrees, Amorita Resort opens its doors to enfold guests once more into its warm and gracious embrace

With the world coming to grips with COVID-19 and as the global vaccination drive breathes in rekindled hope in overcoming the pandemic, travel restrictions have gradually eased off. And as travel makes a measured rebound, favorite destinations are slowly reopening with new travel protocols set in place to conform to the intricacies of a new normal. In such regard is thus Amorita Resort, Bohol’s ‘Little Darling’, welcoming back travelers and bidding them to once again enjoy the bliss and leisure that Panglao has to offer.

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Tucked between sea and lush woodlands, Amorita Resort opens its doors to a haven of ease and serenity.

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Elegance Without

Perched atop a limestone crag overlooking the white sands of Alona Beach and the azure waters of the Bohol Sea, Amorita is a seaside haven for those who seek luxurious seclusion. The 10-minute coach ride from the Bohol-Panglao International Airport to the resort was already a leisure by itself.

Upon my arrival, I was straight away ushered to lunch at Saffron, Amorita’s open-air restaurant and main dining area, where I sat down to a quaint fare of traditional Filipino dishes. Nearby sprawled the resort’s main infinity pool from which one can relish a vivid vista of open blue waters, while all throughout the rest of the property, lush, landscaped gardens nestled the resort’s elegant collection of well-appointed rooms, suites, and villas.
Known for its signature personalized service and world-class hospitality, Amorita boasts 82 elegant suites and 16 exclusive villas, all beautifully styled in complement with the surrounding nature.

Its array of suites, comprising of Deluxe Rooms, Junior Suites, One Bedroom Suites, One Bedroom Sea View Suites, and Two Bedroom Seaview Suites, are designed in industrial and minimalist aesthetics to exude a distinguishable impression of understated luxury. Its Sea View or Garden View private villas are all lavishly decked with their own plunge pool.

Upon entering my suite, I saw my luggage already neatly placed near the entrance. On the bed was the word ‘Welcome’ spelled with flower petals, while on a side table was a small jar of bite-sized chocolate chip cookies - charming touches that lit up a space that was more than enough for just one person.

Pre-dinner cocktails at the resort’s Cliff Deck were viewings to the transition of late afternoon skies into a gorgeous palette of saffron and magenta. The place was as intoxicating as the drink of dark rum and lychee syrup that I was holding. As guests mingled over glasses of mojito and whiskey sour, I, while looking out over the dimming seascape, found myself entranced by the actuality of the moment.

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Harmony with nature appears to be the underlying theme at Amorita where views of sea, sky, and greenery greet visitors at every turn.

Hero Laboratories.

Hero Laboratories offers the RT-PCR Swab Test, the gold standard in COVID19 testing, and the Antigen Swab Test which detects specific proteins that are unique on the virus’ surface. The results may be released in as fast as 30 minutes for the Antigen Swab Test and 24 hours for RT-PCR Swab Test. Introductory rates for the RT-PCR Swab Test are Php 4,000 (24-hour turnaround of result) and Php 3,500 (release of results in 2-3 days). For the Antigen Swab Test, it’s Php 1,500. Additional discounts may be offered to groups and businesses who may wish to get their employees tested prior to the holidays. All rates mentioned are exclusive of value-added taxes.

Resilience Within

“Sky above. Sea below. Peace within.” Such was written on a decorative sticker I found in one of the resort’s washrooms. The words, I thought, suitably encapsulated Amorita amidst the pandemic.

“It’s tough,” Leeds Trompeta, Amorita’s General Manager, told me over one of those late afternoon cocktails. “We had to make sacrifices, and there were a lot of adjustments that had to be made. We just took things day-by-day and hustled as best as we could.”
Still reeling from the adversities brought about by COVID-19, Amorita Resort has somehow gotten by, pivoting upon whatever resources it had at hand to sustain itself and its people amidst a major slump in the travel and hospitality industry.

During my conversation with husband and wife, Nikki and Ria Cauton, owners of Amorita and top management of One-Of Collection, both related how their primary concern during the pandemic was their staff and how they had to get creative in trying to find means to support them through the unsteady times.
“For us, the decision was really to keep everybody. We decided that no one gets left behind,” said Nikki.

In Manila, Nikki and Ria adapted a residential property into a cloud kitchen of sorts. There, some of Amorita’s culinary crew members who were displaced by the disruption of resort operations, now find continued livelihood in churning up and dispatching small-batches of artisanal pizzas for home delivery. What was originally intended to be a test kitchen then became a remote outlet for what is supposed to be Amorita’s newly opened Turchino restaurant.

The couple has also explored creative partnerships in hopes of resuscitating Amorita’s guest influx. In collaboration with Hero Laboratories and Cebu Pacific Air, Amorita has come up with enticing promotions that include room discounts, daily breakfast, airport transfers, and RT-PCR swab tests.

Meanwhile, at the Bohol home front, Nikki and Ria organized “Bohol Eats” (BEATS), a series of culinary pop-up events created to support the local community and to showcase the best of Bohol’s gastronomy masters.

“We had to be creative again. We had to go back to our roots of entrepreneurship and do even just really small projects, really small events, really small anything that could just give a reason for people to come to work,” Ria stated.

The couple also took advantage of the pandemic to reevaluate, rework, and refine the resort’s operations and business strategies. Nikki and Ria made use of the downtime to put Amorita’s household in order.

“We tried to compile everything again…have a sit-down, as if starting again from scratch. From a creativity standpoint, it was good for us,” mentioned Nikki, while Ria added “Our message is, ‘Let’s use the pandemic to build the foundation of a better company.’”

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Cebu Pacific.

Cebu Pacific currently flies daily to Bohol (Tagbilaran) from Manila, with base fares available for as low as 288 pesos. CEB has been rated 7/7 stars by airlineratings.com for its COVID-19 safety compliance following a multi-layered approach to safety in accordance with global aviation standards. These include contactless procedures, thorough cleaning and disinfection protocols for all aircraft and facilities, mandatory wearing of masks and face shields for both passengers and crew, as well as Antigen testing for CEB frontliners before duty. On top of these, Cebu Pacific’s aircrafts are also equipped with hospital-grade HEPA filters with 99.99% efficacy, keeping viruses at bay.

Friendship Around

Everyone at the dinner table strained their ears to identify the next song from the first few chords strummed by the evening’s live acoustic performers. My evening companions and I were having a merry game of ‘Name That Tune.’ It was our last night in Amorita, and our stay there for the past several days couldn’t have ended on a better and more fun note. It seems to have been a while since we relished the pleasures of an inspired place and the actual company of good friends.

It would probably still be quite some time, perhaps years, until the normalcy of travel returns to how things were prior to the pandemic. So has Amorita Resort demonstrated its resilience throughout the recent upheavals, and it is a resilience that is rooted in its genuine care for its people and its guests. Amorita, as its name connotes, is that ‘little darling’ by the beach who, while longingly and patiently waiting for happier days, makes all the necessary preparations for the return of a beloved friend.

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