By ROSARIO T. GALANG

"Our guests are happy when they check out, we don’t overcharge," said Henry Chusuey, chairman of the Boracay Regency Beach Resort and Convention Center.

Chusuey and his partners have invested over P1 billion in developing 1.8 hectares of choice beachfront property in Boracay.

Regency has 280 rooms with three swimming pools and enjoys occupancy rates of 80 percent.

"We have no lean season", Chusuey said.

The company last week broke ground for The Regency Lagoon, almost adjacent to the hotel site. The Lagoon estimated to cost P250 million, will have 120 rooms and will have an outsize 1,200 square meter swimming pool bordered by sand.

Chusuey said that the company still has a six-hectare property in Manoc Manoc with a beachfront of half a kilometer, four times the stretch of its main hotel. The property is near the public quay.

At present Boracay Regency boasts of the widest beachfront of 125 meters in Station 2, Balabag, Boracay.

The company is also investing another P1 billion to develop a 5-hectare property in Panglao, Bohol.

A 300-room hotel will be built there and will open by 2010.

"This hotel will be better than Boracay, we will be targeting the high end market".

Its development and marketing will be similar to that of Amanpulo, Chusuey said.

Chusuey added that another reason for Regency’s success is that the management took care that they did not overbuild with lots of spaces, almost 60 percent of the site, left open.

In Panglao, he said the building will only take up 20 percent of land area and the rest will be open space.

Chusuey and his partners in fact seem to be tripping over themselves in their haste to meet demand for more rooms and resort services like spa.

Boracay Regency will open by month-end its spa, Kai spa. The spa will have 25 rooms individually designed and with different motifs

Some 24 therapists have been trained to give massages and special spa treatments.

The spa will be open to the public.

In Boracay, Regency also offers the longest breakfast, lunch and dinner buffets.

Its Sea Breeze restaurant recently opened, has been a special favourite among hotel guests and other visitors.

Chusuey said that the management took pains that while they offer first class service their rates are reasonable.

"Through the years we realized that our objective of providing our guests with quality rooms and service as well as value for money has paid off. This would then manifest in the number of arrivals each year even on the "so-called" off-peak seasons", said Chusuey.

"Our business’ success is mostly credited to our mission of satisfying our guests’ expectations. We give them an experience to remember in this beautiful island without charging them too much. And while others try to follow our achievements, our continued search for improvement for quality service and facilities being the total destination of choice and still the logical choice for guests.

Our resort is probably number one in room occupancy because for us, value for money for our guests is important. We keep on improving our services and very often we renovate our rooms for our guests comfort and satisfaction. I guess it’s safe to say that we have satisfied all our guests because most of them keep on coming back", he added.

They offer promotional rates in tie-ups with airlines specially South East Asian Airlines.

Regency last week celebrated its 10th anniversary. It started with 43 luxury rooms, one of the first in the island to have international standard luxury rooms, an air-conditioned restaurant, a crystal clear swimming pool, and a function room.

The number of rooms was doubled from 43 to 85 in 2001. With the growing demand of high standard rooms with reasonable rates back in 2004, Boracay Regency added 110 more rooms and the first and only convention center in the island, which can house delegates. In 2007, the hotel inaugurated the Garden Wing with 90 more rooms making Boracay Regency the biggest luxury hotel in Boracay with 285 rooms.