Story & photos by Bernard L. Supetran
MENTION “Cebu” and, immediately, images of powdery beaches, hand-crafted guitars, danggit, otap and Lapu-Lapu Shrine come to mind. With its plethora of star-rated hotels and resorts, Cebu—the city and the province—is also an all-time favorite for family staycation and recreation.
Today, there is another compelling reason to bask in this good old getaway because of its role as a hub for medical tourism in the southern Philippines with the emergence of world-class facilities that offer healing while vacationing.
Situated near the foot of the scenic Marcelo Fernan Bridge in Mandaue City are the twin establishments of Maayo Hotel and Maayo Well, Cebu’s first four-star hotel and wellness complex, which offers top-of-the-line hotel services, integrative medicine and professional aesthetic services.
Embodying the perfect blend of wellness and hospitality, Maayo derives its name from the Visayan word, which means “good” or “well”—the end-goal of what it desires to achieve with its guests who enter its doors.
According Maayo owner William Liu, it is their company’s vision is to provide a holistic experience that combines medical, wellness and aesthetic services in under one roof.
The hotel is the hospitality arm of the Primary Group of Builders, which specializes in engineering, construction and real estate in key urban areas in the Visayas and Mindanao.
“The idea is for our guests to come back better. So whether you are coming in for travel or to seek medical treatments, at Maayo you can experience both and leave better than when you came here,” Liu enthuses.
He said that, with the Philippines ranked as the world’s top 8 medical-tourism destination, Maayo aims to help bring in more quality tourists for a journey to wellness in the queen city of the south.
Maayo may be like the typical lodging, but it has taken pains to make its rooms and facilities cozy and artsy to inspire relaxation, creativity and wholeness. For instance, its common areas are adorned with paintings, wood sculptures, antiques and assorted knick-knacks, which are handiworks by local artists and craftsmen.
The hotel has also thrown in unique features, such as a yoga space, rooftop garden and jogging trail, a scenic roof-deck infinity pool and an aqua yoga pool. Yoga buffs can purchase a Wellness Kit, which contains a yoga mat, fitness ball, medicine ball and dumbbells, so they can limber at their spacious rooms. The rooftop Ani Restaurant is a classy dining outlet with a sweeping view of the Mactan Channel and the hills, which offers a continental menu, which are sourced from community farmers and fishermen. Up to 90 percent of the dishes served are organic, in keeping with its philosophy of holistic wellness for its visitors.
The resto has occasional executive lunches with buffets, which are, surprisingly, reasonably priced.
But what sets it a cut above the rest is Maayo Well, an adjoining facility that houses modern outpatient clinics for wellness and aesthetic services, performed by locally and internationally trained nurses and doctors.
Far from the intimidating ambiance of a clinic, guests instead get the welcoming feeling of a boutique lifestyle mall with its spanking interiors, inviting lounges and staff who exude the typical Visayan warm hospitality.
They call people “visitors” and not “patients”, to give them a relaxed feeling. Those undergoing a wellness program are assigned a migo or miga, colloquial for friend in Visayan, or a personal patient-care assistant who will guide them through the entire process.
Maayo offers top-of-line hydrofacial, lightening, age-defying facial, body-toning Discovery PICO treatment, body-contouring Exilis, restorative dentistry, oral prophylaxis, health drips and infusions, to name a few.
“Our emphasis is preventive care. Our goal is to make you stay well,” said Maayo Medical CEO Dr. Ted Gonzales, who claims himself to be the proverbial poster boy of its restorative medicine program.
“We have a hotel ambience in a health-care facility.”
There are sections on liver wellness, nutrition education, diabetes care, oncology unit, hemodialysis, endoscopy, bronchoscopy, ophthalmology, orthodontics, prosthetics, physical rehabilitation and movement wellness at the fitness gym.
Maayo Well has a wide array of comprehensive executive check-up packages for all ages, and it can also customize wellness and beauty programs, which can be designed to complement a guest’s staycation.
The more complex health issues are referred to general hospitals and medical centers where Maayo has forged partnerships.
On top of these services, guests can enjoy unparalleled privacy, with its discrete entrances for those who have undergone confidential treatments. As part of the hotel group’s expansion, it is spreading its wings and putting up beach resorts to the touristic towns of Argao and San Remigio in southern and northern Cebu province, respectively, which will surely offer a taste of the flair, the southern comfort and journey to wellness Maayo is known for.
www.maayohotels.com.
Image credits: Bernard L. Supetran