privately secluded, but very near the heart of the action...Asya is but a 2 minute walk from the beach -- an oasis of tranquility and spa like surroundings envelopes you upon your return from the ocean.....

service is simply great, never overbearing and intrusive -- the private cove and of course the speedboat are definitely two thumbs up!

Have just spent 10 days on Boracay. What a fantastic island, the beach there is superb with the most crystal clear water I have ever seen. Beach is great for kids as there is no surf. We could not decide on where to stay before going after reading so many reviews on TA so we decided to book 3 nights at Asya then wing it once we got there. Asya is between boat station 2 and 3 down a little street and takes you about 1 minute to walk to white beach. The staff at Asya were very friendly and made sure we were very well looked after. It is I think the norm on Boracay that the staff at every resort are friendly and look after you, but we found the staff at Asya to be very genuine and not being nice just because it was their job,. The resort has a really peaceful setting, is not noisy at all and the pool is just fantastic for kids as it is not very deep, our kids preferred to swim in this pool rather than the ocean. The rooms are very big, in fact they are bigger than most of the rooms we looked at, at Fridays, Two Seasons and Discovery Shores to name a few. The only negative thing I could say about Asya is that the beds are rather hard and the air conditioning quite noisy so if you were thinking of staying I would suggest ear plugs. This resort is not as flash as some of the other well known resorts but bear in mind it is half the price and you get the same if not better service here. We left Asya after 3 nights and stayed at Ambassador in Paradise a new resort only opened in Dec 2008. We had a magnificient room right on the beach, I would say a 50metre walk to the water if that our room had a king size bed and 2 king singles for the kids. a seperate room with a desk and a robe for clothes which was very handy. The bathroom consisted of a huge self standing spa bath and great shower with 2 basins and a TV, fantastic.. Beach views all round. service here was also good food was great, pool not so good especially for kids. This place even though magnificent room didn't have the feel of Asya and so we went back to Asya for our last 2 nights so that we would leave on a really positive note.

I chose Asya Resort as it looked like it was in a quiet location but not too far from all the action - and I was right. The resort is a two minute stroll along a lane between Boat Station 2 & 3. The lane has the main police station on it and the tourist office at the end and a few other resorts along the road so it always felt perfectly safe even after dark.

The whole experience from booking to getting there was made so easy. I sent an e-mail to the booking office and they gave me special rates for a 3 night stay and I went along to their office in Makati to pay in cash a couple of weeks before we travelled. On arrival at the tiny Caticlan airport we were besieged by porters offering to help us with our luggage - but as the small planes which ply the Manila-Caticaln route only allow you to take 10Kg we didn't really need any assistance.

A man from Asya was waiting outside the airport with a board with our names on and we were whisked into an air conditioned mini bus for the short ride to where our private speedboat was waiting. The speedboat ride was very quick and very pleasant and we were at Asya's private cove within 10 minutes where another car was waiting to take us to the resort. A 10 minute ride along the back roads of Boracay and we were there, to be met with cold towels and a cold drink.

We had booked a villa suite which was on the first floor and was lovely - a large room with a huge bed, a table and chairs, a sofa, two lots of double doors on to a very spacious balcony overlooking the courtyard garden, a very nice contemporary bathroom (huge shower, no bath) and a kitchen with a microwave, kettle, fridge with free drinks - beer, ice tea, coke etc. The room was spacious, modern and very clean - the only negative thing I can say about the room was it was a little dark during the day - but we were rarely in it during the day so it didn't really matter anyway and it was fine at night with the lamps lit - very cosy and welcoming. Rather strangely the kitchen has plenty of cupboards but no plates or cutlery - take a corkscrew or buy screw top wine if you plan to sit on the lovely balcony and have a glass or two, like we did!

The staff were all lovely - always had a welcome smile, happy to get anything you needed. We had a free meal in the hotel restaurant included in our package which was very good - soup, salad, main course, dessert and a glass of Sangria and the pizza at the restaurant was also very good. We wished we had eaten there again on our last night rather than at Zhu at the Boracay Regency which was very poor.

The pool at the hotel was lovely - very shallow at one end, deep enough to swim at the other end. Most of the time we had it entirely to ourselves - it felt like our own private garden. The hotel has its own private cove which we saw on arrival and departure but we didn't bother going there during our stay but it looked very nice as we briefly passed through, with a snack bar, white sand, clear green water, kayaks etc. From the hotel it is about a 10 minute walk to D'Mall where there are lots of restaurants, shops but there are also plenty of places nearby - in the evening all the restaurants replace their sunbeds with tables and chairs, great for watching the sunset - we headed to Secxs just around the corner from the hotel where they did 2 for 1 cocktails at bargain prices and watched the dramatic sunsets each evening - perfect.

Boracay itself is gorgeous - each evening we took a long walk along the beach all the way down to the far end where Fridays & Discovery Shores are. I would say that end of the beach is nicer - but to be fair there isn't really any part of the beach which isn't beautiful and we were perfectly happy with the location of Asya.

To summarise, the hotel is beatifully designed, very clean and modern, well appointed, comfortable rooms, contemporary bathrooms, professional, helpful and friendly staff and is a little Oasis within the general hustle and bustle of Boracay. It's not cheap but we felt it was good value for money and would recommend it without hesitation. The only thing it lacks is its own private area on White beach - so if you want to spend time at the beach you either have to go to the Cove (via their free shuttle) or lie on the sand on White beach rather than on a lounger. This wasn't a problem for us as the pool more than made up for it but may be factor in other people's choices.

Would also recommend the Nemo glass bottom boat tour and Lemon Cafe for lunch or dinner - their lemon tart is sublime and the Caesar Salad was delicious.

What more can you ask for? You're picked up by an airconditioned van at the airport and taken to a speedboat (5 mins to the island!). Another airconditioned car ride and you're at the resort. So much less time than previous trips to Boracay with other hotels. When you arrive, you're greeted with a cold drink and towel. The rooms are exceptionally large and equipped with hot pot for tea/coffee and microwave. The hotel is quite private - not seen by the hussle and bussle outside - but close enough to the beach (2 min walk). I didn't have any problem with my toddler going out to the beach every morning with his nanny since it was so close. He loved the pool! He doesn't know how to swim but that wasn't a problem since the pool was only 2 feet deep in one side.
I also can't say enough about the staff. You call and they are there in a giffy. No waiting time at all. In fact, we found they were waiting for us most of the time to offer room cleaning, towels etc.