AMANPULO

PAMALICAN ISLAND, PALAWAN, PHILIPPINES

Hotel | from 1000€ per night

As part of our honeymoon, we treated ourselves to a five-day escape in the Philippines at Amanpulo, a destination hotel that had lived on our dream list for years. One of those places you bookmark, talk about, picture in your head, and tell yourself you’ll visit “one day.” This time, we finally did!

After ten intense days in Japan, averaging twenty kilometers a day and absorbing everything with wide eyes and tired feet, arriving here felt like landing in another dimension. Amanpulo is its own island in the Palawans, and even the journey sets the tone: you board their private plane in Manila, and the moment you step onto the runway, the world gets very still, very blue, very peaceful.

As soon as we got off the plane, a full line of staff was waiting for us, greeting us by our names before we even said hello. Flower necklaces, a fresh welcome drink, and then we hopped into our own golf cart (ours had the sweetest little “Just Married” sign) for a tour of the island. The restaurants, the beaches, the viewpoints… all wrapped in that Aman atmosphere where everything feels effortlessly impecable.

Our beach casita was unbelievable: a beautiful, airy space with huge windows opening straight onto our own stretch of beach. Private sunbeds, white sand, and water so clear it almost looked unreal. It felt very intimate, elegant but unpretentious.

Alyssa, who took care of us during the stay, created a WhatsApp group with us from the moment we arrived, so anything we needed: ideas, reservations, help planning the day, was just a message away. She arranged oil massages (the spa was fantastic), lovely dinners, a swim with turtles and the highlight of our entire stay: an afternoon at the Kawayan floating bamboo bar in the middle of the ocean. That moment felt suspended outside of time, probably the most special experience of the trip.

The service was a 10, the food too, and the setting… honestly beyond any scale. We’ve never seen beaches like this in our lives. Photos don’t come close. Even artificial intelligence couldn’t dream up something this beautiful. It’s nature at its most generous.

When we left, I (Ines) cried, twice… a mix of gratitude, sadness, and the feeling of having touched something truly magical for a few days.

Amanpulo isn’t just a stay; it’s a place that stays with you.