Marita Alvarez-Arambulo, with the Top Producer awardees: Kentaro Kurita, General Manager of H.I.S. (Phils.) Travel Corp.; Seung Yeon Son, General Manager of Hi-S Tour; Yoshinori Yamanishi, General manager of PTF, In-Cheol Seo, General manager of Hana Tour; Arlene Petilla, Account Manager of Booking.com; with Mariles Alvarez-Nable and Marilou Gica, Sales and Marketing Manager of Costabella
COSTABELLA Tropical Beach Hotel is celebrating its 35th anniversary this year. Opened in 1981 with eight spacious rooms, it was a pioneer resort in Mactan, ideated by the late Luis “Sitoy” Alvarez and his loving wife Merceditas Borromeo Alvarez.
Traffic was nonexistent during those years, and I was one of those who on the night of the full moon would go to Costabella with a group of friends (all girls, of course) to watch the moon rise from the sea.
Then, we’d have dinner, crack jokes even if they were retold, and head for home at a good hour.
Well, now you have to plan a trip to Costabella with care and give allowances for traffic. It took me more than an hour to get there for something I wouldn’t have missed. That was the opening of its tapas bar LUNA.
It was a lively (lovely, too) gathering and the tapas served were super, reminding some of those gorgeous tapas as served in San Sebastian, Spain.
Welcoming all was Costabella’s general manager Marita Alvarez Arambulo, with her husband photographer Raul Arambulo, their daughter Ricca, and their son Mike who is now part of the Costabella marketing team.
Mariles Alvarez Nable, we understand, is behind the excellent cuisine Costabella is famous for. She was with her children Gabriel, Enzo and Monica.
Eldest of the brood Merche Alvarez Castro flew from Manila, never wanting to miss family gatherings such as this one.
Very much present, too, were Maris (nee Alvarez) and Francis Sy, as well as Hazel and Lui Alvarez, general manager of Montebello Villa Hotel.
Artist Charlie Co unveiled his sculpture titled “Los Soñadores,” meaning The Dreamers. It is one more art work added to the impressive collection that is displayed all over Costabella.
As you can see, we have a wealth of photos today that illustrate the opening of the Luna tapas bar. It is worthwhile making the trek all the way to Buyong in Mactan for an evening of relaxation.
