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| Lorna & Camilla |
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| My Family |
January
2006 UPDATE
Our new beach house behind our beachfront resort, Casa Camilla, on Boracay Island is finished
so we finally moved into our huge living space. As we look out our open windows at the swaying coconut palms and beautiful
panoramic horizon during sunset we remember the past years of living in local bamboo huts. On Boracay, we continue to renovate
and improve resort and new private beach house behind Casa Camilla We'll be installing a swimming pool and a hot water
jacuzzi, big enough for 4 to 6 friends or family.
JUNE 2006 UPDATE!
Announcing the grand opening of the Charles Becker Gallery displaying the works of world renown California painter,
Charles Becker by old friend and partner, Bruce Ackerman, also a long term "happy camper" resident "beach bum"
at Casa Camilla- Boracay.
| Bill ,Alex Fanny |
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| Balinese Fest Lombok |
| Bill on Top of Rinjani, Lombok Island |
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JULY 2006 UPDATE;
Regarding the recent trip reports on TripAdvisor.com from a few unhappy guests who weren't happy with their
rooms or stay at Casa Camilla all I can say is we opened with "world travelers" on a budget in mind who continue
to be happy staying with us. In recent years, the types of tourists on Boracay have changed drastically; the way I usually
describe them and their expectations is "champagne tastes on beer budgets" or "the millionaire for a day"
types of people. We have also realized that these new types of tourists expect international customer service standards which
are nearly impossible to provide here in the Philippines with the less than attentive, limited educational backgrounds local
Filipino staff. We can fight such things like the presence of insects here in the tropics but we can never win and that's
just NOT good enough for some people.
One of the reasons we're involved in small businesses here
in the Philippines and prefer the budget travel market is because we're unwilling to allow such critical, complaining
guests to spew their negative energy in our direction; some of these complainers choose to threaten us with ruining our business
by such negative trip reports and we do NOT tolerate such tactics nor allow them to infect us with their disatisfaction( with
their lives, in general ). As world travelers, ourselves helping other travelers in ANY way that we can just comes natural
so we never feel like we're working; we LOVE what we do and my personal motto is; when anything or anybody makes me feel
like I have "JOB" it's time to change things.
Our two businesses continue to grow, since
opening the doors of our 3 bedroom townhouse unit to accomodate world travelers, as a HOBBY, back in 1986 we now have 27 bedrooms
in Manila. We opened our first Boracay resort, Villa Camilla with 12 rooms in 1991 / sold it 95 and opened our present resort
in 95 with only 8 rooms and presently have 25 rooms at Casa Camilla. Such growth speaks for itself and it's common knowledge
that negative news is reported 100 times more than positive news. We entertain and satisfy several thousand guests in Manila
each year , many of who have been staying with over 10 years and several hundred guests each year here on Boracay so fail
to take the few complainers too seriously.
So maybe if we were willing to "kiss ass" to
each and everyone of these cyber complainers in such a way that each of them felt like celebrities when staying with us then
maybe we'd have several hundred rooms by now but we're quite happy with the 52 rooms and 2 private houses we have
and wouldn't trade an iota of our dignity for more wealth.
So to anyone interested, whatever you decide
to do is fine with us and where ever you decide to stay have FUN, ENJOY LIFE and love in the Philippines where life's
a BEACH! Bill and Lorna
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We opened our 3 bedroom 2 bathroom townhouse
unit as a hobby creating a warm, friendly place to stay and through the years have promised ourselves to keep the home atmosphere
even as it has grown to 28 rooms. It can often be a twenty-four-hour a day job and our guests' needs and comforts are
extremely important to us so PLEASE share your experience and advice with us about how we can improve the Townhouse Hotel
/ Hostel near the Manila airports located on Manila Bay's coconut palm tree lined Roxas Blvd.
We hope to meet
you sometime when our travel paths cross in Manila or Boracay. FEEL FREE to ask us questions about budget travel, living,
retiring, starting a small business and investing in Asia, especially the Philippines. if you need further information or
want to make a reservation.
The Townhouse was opened by Bill and Lorna after they had traveled and worked in Asia,
Europe, and the U.S.A. for almost ten years. They had stayed in bamboo, beach huts, Asian guesthouses, Spanish pensionnes,
American and European campgrounds, backpacker dormitories, Korean yogwans and Japanese ryokans on shoestring budgets. They
met each other "on the road" while traveling in Hong Kong and Korea in the early 80s and got married in 1985. During
a trip to Lhasa, Tibet, when Lorna was 6 months pregnant with Camilla in 1986, they decided that it was time to raise a family.
They knew that they would miss the energy, excitement and adventure of world travel so they opened the doors of their small,
3 bedroom, 2 bath townhouse for travelers as a hobby.
The first guests were five Swedish young men Bill met in Hong
Kong who had met on the trans-Siberian railway; since then travelers from 78 countries have stayed at The Townhouse Hotel.
After a few years, guests had written to Lonely Planet, Jens Peters' Publications written in "Deutsch"(German)
and other travel guides recommending The Townhouse as a safe, clean and friendly place to stay in Manila at the lowest rates.
The latest travel guide where the Townhouse Manila is featured is a Korean Travel Guide written in "Hangu". Guests
have reported seeing this unique family operated hotel in French and Italian travel magazines also. Since 1995, Bill and Lorna
moved their daughter to go to a public school in Santa Cruz, CA and realize more than ever that the best place in the world
to meet interesting people from a variety of backgrounds is their "home in Manila". This year in August 1999 they
will take Camilla out of school for one year, enroll her in the local homeschooling program until Sept.2000 to travel Asia,
Europe and inject more energy the place they've grown to love, The Townhouse Hotel Manila. Now, continuous improvements
and expansion projects have produced a warm, family atmosphere where travelers meet, exchange travel stories and enjoy the
"magic" energy of world travel in a safe, comfortable setting with 28 bedrooms and two rooms with 4 dormitory beds
each. Soon the third floor sundeck will be open for guests to sunbathe, enjoy the fresher air and continue sharing the travel
stories after midnight when the staff goes to sleep. Also Bill will start showing a great variety of films from his collection
of over 800 FREE. It's time to enjoy the daily "party", tip a few drinks, and celebrate the joy of living in
the coming years with great people. Cheers, Salud, Campai, Skol, Dipshi Da, & Bottoms Up!
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