Popular on-island wedding venues

CHURCHES top the list when it comes to wedding venues. Weddings are also held at the mayor’s office for a hassle-free ceremony, while others hold it at pool sides, gardens and even at homes.

Saipan, as a tropical paradise, has attracted couples from far and wide who want to get married, renew their vows or celebrate their wedding anniversaries.

Here are some of the popular wedding venues on island aside:

Chapels

The Hyatt’s White Sands Chapel is ideal for small and intimate weddings. The bride and groom get to march toward the chapel amid lush gardens. The place is small and does not require much work for decorations, and the glass windows offer a superb view of the lagoon. Adding to the charm of the chapel is the bell tower that the couple rings together after the ceremony.

Mariana Resort & Spa in Marpi has a quaint chapel ideal for your exclusive dream wedding. Right after the wedding, the couple will get to march toward a beautiful bell tower, a white structure against the backdrop of the bluest ocean and sky — a photographer’s dream.

The Angelo Chapel at the Palms Resort is another charming venue. The hotel has been closed since Oct. 2010 but weddings are still held at the chapel by special arrangements. Angelo Chapel has a long bridge with a red carpet leading to the chapel door. Wedding photos look simply stunning taken at the chapel with the beach as backdrop.

The chapels at Hafa Adai Beach Hotel in Garapan and  Kanoa Resort in Susupe are also excellent options.

Beachfronts

The Hyatt beachfront is another popular choice for couples. Wedding coordinators usually roll out the red carpet all the way to a makeshift stage with an arc and floral arrangements.

Weddings at Micro Beach are a common sight. The area is ideal for island style wedding where the couple and the guests can go barefoot. A simple arch of flowers can serve as decoration.

A wedding on Managaha is  no less perfect.

Ladder Beach is also an ideal wedding venue. Although not a very popular one, the beach and its natural stone caves and coves hold an irresistible appeal for the more daring couples.

Other venues

The gazebo facing the waterfalls in the middle of the scenic gardens at the Hyatt is another popular wedding venue. Very little work is required for decoration. It’s ideal for a garden wedding complete with ponds and flowers.

Very popular among tourists are weddings on any of the cruise boats in the Saipan lagoon. Weddings are usually arranged by coordinators and wedding planners.

Weddings on Mt. Tapochao certainly has the most spectacular, panoramic view of Saipan.

Underwater weddings  are not also that popular but the island’s pristine waters provide divers an ideal wedding venue surrounded by underwater wonders.

Saipan has so many other options for wedding venues. Just be creative and be ready with a backup plan in case the weather refuses to cooperate. But then again, you might just enjoy a wedding in the rain!

First published at the Marianas Variety

Lobby talk

(First published at the Marianas Variety)

HOTEL lobbies speak a lot about a hotel. They help a guest decide to stay for a while or go, feel relaxed or stressed out. Hotel lobbies are mute witnesses to a lot of things — transactions, arguments, sweet nothings.

Photos by Raquel C. Bagnol

If only the walls and furniture could talk! Last week this page featured Laolao Bay Golf and Resort, and this time let us take a peek at the lobbies of the leading hotels on Saipan and Tinian.

Aqua Resort Club in San Roque has my most favorite lobby on island, but its distance is why I don’t spend much time there as much as I want to.

The Aqua Resort lobby does not scream commercialism but offers comfort, bliss and relaxation. It is one place that seems to portray the message to turn off your cellphones and just enjoy and let time pass by blissfully. Let your feet sink into the deep soft carpet and sit in any of the comfortable sets with throw pillows and have coffee with friends or alone. The best part of the lobby is the section where lounges are located. You can recline facing clear glass with a view of greens and colorful flowers outside. The ambiance just makes you drowsy. Views of blue sky, swimming pool and the ocean add to the X-factor of this hotel lobby.

The Marianas Resort Spa lobby is one where you feel at home. It is more of the sporty kind of lobby adorned with stylish wooden benches, a place where guests feel at ease flopping down straight from the pool so if you don’t want to get wet, check before you sit anywhere. The Marianas Resort & Spa lobby offers guests a killer view of a quaint chapel in the distance, swimming pools, game tables, restaurant and bar all within the scope of your view. The front side of the lobby offers views of the golf course and green jungles.

Hyatt Regency’s lobby has a sofa set facing the reception area beside lush greenery under a solar roof. It is just one place where you sit for a few minutes waiting for your car or for somebody. The Lobby Lounge is one choice to have coffee or meet someone else but if you are a non-smoker, better look for someplace else to go to.

But the Hyatt also has  breathtaking scenery: lush green gardens with its streams and ponds teeming with fish, birds and butterflies that are not scared of human intrusion, wooden bridges — a prime choice for family and wedding photo sessions.

The Fiesta Resort & Spa lobby portrays an island welcome with its huge murals and decorations depicting Palau, Yap and other islands in the region. Superb views of the swimming pool and the beach add to the relaxing ambiance. The sofa sets are comfortable enough but it’s not one place you would want to stay for the whole day. Too many people just come and go.

If you want to get a whiff of the fresh, soothing and relaxing breeze that is not sourced from an air-conditioning unit, spend a few minutes in the Hafa Adai Beach Hotel lobby in Garapan.

I love sitting in one of the wooden seats there and having my hair blown away by the breeze but if you want total relaxation, this lobby is not for you. Visitors talk in voices with volumes set like they are at home so if you want a quiet lobby, this one’s not it.

Moving further to Susupe is Saipan World Resort whose lobby is one, if not the busiest, hotel lobby here. It’s one place where people sit and watch TV from the huge screens and where come and go pulling luggage behind them. Entering the massive door of the hotel is like going into an enchanted kingdom. It is one lobby where you feel you can mix business with pleasure.

Kanoa Resort (formerly Saipan Grand Hotel) in Susupe has a lobby with an impersonal touch. The lobby seats, which are located in the middle of commercial stalls, are comfortable and ideal to meet friends. It’s one place where you can be on your own or get lost in a crowd.

The lobby of the Pacific Islands Club in San Antonio is another busy place where people come, sit and go. The warm, snug sofa seats with matching throw pillows, open windows and high vaulted ceilings give an air of spaciousness and make you want to stay around longer. There are no stores and stalls or coffee shops to give it a commercial feel.

Moving on to Tinian, the Tinian Dynasty Hotel & Casino lobby is the most unique compared to the other hotels here. A circular lobby with a giant chandelier that sheds golden reflections on the well polished floors, one feels a certain enchantment in the Tinian Dynasty lobby. It is one place where your voice echoes so you will talk in whispers but still provides some sort of privacy.

Hangout 101: Picturesque Laolao lobby

IF there is one place that I can count as one of my most favorite hangouts on Saipan where I can gaze into the boundless sky and sea without getting bored, it is the lobby of Laolao Bay Golf Resort in Kagman.

I’ve always been fascinated with hotel lobbies for as long as I can remember, and I fell in love with this lobby at first sight four years ago. This lobby is unlike those of other hotels. Forget boring reception desks, plush chairs and stuffy flower arrangements. Forget hanging chandeliers and brass lights, spiraling staircases and huge television screens. Count out sofa sets where people can have coffee and meet with friends or business clients. Forget about the sight of people staring at their laptops.

Except for one sofa set and a square wicker table adorned with husked coconuts on a wooden tray, and a couple of polished wooden stumps that serve as seats, this lobby is bare.

What makes up for the emptiness is the huge, open window that gives one a full view of the endless sky that blends with the blue stretch of the ocean, and the well-manicured golf courses with little pools in between the greens.

The lobby is bordered by a rocky miniature pool on two sides protected  by a chest-high glass wall partition. Water gurgling from small fountain adds to the relaxing ambiance. I always have to curb the temptation to go wading in the knee-high water and if it was allowed, expect me to be the first to sit on the side with my feet dangling in the water.

Here is one place where you can enjoy the view of man-made and natural scenery and the fresh breeze from the ocean — without distractions. If only the Laolao Bay Golf Resort is not at the other side of the island, if only I have the luxury of time and deadlines are not part of the daily battles, I’ll be frequenting this place.

It’s just sad that only a few people seem to appreciate it. Most of the guests are in a hurry to get to their rooms and go out to the golf courses. Others either take the place for granted or think that it is too far out. They don’t know the long drive is worth it.

First published at the MARIANAS VARIETY August 10, 2012 issue