Cebu's Quirkiest Luxury Resort: The Vision of a Former Hong Kong Banker

One of the top resorts in Cebu, in the Philippines, would not exist today if its owner was not fired from his Hong Kong job. Former investment banker J. Manuel “Manny” Gonzalez is the heart and soul of Plantation Bay. The self-contained resort village is spread over 11 hectares (27 acres), with a spa, four restaurants, and 255 rooms encircling massive man-made salt- and freshwater lagoons and beaches. Befitting the name, the destination draws inspiration from the architectural styles of the Caribbean and the American South. The rooms are located in colonial-style mansions with long balconies and colonnades, and many back directly onto the water. The resort is perfect for a week-long getaway of doing absolutely nothing. “Our first guest was in July 1996, but we weren’t fully open for business until January 1997,” recalls Gonzalez, who was born in the Philippines. With his Columbia University MBA and big personality, the entrepreneur thrived in the heady days of 1980s Hong Kong. He was recruited by property developer Sun Hung Kai’s investment arm and then worked for insurance giant AIA. But in the early 1990s, a dispute over a bonus led to an abrupt split from his employer.