Fort Ilocandia Resort and Casino

 

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Fort Ilocandia Resort and Casino is a striking deluxe accommodation in Ilocos Norte. Located in the center of Laoag City, this 5-star resort is 10 minutes away from the airport. Its look is very unique yet carries the characteristics of Ilocano architecture- in fact, it is a combination of Spanish villas and local designs. It is a big strucutre of beautiful red bricks.

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Fort Ilocandia also has somewhat an interesting history. This hotel was built to house the guests for the wedding of then presidential daughter Irene Marcos to Greggy Araneta. It was said, that intensive pressure was placed to finish the hotel before the wedding. Here, guests entertained themselves before, during and even after the wedding.

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Until now, the resort still upholds its connection with the Marcoses. In the walls close to the main lobby, many framed photographs are placed showing the First Couple ( Imelda and Ferdinand) meeting with some of the most powerful politicians and even royalties.  What caught my fancy was their photograph with Cuban leader, Fidel Castro.

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Now, it is an luxurious accommodation that also caters guests coming from China, Macau and Taiwan for its casino. There are many direct flights from these places to Laoag International Airport ( which was also built for the wedding of Irene..whew!) I’ve been researching who owns this hotel now.  I thought this was a government-owned hotel and now privatize to Chinese businessmen. Anyone who knows who owns Fort Ilocandia?

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This warm and cozy resort in Laoag is complete with many amenities to cater to the needs of its guests. Built in a 77 hectare property, there are plenty of things and activities to do aside from gambling in its casino. It is close to some sand dunes and has a 2 kilometer beach. When we went there, we saw a kiddie activity park which is located in front of the resort – glad it is not just for gambling people.

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I’ve read in some blogs that Fort Ilocandia Resort and Casino is not as open to the public as before. Before, people can swim in its beach without staying in the resort and can freely take photos of the property. During our trip, we were allowed to explore the resort but of course not everything. I didn’t know that you can’t just go there and have some tour but no security called our attention..thanks anyway!

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30 Comments

  1. GOOD DAY!!! Inquire lang po if any lifeguard job vacancy here. ty.
    roderick cruz
    c.p.# 09287303202/09056226534

  2. Hi!

    Thanks for dropping by. Apparently, I’m not connected with Fort Ilocandia so I cannot answer your question.. 🙂

  3. me and my boyfriend have choosen fort ilocandia resort as our wedding venue, if you could give us the website w/c we can gather some ideas about how you’re handling/managing a wedding ceremonies so w/ the reception we would appreciate it. thank you so much! hope to hear from you

  4. Hi!

    sorry Arleen, I’m not connected with Fort Ilocandia. I just blogged it as a travel writer. Thanks!

  5. Thanks for the information! Does the Marcos family still have a share of this resort?

    Thanks for visiting! 🙂

  6. Oh really? So they also have some shares at Waterfront Cebu huh ( I’m originally from Cebu). Thank you for your inputs. I really appreciate it. Hope you keep on visiting my blog! 🙂

  7. u r welcome. Ur blog was of great assistance on our recent visit to Ilocos. thank you very much too, 🙂

  8. Hi there;
    I and my fiancea are going to get marry in Phillipines and we choose Fort Ilocandia for the reception. I am trying to book online but it seems they dont have any wedding package available.tnx

  9. Fort Ilocandia is owned by a Jack Lam, Chairman of Jimei ltd. They also own Fontana Leisure park and other hotels in HongKong, China, Singapore, Taiwan. From what I know after the exile of the Marcoses, the powerful Ablan family took hold of it and owned it. Today i think they still have a share of 40%

  10. hello, the site u’ve given above is already disabled.
    I tried searching for the updated one but to no luck. Could you please help me gather more information about Fort Ilocandia’s wedding arrangement,packages, etc. It seems there’s no updated site for Fort Ilocandia including their website for such reason, I reaaly don’t know.
    Please hep me out. We are planning to set our wedding reception in Fort Ilocandia on 2012 so I badly need your feedback. Thanks a lot!

  11. bakit wla ng smasagot sa phone number ng fort ilocandia….??? pagkakaalam ko nalulugi na to…. la na cla office d2 sa manila ata….

  12. Sorry to hear that but I’m not connected/ affiliated with them. I’m just a blogger and documented all our travels while we were in Ilocos Norte.

    Thanks for visiting!

  13. haloo pwide ko bang malaman kong ano yong telephone number nang fort ilocandia resort??

  14. Greetings!

    Hi i am Ma. Angelica M.Miranda Bachelor of Science in Hotel and restaurant management,19 years of age i am students from college of the immaculate conception, i am willing to apply at fort ilocandia hotel for my on the job training for 500hrs on april 2012 to may 2012, i know that in your company i will show my interest, knowledge and my skills, and i will make your hotel to become profitable.

    i hope your kindly consideration. thank you and godbless!

    0905-138-4269

  15. Hi Angelica,

    Kindly contact Fort Ilocandia directly. I am just a blogger. I am not connected with them.

    Thank you for visiting my blog! Have a great day.

  16. An Ilocano friend of mine whose family is in politics once told me that it is a hushed fact among Ilocanos that many businesses in Ilocos like farmlands, shopping complexes, power plants, transportaton, mining, resorts, and also the 5 star Fort Ilocandia Hotel are co-owned by the Marcoses hiding behind their powerful cronies today. The influential Ablan family are their allies, and they have also made business with foreign investors from China and Singapore. Imee’s current partner is a Singaporean tycoon, and Imelda have made trips to China in recent years, some say that aside from medical reasons those are mainly hidden social and business trips. They say they struck business deals with foreign businessmen investing in the Philippines particularly in Ilocos. While the government have been trying to disappointingly locate the bulk of the Marcos billions for decades, Imelda Marcos, her children, grandchildren and relatives are just continuing to rise in power in both business and politics and are adding more to their hidden fortunes. Newly discovered offshore accounts of the Marcoses have been the talk of the town a few years ago, but due to the difficulty of accessing those accounts who knows what happened to those now, the government has waned in tracing the Marcos wealth, who wouldn’t when the past presidents as well as new politicians and new powerful businessmen owning large corporations, not to mention some of those among the 10 richest men in the country have been suspiciously connected to the Marcoses. The issue have vanished and popped like a bubble.

  17. During the 5 year Marcos exile, the so called silent Marcos cronies became close to the Aquino government to be able to buy or manage many establishments and properties of the Marcoses to secretly help the Marcoses in gaining back those that have been sequestered. So basically the Marcoses still have a hold of many of their properties. look closely at some of Imelda’s photos in recent years, if you have a photographic memory of some valued jewels confiscated by the government shown in videos or the news on tv. then you would definitely be surprised to see some familiar jewels still being worn by Imelda in recent photos.How come she’s wearing what was supposed to have been confiscated already. She must have paid someone to be able to secretly get it back.And they are big jewels!. 🙂

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