I promised to post a full feature of KAZA Siargao which I missed out on in the vacation that didn’t happen. So here it is, the boutique hotel as designed by interior designer Kristine Neri-Magturo of Urban Abode (that’s her in the photo above, contemplating the Siargao surf).
Unlike the usual thatched-hut resorts in the surfing island of Siargao, KAZA is a hotel with a white, modern, clean-lined exterior that Kristine took direction from when designing her interiors.
“I came in when the main building structure was around 80% complete, and it was so massive, I had to go for the industrial aspect of it, and they didn’t want to do cabana-style [interiors],” Kristine explains.
“I wanted to mix [that industrial style] with a tropical feel, and also showcase Philippine-made materials and pieces to soften the look,” the designer explains. “Since Siargao is known as the surfing capital of the Philippines, it had to have a laidback feel that both local and foreign surfers could relate to.”
It does have that laidback surfer feel, but there is a lot of detailed elegance as well, as seen in the Hacienda Crafts lamps, the themed bathrooms, and the hotel-quality sheets mixed with inabel blankets. There are also a lot of wood-paneled feature walls, as the majority of wood were made of upcycled pieces from one of the hotel owners.
Kristine also commissioned artists to paint murals along the bedroom hallways and in the bathrooms, and asked them to “distress” the murals to make them look weathered, adding to the hotel’s nostalgic, organic feel.
Once this pandemic is over and the hotel has reopened, do visit KAZA in the future. For more about Kristine Neri-Magturo’s works and Urban Abode, visit them here.
Rachelle Medina 