It was a weekday yet Café Asiana, the all-day buffet area at the Palms Country Club at Filinvest City Alabang, was nearly filled to the brim – from ladies who lunch with their chic handbags (rarely with flashy logos) to gentlemen decked in quiet luxury while sipping coffee.
This private club makes no bones about being ultra exclusive and indulgent for its well-heeled members who enjoy its well-appointed amenities and dining options any time of the day, unencumbered by an 8-to-5 work schedule.
Upstairs at The Continental, General Manager and Executive Chef Hans Neukom and his team pulled out all the stops for a lavish spread befitting the club’s biggest reveal to date last Oct. 5.
Guests were spoiled for choice – from Jamon Iberico, to cochinillo, lobster thermidor, lamb steak, salmon gravlax, Hainanese chicken, Peking duck and truffle pasta made table side in a Parmigiano Reggiano wheel, among others, as well as free-flowing champagne and wine.
After all, it is not every day that the Palms Country Club turns 21 years old.
And more importantly, it is not every day that a private club becomes the first of its kind in the Philippines to join the International Associate Clubs.
“It was the idea of Mrs. Josephine Gotianun-Yap for Palms to be globally linked to a prestigious network such as the IAC. Even before the pandemic, she already had this vision,” Neukom said.
“It is important to benchmark ourselves – are we really at par with international standards? How else can we improve and what else can we offer to our members?” he added.
The application process was rigorous, but the accreditation made the grueling six months worth it, Neukom said.
The accreditation provides reciprocity to IAC’s global network of 200 lifestyle luxury membership private clubs across the US, Europe, Australia, Africa, and Southeast Asia.
The network includes some 40 golf courses, over 100 clubs with athletic or sports facilities, and some 2,500 villas in IAC’s Luxury Resort Collection.
Members of the Palms Country Club need only to sign up through the IAC app to satisfy their revenge travel appetite, Neukom said.
Of course, one can take Neukom’s word for it, but the proof of the proverbial pudding is always in the eating, and club member Dante Fajardo attests to how easy the process was.
“Last month, I watched the F1 Grand Prix in Singapore and decided to try the IAC app. I went to the Singapore Tower Club and I came in shorts – I didn’t know there were house rules,” Fajardo said.
“They gave me a pair of pants and a coat,” he happily recalled.
Yacuy Dizon, for her part, visited the Wingtip Club in San Francisco and experienced the warm welcome of an IAC member-club.
General Manager and Executive Chef Hans Neukom says Palms Country Club is the first of its kind in the Philippines to be accredited by the International Associate Clubs (IAC), a global network of luxury private membership clubs.
“They told me, ‘This is your club. Enjoy it,’” Dizon said.
For Neukom, Palms Country Club’s IAC accreditation provides “honor and value” to their members.
“And best of all, the fee is taken care of by Palms Country Club for the next two years,” Neukom said.
“This is really one of those few things that’s too good to be true, but it is true,” he added.