Experience NUSTAR Hotel Cebu: World-class luxury with Filipino soul

From the land and the sea, they look majestic: glistening glass towers rising side by side where the water meets the sky, their polished flanks catching the sun like the facets of a jewel. In their mirrored surfaces, you see not just history reflected, but ambition: a vision for what Filipino luxury can be when it refuses to be anything less than world-class.

This is NUSTAR Hotel Cebu—the first all-Filipino ultra-luxury hotel brand, and now, the newest name on the Michelin Guide Hotel List. The recognition is more than a badge. It is a statement, placing NUSTAR in the rare company of properties worldwide celebrated for exceptional design, distinguished service, and cultural resonance. For those who pursue the finest things to the ends of the earth, the find is intoxicating: a homegrown star whose light shines with global brilliance.

Where beauty is an ethos

Luxury, at its truest, is not a matter of expense or excess. It is about ease, marvel, and—above all—a deep commitment to beauty. NUSTAR lives by this creed.

Designed by HKS Singapore, the hotel stands as an icon on the horizon—a vision conceived to frame the island’s most splendid ocean panorama, while oriented to temper the tropical sun—a marriage of form and function. The perimeter traces the curve of Kawit Island, embracing the spectacular east coast of Cebu. From the edged, curvilinear contours to the rooftop deck shaped like a ship’s bow that nods to the city’s prominence as a port, every line speaks the language of the sea, in symbols. The arc of a great ship’s hull in mid-launch, a homage to Cebu’s maritime history, the luminous façade inspired by the North Star—the brightest in the sky—rendered here as magnificent lighting that washes the towers and the lower malls in a steady glow. Indeed, NUSTAR has a steadfast covenant with beauty, and honors it with ease.

It is one thing to read this, to imagine the sweep of glass and steel against the blue, but another entirely to arrive—to step into the grand lobby for an entrance worth remembering. Hanging above, a chandelier by Czech glass artist Petra Sošťáková floats and feels like a luminous current suspended in mid-swirl. Hundreds of hand-blown glass pieces—each unique, each alive with light—cascade downward, moving almost imperceptibly in the air-conditioning’s sigh, catching and scattering glints of gold and sea-glass blue, glowing like sunlight through water. It is a moment of stillness and awe, the kind that etches itself into memory before you’ve even checked in. It is a quiet reminder that in Cebu, the sea is never far away.

The lobby’s vastness is tempered by pockets of intimacy: corners where morning light slants across sculpted seating, tables that invite a pause rather than a rush. It is here that NUSTAR’s hallmark butler service makes its first, understated appearance.

The service that knows before you ask

NUSTAR’s hallmark is its butler service, available to every guest, in every room category. These are masters of anticipation, trained by the Heilbron Hospitality Institute—an internationally recognized authority in the world’s most discreet and demanding corners of global hospitality. They move with quiet precision, making arrangements you didn’t know you needed: an in-villa spa appointment timed to the sunset, a table at a fully booked restaurant, a last-minute cultural tour crafted to your interests.

It is service that makes you feel like a guest of honor.

Rooms with a view—and a voice

The artistry of NUSTAR is not confined to the public spaces. Its 223 rooms and suites are positioned to capture the island at its most cinematic. You stand by the window with coffee in hand, watch ships drift across the water, see the sun dissolve into the strait, and wake to daybreak over a room so well-appointed it feels like a private world. Yes, whether facing the city’s shifting panorama, the green rise of the mountains, or the open expanse of the Cebu Strait, the view is never incidental—it is part of the room’s intention. They are orchestrations of space, light, and texture.

By day, sunlight spills through floor-to-ceiling windows, gilding the marble floors. By night, the skyline becomes a constellation, each glimmer framed as if in a private gallery. Smart-room technology is invisible but responsive, while the human touch is evident in every detail: the inlay of a headboard, the curve of a chair, the way sunlight is filtered through layers of fabric. For those who want to step entirely beyond the ordinary, there are the villas. Three in total, ranging from 435 to 670 square meters, with private pools, garden balconies, and curated views.

Cebu as the frame, NUSTAR as the jewel

The Queen City of the South, Cebu, hardly needs an introduction, as it has always been irresistible. Travelers arrive for the pristine beaches, the waterfalls, the winding hiking trails, the coral reefs alive with color, and the culture that threads it all together. They come for the history etched in centuries-old churches and the vibrancy of its street festivals. Into this already beautiful tableau comes NUSTAR Hotel Cebu, offering something different: the chance to experience Cebu from a vantage point of curated, deliberate luxury.

More than a hotel—a world-class complex

To speak of NUSTAR Hotel alone is to tell only a vignette. The hotel rises at the heart of the larger NUSTAR Resort and Casino complex, developed by Universal Hotels and Resorts Inc. and proudly owned by Robinsons Land Corporation. This is a destination that redefines what a luxury integrated property can offer in the Philippines.

Food is an essential expression of culture, and here, it is elevated into art. Guests’ senses are awakened by flavors at Mott 32, where centuries of Chinese culinary cuisine is prepared with wisdom and award-winning precision; savor classic indulgence at Il Primo, Cebu’s first Italian steakhouse; or bask in the warmth of homegrown heritage at Fina, a celebration of Filipino dining with a contemporary twist. The offerings extend further with Xin Tian Di, where Southern Chinese and Southeast Asian cuisines converge, the vibrant energy of Axis Entertainment Bar with live bands and DJs, and the widely praised Fili Café, home to an international buffet that has already garnered acclaim.

Beyond gastronomy, the retail promenade stretches across four levels, home to luxury brands, high-fashion boutiques, and curated experiences that invite both indulgence and discovery. Beyond shopping lies a sophisticated environment designed for those who expect the world’s best.

Leisure and entertainment flow seamlessly into the experience. The state-of-the-art cinemas bring global blockbusters to Cebu in unprecedented style, while expansive event facilities make NUSTAR the stage for everything from distinguished conferences to unforgettable social gatherings.

Together, these experiences frame the hotel as the centerpiece of a vibrant, world-class lifestyle destination—one that feels both globally resonant and unmistakably Filipino in soul.

The Michelin moment

With the NUSTAR’s inclusion in the prestigious Michelin Guide Hotel List, the Philippine property had made the cut without borrowing its identity. Everything here, from the chandelier to the butler service to the curve of the façade, carries a signature unmistakably Filipino. It is the second of three hotel concepts within the property, standing poised in its clarity of vision: to set a benchmark on the world stage without diluting its Filipino character. In an age when hotels often chase trends or mimic formulas, NUSTAR has chosen another path: to stand as both mirror and beacon for the culture it springs from. NUSTAR speaks with the confidence of a place that knows its origins and its destination. This is Filipino vision that is globally realized.

An invitation to indulge

To celebrate the Michelin milestone, NUSTAR Hotel Cebu is extending its opening offer until September 15, 2025: 25% off standard room rates—starting at PHP 12,750++ per night—with daily breakfast, full access to the Fili Executive Club Lounge, and personalized butler service included.

For travelers who make it their mission to seek the finest addresses, this is an invitation blending rarity with timing. For others, it is a chance to step into ultra-luxury without crossing oceans to find it.

More than a stay—a benchmark

For all its grandeur, NUSTAR is not content to be merely beautiful. It seeks to be memorable. And it succeeds—not with the cold perfection of a showroom, but with the lived warmth of a place that feels, at once, like a dream and like home.

In conversations with those who have stayed, a common refrain emerges: To wake here is to be suspended between sea and sky, between history and the horizon. NUSTAR is not a place one checks out from lightly. It imprints like a kind of afterglow—through its beauty, its ease, its quiet assertion that Filipino craftsmanship belongs not on the periphery of luxury but at its very center. And to leave is, inevitably, a small tragedy—though one softened by the certainty that you will return.

In the end, perhaps that is the truest measure of luxury: not just to be admired in the moment, but to be longed for over and over again.

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Editor's note: BrandedUp is designed to provide you with insightful, inspiring, and educational content created by The Philippine STAR in collaboration with brands like NUSTAR Resort and Casino.