Discovery Samal is Davao’s exclusive nominee for Best Resort in the Philippines at DestinAsian Readers’ Choice Awards 2027.
There are many reasons travelers cross the waters from Davao City to Samal Island: stretches of beach, clear seas, a slower rhythm, and the promise of getting away without having to go particularly far.
Over the past three years, Discovery Samal has been adding another reason to make the crossing. Since opening on the island, the resort has positioned itself not simply as somewhere to spend a few days by the sea, but as a place to gather. Families arrive for holidays, couples come for romantic weekends and weddings, friends meet for quick escapes, while companies increasingly look to the island for meetings, conferences and retreats.
Now, that relatively young chapter in Davao’s hospitality story has earned Discovery Samal a nomination for Best Resort in the Philippines at the DestinAsian Readers’ Choice Awards 2027.
It is the only Davao property nominated in the category, putting both the resort and its island home alongside some of the country’s established leisure destinations. For a resort that has been operating for only three years, the nomination is significant. But perhaps the more interesting story is what has happened during those three years: the emergence of Samal as a destination capable of accommodating increasingly varied ways of traveling.
Discovery Samal’s inclusion in the DestinAsian Readers’ Choice Awards is particularly timely. The annual awards are based on votes from readers of DestinAsian and recognize travel and hospitality experiences around the Asia-Pacific region. For the 2027 awards, Discovery Samal is competing in the Best Resort in the Philippines category.
Awards are, of course, only one measure of a destination’s success. But nominations can help introduce places to travelers who might otherwise gravitate toward the Philippines’ more internationally familiar resort destinations.
Boracay and Palawan have long dominated conversations about Philippine island holidays. Samal offers a different proposition: an island experience closely connected to one of Mindanao’s biggest and most dynamic cities.
More than a beach escape
Samal has long been one of Mindanao’s most familiar tropical getaways. Its proximity to Davao City gives it an advantage many island destinations do not have: travelers can move from the energy and conveniences of a major urban center to a decidedly more leisurely island setting within the same trip.
The resort offers the familiar pleasures of an island holiday, from expansive swimming pools to easy access to the waters surrounding Samal. Guests can head out to snorkel and encounter the marine life for which the island is known, or stay within the resort for a slower day by the water.
Travelers are no longer necessarily choosing between a holiday and an event; increasingly, the event becomes the holiday.
For families, three pools are complemented by the Sandbox kids’ play area and an arcade, allowing younger guests to have their own diversions. Adults looking for a quieter escape can retreat to Samal Escape Spa.
Yet the resort’s identity has increasingly been shaped by what happens when people come together. A holiday can become a family reunion. A weekend by the sea can turn into an engagement or wedding. A corporate trip can combine a ballroom conference with an afternoon on the beach. That ability to move between leisure and occasion has become an important part of Discovery Samal’s appeal.
An island made for milestones
Destination celebrations have changed the way resorts are experienced. Travelers are no longer necessarily choosing between a holiday and an event; increasingly, the event becomes the holiday.
At Discovery Samal, couples can exchange vows at the Chapel on the Hill or choose the beachfront for a ceremony framed by sea and sky. Weddings can become multi-day escapes, giving families and friends time together beyond the ceremony itself.
The same principle applies to birthdays, anniversaries, reunions and other milestones. The destination becomes part of the memory.
It is here that Filipino hospitality becomes particularly relevant. Luxury in a resort setting may be expressed through rooms, facilities, and surroundings, but the experience of being welcomed—and of having a celebration feel personal—can be just as important.
Discovery Resorts, the homegrown hospitality brand behind the property, has built much of its identity around that idea of Filipino warmth. Discovery Samal translates it into a distinctly Mindanao setting, where the natural attractions of the island provide the backdrop.
Business meets the beach
There is another side to the resort that may be less obvious from its tropical setting. Discovery Samal has a ballroom that can accommodate up to 1,000 people, allowing it to host large corporate gatherings, conferences and other MICE—or meetings, incentives, conferences and exhibitions—events.
That puts the property in an interesting position. Business travelers can attend a conference or company event without giving up the sense of being at a resort, while organizers can build leisure activities into programs that might otherwise take place entirely inside a city hotel.
It also gives the wider Davao region another option as it competes for domestic and international events.
For destinations, the MICE market can have an impact well beyond the conference room. Delegates need transportation, food, accommodations, and activities; some extend business trips into personal holidays or return later with their families.
By blending island relaxation with world-class MICE facilities and destination celebrations, Discovery Samal has established itself as a premier Philippine getaway. Its nomination at the DestinAsian Readers’ Choice Awards 2027 not only highlights the resort’s rapid three-year ascent but also signals Mindanao’s entry into the global luxury travel landscape.
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