They left their corporate jobs and built a hotel in the surfing capital of the Philippines. Island life is busy, too.

• Heidi Ganaden and her husband left their big-city company jobs to open a lodge on an island.

• The couple moved from Manila, the capital metropolis of the Philippines, to Siargao, often known as the nation’s browsing capital.

• One pandemic and a class 5 hurricane later, they’ve lastly settled into their new lives.

Heidi Ganaden and her husband by no means thought they’d run a lodge by the seashore in Siargao, an island often known as the browsing capital of the Philippines.

The 2 of them have been working corporate jobs and living in Manila, the capital metropolis. She was within the telecommunications trade, whereas he was a panorama architect.

As avid surfers, the couple loved hanging out by the seashore however weren’t too aware of Siargao; Ganaden had visited as soon as earlier than in 2005, whereas her husband had by no means been there earlier than. The island is one in every of greater than 7,000 that make up the Philippines.

However a fast weekend journey in 2018 — it is solely a two-hour flight from Manila — to go to some mates who have been attempting to arrange a enterprise there left them with a good impression of the island.

Not lengthy after they received again to Manila, they acquired a name from their mates in Siargao a few plot of land by the seashore that was obtainable for lease.

“We thought, OK, possibly we will try to have a look at it. Perhaps we will simply put up a small shack in order that we will go to Siargao, and we’ll have a spot the place we will keep,” Ganaden, 46, informed Enterprise Insider.

Once they went to view the plot of land, they realized it was in a central location that was common with vacationers. New institutions, like eating places, have been additionally popping up throughout the realm.

In addition they seen that increasingly individuals have been visiting Siargao, and so they determined it could be a greater concept to construct lodging as a substitute.

“We truly did not have the concept for a lodge initially. It was actually an accident,” she mentioned. “We have been in a central spot, and we thought it could be a waste to simply supply it for a long-term lease, so we ended up with a small lodge.”

Buying and selling metropolis life for island dwelling

By the top of the 12 months, the couple had signed a 15-year lease and began clearing out the land. They most popular to maintain the quantity they spent on the lease non-public.

They broke floor in 2019. That very same 12 months, Ganaden and her husband determined to quit their jobs to concentrate on the mission.

“We thought it was now or by no means,” Ganaden mentioned. “We had no concept what we have been doing, however we did it anyway as a result of we have been invested in it. We wished to make it work.”

The development of their lodge came about in phases, and so they employed some 15 contractors to assist out. Ganaden estimates that they spent about 20 million Philippine pesos, or about $340,000, on the development of the lodge.

The constructing course of was fraught with challenges. Despite the fact that the island was growing, it was tough to seek out uncooked supplies and expert building staff, Ganaden mentioned.

“Think about a complete island the place all people was constructing with simply two {hardware} shops,” she mentioned.

To fulfill their mission timelines, the couple determined to make use of prefabricated supplies. Every little thing was introduced over to Siargao from Manila — even the contractors they employed.

“We needed to convey them in and home them as a result of for prefabricated materials, there is a required skillset for it,” Ganaden mentioned.

They named the lodge “Lubihan,” a time period within the native dialect that refers back to the coconut grove that when grew over the land. The whole property spans simply over 4,000 sq. ft and has 13 visitor rooms and one employees room.

“Since my husband is a panorama architect, he was capable of make the whole lot work. Even with the 14 rooms, now we have a really good frequent backyard and a lounge space on the again,” Ganaden mentioned.

Nightly charges range throughout the completely different room sorts.

“We will go as little as about 3,000 pesos all the way in which to as excessive as 5,000 pesos,” she added.

One problem after one other

The couple’s lodge journey hasn’t been straightforward.

When early 2020 rolled round, they confronted a significant setback: the pandemic. Like a lot of the world, Siargao — and the Philippines — went into lockdown.

The couple was capable of hire out just a few of their accomplished rooms to vacationers who have been caught on the island, and so they devoted their time to ending the remainder of the lodge.

However simply as tourism in Siargao began to get well from the consequences of the pandemic, a pure catastrophe struck.

In December 2021, Super Typhoon Rai — a class 5 storm — swept via elements of the Philippines, together with Siargao, uprooting bushes, wrecking buildings, and leaving destruction in its wake.

Lubihan was no exception.

“Our whole roof was peeled off like a sardine can, nearly all of our glass doorways broke and have been dislodged by the robust wind. It was a catastrophe,” Ganaden mentioned.

All their employees members misplaced their properties.

“We had no energy for months, no cellphone sign for months too,” she mentioned, including that the island was virtually lower off fully from the remainder of the world because of the injury sustained by the island’s transport infrastructure.

However with grit and dedication, and assist from their neighborhood, the couple was capable of rebuild the broken elements of the lodge and their lives.

“It was months of restoration — emotionally, mentally and bodily,” Ganaden mentioned.

They have been new to the enterprise

That apart, running a hotel with no hospitality background got here with its personal set of challenges.

“We’re studying as we go, when it comes to tips on how to function and what’s wanted by the lodge,” Ganaden mentioned. “For instance, the sort of fittings that may last more, or the sort of linens that may make laundry simpler, issues like that.”

“I feel if in case you have a background in hospitality, you’d know these sorts of issues. However since that is our first time, we’re doing trial and error on a complete lot of issues,” she added.

They’ve six full-time employees members, together with an operations officer who lives on-site.

Ganaden’s every day routine begins with dropping off her seven-year-old daughter in school. Then, she scans via the lodge’s reservations for the day and stops by the lodge to examine in on issues.

“Then, it is island life after that. In our neighborhood, now we have a CrossFit gymnasium proper subsequent to us. And naturally, if the tides are OK, we exit to surf,” Ganaden mentioned, including that she pops again into the lodge after to regulate issues.

Island life is busy, too

In 2019, Siargao was voted because the best island in the world by Condé Nast Vacationers.

Since then, tourism on the island has been on the rise. In 2024, Siargao was additionally included amongst Lonely Planet‘s prime seven vacationer locations in Southeast Asia.

The island noticed a complete of 529,822 international vacationer and home traveler arrivals in 2023, per the most recent knowledge obtainable from the Philippines Division of Tourism. This is a rise from 181,188 international and home traveler arrivals 5 years earlier in 2018.

Siargao could also be growing, however the island nonetheless retains its untouched really feel that many related seashore locations — like Bali and Hawaii — have misplaced attributable to over-tourism.

It is a far cry from the company life that Ganaden was used to again in Manila, however her days are nonetheless busy.

“We do even have conferences, particularly with different enterprise house owners that we collaborate with, however they’re very casual. All in flip-flops or barefoot by the seashore, ingesting a cocktail — in order that’s how our conferences at the moment are,” she mentioned.

She says that her background working in an workplace taught her to be disciplined, which, in flip, helped her significantly in managing the lodge enterprise.

One factor she actually appreciates about life in Siargao is the tight neighborhood on the island.

“Even in case you stay in a village in Manila, you most likely is not going to know your neighbor. In Siargao, all people simply talks to one another, which may be very, very good,” she mentioned.

That mentioned, she does sometimes miss city-living and the comfort that comes with it.

“We do not have a quick meals chain on the island. It is each good and unhealthy, as a result of generally you might have cravings for a burger,” Ganaden mentioned.

The infrastructure on Siargao has additionally improved tremendously lately, she mentioned, including that fiber web was solely correctly rolled out on the island the 12 months earlier than.

Previous to that, companies like hers relied on Starlink for connectivity.

“A number of distant staff need to stay right here, however they can not due to the web,” she mentioned. “Once we began having Starlink everywhere in the island, numerous them began coming in and dealing from right here.”

Nowadays, Ganaden goes again to Manila together with her household not less than as soon as each quarter.

“On the island, all of us have this unwritten rule that you just want an island break,” she mentioned. “We return to Manila to decompress — as a result of our hustle is on the island — after which we come again once more.”

Wanting again on their journey, Ganaden says that it was a giant leap for them to go from working within the metropolis to working a enterprise on an island with no expertise.

“We have been scared, however we knew that due to the self-discipline we had in company jobs, we would be able to survive and discover a strategy to make it work,” she mentioned. “I informed my husband I do know that if I am pushed to the wall, I’ll discover a strategy to climb over that wall or break that wall.”

“That is how I’m, so I used to be fairly assured about going into the whole factor scared,” she mentioned.

Have you ever not too long ago relocated to a brand new nation and located or renovated your dream dwelling? You probably have a narrative to share, contact this reporter at agoh@businessinsider.com.

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