Last month saw the launch of what’s claimed to be the most extensive wellness and fitness facility in the Philippines – at the Shangri-La Hotel in Fort Bonifacio, just outside the capital of Manila.

Aimed at hotel guests, as well as middle- to upper-income families living and working in the area, the club caters for both family fun and relaxation, as well as being geared to those wanting to focus on serious training.

Director Michael Montes previously ran one of Madonna’s Hard Candy Fitness clubs. He says: “What really separates us from the competition is what we can provide to the extreme athletes, but also to families who want to be able to spend more time together. We provide everything that most would be looking for when it comes to fitness and sports.”

The 8,000sq m club has a 25m lap pool, two tennis courts (outdoor but covered), two squash courts, an NBA-grade indoor basketball court, four group exercise studios, a free weights area, two functional training zones, and a boxing/MMA zone with five Boxmasters. There’s also an Adventure Racing Zone, ideal for circuits, which offers a treadmill, rower, bike, Jacobs Ladder and rope trainer.

Suppliers include Life Fitness, Technogym, Keiser, Stott, Escape Fitness, Bosu, Marpo Kinetics, David Taylor play equipment, Zebra Matting and Star Trac.

Further amenities include the Kerry Spa, which has eight treatment rooms. There are also two food and beverage outlets: Kerry Sprouts, which offers salads, wraps, smoothies and other healthy options; and Upper Deck, which is poolside and offers gourmet pizzas, burgers and sandwiches.

Children are more than catered for with a 1,000sq m play area and a role-play village, as well as their own café and party rooms.

This is the first Kerry Sports to be built inside a Shangri-La Hotel; the other two existing sites are in Kerry Hotels (also owned by Shang Global City Properties Inc) in Beijing and Shanghai, China. Annual membership costs 96,000 pesos (approximately US$2,133).