Hot spots: Balesin Island Club, the Philippines

Another Philippine beach resort – what’s the big deal? The Balesin Island Club, off the east coast of Luzon, is not one resort, but seven, each designed to embody an iconic seaside escape. Jet-setters yearning for the Mediterranean will feel right at home in Mykonos “village”, modelled after the Greek island; St Tropez (inspired by the Riviera town in southeastern France); Costa Smeralda (Sardinia); or Costa del Sol (Spain). A couple wanting to recreate an Indonesian honeymoon can unwind in a villa perched on stilts over the water in the Bali village. Then there is Phuket (for a taste of Thailand) and Balesin, naturally enough.

Each village goes beyond architectural imitation and includes a bar and restaurant serving authentic fare from the mother country. A leisurely lunch of grilled lamb and humus can be enjoyed in Mykonos before an afternoon of sailing off St Tropez and an opulent Thai dinner in Phuket. Imagine your carbon footprint if you could manage to do all that for real! The place is a bit surreal, especially so because nature intrudes everywhere. Dirt roads connecting the villages wind through dense jungle; appropriate for Phuket, perhaps, but it feels a tad bizarre emerging from tropical forest into St Tropez.

The pictures look lovely; can we go any time? Not unless you buy a share, no. Balesin is a members-only resort in the final stages of construction, and each share entitles the holder and his or her family to a 14-day stay. Guests are given the freedom of the entire 500-hectare private island, which possesses flawless white sand beaches between the villages and views of a strikingly blue sea from everywhere. Exclusivity is one of the club’s biggest selling points: the island is offlimits to non-members.

Oh, it’s a timeshare! This is not what your parents thought of as timeshare. There is no comparing schedules, no mad rush for holiday weekends and no getting stuck with a beach property in the dead of winter. Guests can stay for up to 14 days whenever they want, guaranteed. Club employees shudder at the mere mention of “timeshare” and guests are encouraged to think of Balesin as their own private island.