Boutique Resort Brand
Panglao, Bohol, Philippines
Brand Positioning & Culture Development
Guest Experience Design
Logo & Visual Identity
Outlet naming and identity
Visual applications and guest collateral
South Palms Resort & Spa – MGallery is a boutique beachfront resort located on Panglao Island in Bohol, Philippines. As the first operational component of the larger Panglao Shores development, it acts as an entry point into the destination’s long-term vision – but stands entirely on its own as a flagship expression of design-led, story-driven hospitality.
Every element of the resort – from its architecture to its rituals – is grounded in a deep sense of place. Designed by Patricia Urquiola and Dilip Bhatia, the hotel was shaped through collaboration with local craftspeople, a rich narrative process and a commitment to using tactile, raw, locally sourced materials. The result is a resort that feels human, soulful and distinctly Boholian.
To translate the spirit of Bohol into a luxury hospitality experience that feels personal, rooted and richly expressive. The brief demanded more than a design aesthetic – it required a creative process that would allow designers and artisans to explore Bohol’s cultural textures and natural materials, and weave them into a seamless, tactile guest journey.
“QUO worked with us to help uncover our story, shaping a narrative that has now been brought to life in the most beautiful way imaginable. The story of our island is alive in every detail, texture and flavour,” Resort Owner, Hope Uy commented.
QUO facilitated a collaborative workshop before developing a brand culture and guest experience platform that placed storytelling at the heart of the design process. The brand essence, Pure Bohol Bliss, celebrates the island’s warmth, ancestral memory and craft traditions.
We went on to name and develop the identity for different resort outlets, including Tiya’s House (Filipino dining) and Manja (Mediterranean) – each designed to express a unique emotional facet of the brand. Visual identity, signage, menus and applications were crafted to reflect the resort’s organic textures, joyful colour and narrative voice.
Designers Patricia Urquiola and Dilip Bhatia were brought on early and given full creative freedom – supported by strategic storytelling and deep immersion with local artisans. Each room contains 100-year-old salvaged wood. Walls are clad in locally quarried limestone. Surfaces are raw, hand-textured and deeply tactile.
The journey begins with a dramatic archway and lobby installation art that introduces the narrative in sculptural form. Guests cross the resort’s iconic spiralled Walk Bridge, which winds through a fragrant lemongrass garden – used in the welcome iced tea – and encounter deconstructed restaurants inspired by Filipino homes. Minibars are stocked with Bohol-made snacks. Spa rituals draw from ancestral nourishment.
Every design choice, from the human-scale architecture to the fiesta colour palette, invites guests to experience Bohol through sensation and soul.
South Palms opens as the first operational step in a broader destination vision. It initiates a strong step in establishing what Filipino hospitality can be: rooted in place, powered by design, and alive with story.
