New Hotels and Resorts in the Philippines 3

Islands Group builds hotel business

Islands Group, which pioneered the famous Philippine island T-shirts under the brand “Islands Souvenirs,” has expanded its tourism ventures into value hotels called “Islands Stay” with plans to build 100 hotels, according to a report by Manila Bulletin.

Mr. Jay Aldeguer, company chairman and president, said the plan is to build up to 100 “Islands Stay” hotels in the country.  Two “Islands Stay” have already been established in Cebu, one in Ayala Centre with 32 rooms and Mactan with 56 rooms with combined investments of PhP45 million.  Another hotel under a franchise scheme is being put up in Puerto Princesa.

Mr. Aldeguer expects to have eight hotels in Cebu alone depending on the availability of location with estimated investments of PhP80 million.  They have three franchise prospects in Manila to be located in Alabang, Makati and Quezon City.

Waterfront renovates Manila Pavilion

Waterfront Philippines Inc. has launched the PhP500-million renovation of the Manila Pavilion Hotel amid rising competition from new and international hotel brands set to open in the Philippines, according to a report by Interaksyon.com.

Waterfront said Manila Pavilion recently completed the second phase of its renovation covering 223 upper floor rooms and suites. Aside from its two-category deluxe rooms, executive rooms and premier suites, the hotel introduced a new set of ambassador club rooms and two new presidential suites to enhance the hotel's position in the corporate market.

“As one of the pioneering hotels in the country, we see ourselves as pioneers for steadfast innovations to meet and beat competition. In this promising part of Manila, we just can’t wait to create a signature that will amalgamate our hallmark design concepts, high-tech features and exceptional service to complete that grandeur experience for our guests,” said Mr. Christopher Park, general manager of Manila Pavilion.

New hotel opens In Cagayan de Oro

A new 150-room boutique hotel adjacent to Centrio Mall is now open for business in Cagayan de Oro City, a major trading hub in Mindanao, according to a report by Manila Bulletin.

Seda Centrio, owned by Ayala Land Hotels and Resorts and the Anflo Group of the Floirendo family, is set to upgrade hospitality standards in this city of family-owned accommodations.

Offering a paperless check-in experience with its 150 rooms located over the city’s most premium mall, Seda Centrio introduced a boutique-hotel setting to this urban centre of over 600,000 Cebuano-speaking residents mostly engaged in agriculture and services.

Leisure and Resorts plans expansion

Listed Leisure and Resorts World Corp. is investing PhP5.2 billion in hotel, casino, gaming and real estate projects in a bid to significantly increase revenues over the next two years, according to a report by Manila Standard Today.

Leisure and Resorts president Reynaldo Bantug said the company would use the proceeds from a proposed PhP1.75-billion preferred share offering, internal cash and bank borrowings to finance the expansion.

Mr. Bantug said Leisure and Resorts would expand recently-acquired Midas Hotel and Casino by putting up another five-story structure at the back of the hotel to offer additional rooms and casino space.

Leisure and Resorts allotted PhP500 million for the expansion, which is expected to boost hotel revenues.

Eagle Sky to build hotel in Clark

Eagle Sky Corp. is set to establish a five-star hotel and casino worth PhP2 billion inside the Clark Freeport, according to a report by SunStar.

Eagle Sky president Ireneo “Bong” Alvaro said the two-building, six-storey Hotel Midori with 120 rooms was designed by Taiwanese architects from Harvard University.  “It is a state-of-the-art hotel made up of glasses,” Mr. Alvaro said.

The new hotel is expected to add beauty and landscape to the Clark Freeport.

Puerto Galera resort gets incentives

The Board of Investments has granted tax incentives to the PhP419.3-million Talipanan Infinity Paradise Resort which will rise in Talipanan, Poblacion, Puerto Galera, Oriental Mindoro.  The resort will have 70 rooms. Operations will begin in December, and 88 workers will be hired.

The BOI said the project would help the government’s targets of over seven million tourism jobs and 10 million tourist arrivals by 2016 under the National Tourism Development Plan (NTDP).

NTDP calls for tourism investments worth PhP265 billion and the construction of more than 50,000 hotel and resort rooms between 2012 and 2016.

Sol Marina Resort in Boracay

A new player in the travel and leisure industry is out to challenge the major players of Boracay, according to a report by Philippine Star.

“We are investing at least P700 million in our new baby,” Ambassador Alfredo M. Yao said, referring to the Sol Marina Resort Boracay.

Mr. Yao said that the lavish upgrade and redevelopment will boost Sol Marina Resort’s ability to grab market share in the highly competitive tourist island of Boracay.

“In an industry that’s always changing, with evolving as well as new hybrid and dynamic markets, it is compelling to note that the birth of the new Sol Marina Resort Boracay embarks to capture 20 percent market share from the projected local and international tourist arrival statistics of DOT estimated at 1.8 million to Boracay by 2014.”

The resort comprising 55 rooms in a four-hectare property is undergoing major redevelopment with construction work expedited for its new 13 resort buildings with 297 new resort rooms and modernised facilities, which include a 3,000-sqm infinity pool, a mini golf course, a convention centre for 700 to 1,000 delegates, an amphitheatre, fine dining and al fresco restaurants with function rooms and a pool bar.

Alphaland expands resort

Property developer Alphaland Corp. is expanding the capacity of flagship island-resort project Balesin Island Club this year and is seeking government authority to allow members to fly from overseas locations straight into the airstrip of the upscale leisure estate, according to a report by Philippine Daily Inquirer.

Alphaland is originally targeting to build only 180 villas and suites at the 500-hectare Balesin Club, but is now constructing an additional 120 units to reach close to 300 by the middle of this year. The resort club, which has seven themed villages patterned after the world’s most luxurious seaside resorts, now has about 770 members. Each share in the club is worth about PhP3.2 million.

“We haven’t even started to sell outside. Once we sell outside, prices could go up exponentially,” said Alphaland president Mario Oreta. He said Alphaland has prioritised “selling to Filipinos first.”

Alphaland has built on the island a 1.5-kilometre concrete runway. The island is accessible to Manila through a 20-minute flight on Alphaland’s airplanes. The club operates two Cessna Grand Caravan airplanes that seat nine passengers and recently added two British Aerospace Jetstream 32-seater planes.

The club has an occupancy rate of about 80 to 90 percent on weekends.

New resort in Palawan

Ayala Land is building its own version of Boracay in El Nido, Palawan, within a 300-hectare gated property boasting of a 3-kilometre beachfront, according to a report by Interaksyon.com.

One of the first projects in the area would be a Seda hotel situated right next to the airport.

Robinsons Hotel revenues up

Robinsons Land Corp. reported a 14-percent growth in revenues from its hotel operations.  The company said its hotels division booked revenues of PhP1.38 billion in its fiscal year ending September 2012, up from PhP1.21 billion a year ago.

The growth was traced to higher occupancy rates at Crowne Plaza Manila Galleria and Holiday Inn Manila Galleria in Ortigas Centre, higher hotel revenues at Summit Circle in Tagaytay City, and four new GoHotels.ph (Palawan, Negros Oriental, Negros Occidental, and Leyte) that opened last year.

As of end-September, the company’s hotels division had an average occupancy rate of 70 percent.

Circuit Makati launched

Ayala Land Inc. has launched a PhP20-billion entertainment complex in the former racetrack facility in Sta. Ana, Makati City, according to a report by Manila Standard Today.  Ayala Land president Antonino Aquino said the company would transform the 21-hectare property into an integrated mixed-use development with retail, office, hotel, residential and entertainment components.

The development would emerge as the entertainment district of the Makati Central Business District.  The project, to be called Circuit Makati, is a joint venture with listed racetrack operator Philippine Racing Club Inc., which owns the land.

As an entertainment district, the area will contain an international size football turf, a 1,500-seater theatre, a two-hectare events ground that could accommodate 20,000 people and various indoor and outdoor interactive family entertainment activities.  The football turf and events ground, which will be a venue for various types of events such as concerts, dance and theater performances, fashion shows and exhibits, will be completed by the third quarter of 2013.

Ayala Land over the next five years will put up office development projects with a gross leasable area of 30,000 square metres, a shopping mall with 45,000 sqm. of leasable space and several condominium towers to be built by the various residential brands of the Ayala Land group.

Shang Properties divests from resort

Shang Properties Inc. will divest its holdings in affiliate Exchange Properties Resources Corp., a Cavite-based resort developer, according to a report by BusinessWorld.

Shang Properties owned 35 percent of Exchange Properties, owner and operator of Caylabne Bay Resort in Ternate, Cavite. The resort is a 170-hectare complex formerly known as the Spanish/Mediterranean-themed Marbella resort.

Premiere buys hotel in Makati

Premiere Horizon Alliance Corp. acquired a 40-percent stake in the soon-to-open boutique serviced hotel in Makati City, according to a report by Manila Standard Today.

Premiere Horizon said in a disclosure to the stock exchange it subscribed to 25.6 million primary shares equivalent to a 40-percent interest in First Ardent Development Corp.  First Ardent is developing Y2 Residence Hotel along Makati Avenue in Makati City. The hotel is scheduled to open in August 2013.

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