Tagged: Review

Go Hotels opened its first hotel at the upper ground level of Robinsons Cybergate Plaza along Edsa in Mandaluyong City, with a room rate of as low as PhP388 a night.  “For as low as PhP388++ a night, guests get a clean air-conditioned room with a queen-sized bed or twin beds, free Wi-Fi access and an LCD TV,” according to a report by Manila Standard Today.

Gohotels.ph hopes to reinvent the local hotel industry by being the country’s first genuine value hotel chain that operates like a budget airline.  The hotel has 223 rooms, with sizes ranging from 16 to 22 square metres.

Italian luxury brand Versace has partnered with Century Properties to build a 53-storey residential condominium in Makati City.  The 53-storey building called Milano Residences will test the Philippine market’s appetite for luxury residences amid a real estate industry currently dominated by middle income and low-cost homes.

The Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority (SBMA) has awarded the management of the 5,600-square meter All Hands Beach Resort to Brighterday Subic Ltd., Inc. (BSLI). The resort is formerly operated by the Freeport Service Corporation (FSC) which is located in a private cove.  SBMA said BSLI pledged to invest PhP10 million within five years to immediately improve the condition of the beach resort.

Despite the rainy season, the resort island of Boracay in Aklan province continues to attract guests.  The Aklan provincial government reported that some 628,243 foreign and domestic tourists arrived on the island in the first eight months of 2011, up by 12 percent from 561,405 visitors recorded in the same period last year.  In August alone, some 64,070 tourists visited Boracay, representing an increase of 10 percent from a year ago.

Malaysian hotel chain operator Tune Hotels, which is a part of the Tune Group of AirAsia founder Tony Fernandes, plans to build seven hotels in the Philippines beginning 2012.  Tune Hotels CEO Mark Lankester said the expansion in the Philippines would involve an investment of up to US$60 million.  The Tune Hotels would rise in Angeles City, Cebu City, Cagayan de Oro City, Ermita in Manila, Makati City, Ortigas and Quezon City.  

Ayala Land Hotels and Resorts Corp. (AHRC) has begun construction of Kukun hotels, the country’s first chain of urban lifestyle hotels. The company began in December 2011 the development of Kukun BGC (Bonifacio Global City), Kukun Cagayan de Oro, and Kukun Nuvali.

Kukun hotels will blend the best qualities of branded, businessman and boutique hotels, thereby bringing a signature experience for its guests. The initial Kukun hotels will only have 150 to 200 rooms.

Oakwood Premier Joy Nostalg Center Manila which is based in Ortigas now enjoys an 80-percent occupancy rate, less than a year after its opening, according to a report by BusinessMirror.

No less than CNN has cited Bellarocca Island Resort and Spa in Marinduque as the hottest New Generation Asia tourism spot. The luxurious resort island is managed by Genesis Hotels and Resorts Corp.

Manila Ocean Park has added another attraction that allows guests to interact with fish and stingrays.  The park has recently opened of Aquanaut Voyage, where guests use special helmets to breathe freely and naturally while interacting with 4,000 fish of 200 different species as they take a 10-minute walk on the ocean floor of the park’s largest aquarium.

Ascott Limited has signed contracts to manage two new serviced residences apartments in the Philippines.  It will construct the 220-unit Ascott Bonifacio Global City Manila as its second Ascott-branded property in the Philippines, after the one in Makati.  It will also manage the 215-unit Citadines Salcedo Makati as the first Citadines apartment-hotel in the country. Both properties are expected to open in 2014.