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SM
Investments Corp. (SMIC), the country’s largest
conglomerate, is spending about P280 million to build
two hotels that will cater to businessmen.
Construction of the hotels, which will be located near
SM shopping malls, will begin this year, according to
the hotels division of SM Investments.
In an
interview, SM Hotels senior vice president Merril Yu
said they are set to break ground for the sites in a
couple of months.
“We are
very much on track with our plan. However, I can’t
divulge yet the exact locations of the two hotels but
they would complement the group’s existing malls,” Yu
said.
He said
one hotel would have 50 rooms and the other one would
consist of 150 rooms. Yu said they are currently in
talks with some local and foreign operators to run the
hotels.
The plan
of SM Hotels is to build 14 hotels over the next five
years. The company embarked on this segment to bolster
its position in the country’s growing tourism industry.
The move
to put the hotels near the SM shopping malls would make
them more enticing to clients, Yu added.
Apart
from the chain of businessman’s hotels, SM Hotels
launched a P650-million expansion program at its Taal
Vista Hotel in Tagaytay. It is also completing this year
the P2.6-billion Sofitel Cebu Hotel to be operated by
Europe’s Accor Group.
Also in
the pipeline are two hotels-in-one hotel building to be
built near the SM Mall of Asia. The P2.4-billion
building has been designed to have one hotel with 500 up
market guestrooms to be managed by Radisson, and The
Regent will have 80 luxury suites. Both hotels are under
the Carlson group.
Meanwhile, a resort hotel in
Hamilo Coast’s
Pico de Loro is on the drawing board. Envisioned to be
an upscale accommodation, this will have 154 guest
rooms. Negotiations are underway to appoint its
operator. Hamilo is a P7-billion mixed-use project to be
developed in phases over seven years. |
