Cebu’s Marriott Hotel to close; Seda Hotel to open in ’18

BY JANUARY 2018, Cebuanos will bid goodbye to the establishment they have come to know as Cebu City Marriott Hotel in the last 20 years.
That is because the hotel, owned by the AyalaLand Hotels and Resorts Corp. (AHRC), will be carrying the Seda brand by then.

“The Cebu City Marriott Hotel helped to affirm the reputation of the Cebu Business Park in its growing years as the premier business district of the city as well as the region,” AHRC president and chief executive officer Al Legaspi said in a statement on Thursday.

AHRC, a subsidiary of Ayala Land, Inc. (ALI), announced that its contract with Marriott International Hotels to manage Cebu City Marriott Hotel will end on Dec. 31, 2017 after a fruitful two-decade partnership.

In the statement, AHRC said the hotel will officially close its doors on Jan. 1, 2018.

Legaspi expressed appreciation for Cebu City Marriott Hotel’s consistent performance since opening in 1997 and also extended his gratitude to hotel employees for their dedicated service.

AHRC has appointed its wholly-owned hotel brand Seda to manage the establishment by next year after refurbishing its rooms and amenities.

“Seda, which now has 1,255 rooms throughout the country, is ready to fill the needs of Cebu Business Park locators and visitors,” said Legaspi.

According to ALI’s website, Seda is the Filipino word for “silk,” a lustrous yet strong fabric that perfectly represents their commitment to providing a seamless hotel experience.

Since its launch in 2012, the Seda hotel brand has flourished in various locations throughout the country. It has hotels in Bonifacio Global City in Taguig City, Cagayan de Oro City, Davao City, Iloilo City, Nuvali in Laguna and Quezon City, where it recently opened the biggest hotel in the area with 438 rooms, a ballroom and a presidential suite.

The brand’s success has merited an aggressive expansion program that will see its room inventory growing to twice the current number in the next two years, AHRC said.

Seda at the CBP will be the brand’s biggest in the Visayas, which Legaspi said is fitting since Cebu is known as the center of business and commerce in the area.

Legaspi said that AHRC’s commitment to Cebu is further underscored by the construction of another Seda hotel at Cebu IT Park, which will be the first Seda hotel and serviced apartments outside Metro Manila.

AHRC said that both hotels will uphold the Seda brand pillars of a strategic location close to shops and restaurants within a vibrant Ayala Land mixed-used development, combined with service at par with global standards.

Marriott International, Inc. is an American multinational diversified hospitality company that manages and franchises a broad portfolio of hotels and related lodging facilities.

It has more than 5,700 properties in across 110 countries and territories around the world, 1.2 million rooms as of September 2016, and additional 195,000 in the development pipeline.

Cebu City Marriott Hotel is the first Marriott property in the Philippines and is the only one in Cebu.

Frances Alfafara, marketing communications manager at Cebu City Marriott Hotel, said the transition may have some effect on the hotel’s international market considering that there are some visitors who look at the brand.

However, Alfafara said this will only be minimal since the property will still be in the same place, which is very strategic and right smack in the middle of CBP.

“Our major strength right now is that where we are is also where a lot of headquarters of national and international companies are located,” she said in a phone interview with Cebu Daily News.

On another positive note, she said Marriott is also set to open other properties in Cebu and other parts of the country.

Among these are Megaworld’s P1.5-billion Courtyard by Marriott Hotel in Iloilo City and Cebu-based AppleOne Properties’ The Sheraton Cebu Mactan Resort and The Residences in Lapu-Lapu City.