The Glass House of Montebello Villa Hotel has drawn favorable reception from the market with the hotel receiving close to 80 bookings as venue for birthdays, weddings and other special events.
CONTRIBUTED PHOTO
Legacy hotel bets on Glass House, multimillion face-lift to get bigger share of Cebu’s garden hotel market
As new properties rise in the business district and lesser-known pension houses fade in the background, a 45-year-old legacy hotel in Cebu is undergoing a multimillion-peso face-lift and upgrade to strengthen its position as the city’s only garden hotel.
Luis Martin Alvarez, general manager of Montebello Villa Hotel, said Cebu’s growing hotel industry made them rethink about the hotel’s competitive edge over new and established brands.
“The only way to improve the business is to come up with a better property, and many of our facilities and our rooms needed uplifting,” Alvarez told Cebu Daily News in a one-on-one interview.
Renovations started in 2013 and more upgrades are still in the works, said Alvarez, who is president of Alvarez-Borromeo Development Corp., which operates the hotel.
A glass house that can accommodate 180 persons was set up in the garden and was launched last September 28.
New heritage rooms were added in the wing that houses the first three rooms which date back to the early ’70s.
Other rooms have been renovated, and the grand ballroom — now renamed Luis y Merceditas Ballroom after its two founders — has been upgraded to serve the needs of a more discriminating market for special occasions.
Weddings
Known as a destination for garden-themed weddings, Montebello sits on a 3.5-hectare property in Barangay Banilad, Cebu City.
Weather conditions, however, affect garden weddings, making them work on alternative indoor plans when it rains, which often make the ground muddy.
The idea to build a glass house came about during a trip to Singapore. The facility Alvarez saw was located inside a hotel, which gave him an idea to replicate in Montebello.
“I did not want to put up a solid structure because it is going to mess with the garden feel. I wanted to retain the garden charm but address the issue brought about by factors beyond our control like the weather,” he said.
Alvarez initially asked for the supplier from Singapore but received no responses. Later, he found a supplier from China whom he met in Hong Kong to discuss the details of the glass house that he envisioned.
Alvarez is a business administration graduate from the University of San Carlos. But prior to this degree, he was also enrolled as an Electronics and Communications Engineering and Economics student, so his technical knowledge came in handy in discussing the specifics about the glass house.
The 240-square-meter Glass House can comfortably seat 180 people.
Since its launching last September 28, Alvarez said they have been receiving not less than 20 calls a day. They have close to 80 bookings until May 2018 for birthdays, debuts, weddings and other special events.
“The market has responded very well, and it was mostly because of word-of-mouth advertising because the people who attended events at the Glass House told their families and friends,” he said.
Heritage
Constructed in 1971 and officially opened to the public in 1972, Montebello Villa Hotel started with the vision of Alvarez’s parents, Luis and Merceditas, to build a club-type facility that is not exclusive and is open to the public.
Luis, an agriculturist trained at UC Berkeley, had a steak house in downtown Cebu City. Together with Merceditas’ siblings, they also ran Celebrity Supper Club on Gorordo Avenue.
This is why running the food and beverage department of the hotel, which started out with three rooms, was not difficult for them.
Today, Alvarez said they emphasize the rich Spanish-Filipino heritage of the hotel which sets it apart from hotels which are made from the same cookie-cutter mold.
In adding new rooms in the heritage wing, Alvarez said they made sure that they retain the atmosphere of “grand, but not extravagant” and “rich, but not bold.”
The hotel has 150 employees. It has 153 rooms and attracts a good mix of local and foreign guests.
“I want Montebello to be known as a four-star property with a five-star service. That is a task that is easier said than done. Changing the culture and mind-set of our staff took some time to work on, but we are seeing progress,” he said.