Hotels near CBP brace for haze from Metro fire

HOTELS within the vicinity of Cebu Business Park (CBP) will have to come up with their own measures to combat the smoke and haze coming from the Metro Ayala department store fire which has been running for more than two days.

According to Carlo Suarez, president of the Hotels, Resorts, Restaurants Association of Cebu (HRRAC), there haven’t been any reported cancellations of bookings or other complaints from guests among their member hotels within the CBP due to the incident.

“Hotels have their own precautionary measures to ensure safety. Workers and guests have been given face masks. Electric fans were also put up in the entrances of hotels to keep the smell and the smoke away,” he told Cebu Daily News.

“These hotels also have their own system that would suck out the smell and the smoke in the air,” he added.

Among HRRAC’s member hotels located within the vicinity of the CBP are Parklane International Hotel, Quest Hotel, Golden Prince Hotel and Suites, and Hotel Elizabeth.

With the Sinulog Festival coming up in two weeks, Suarez said most hotels in Cebu City have started to get busy.

By next week, rooms in these hotels are expected to get fully booked.

This is why the HRRAC is hoping that the fire would be completely put out and that the management of Metro Ayala and that of Ayala Center Cebu will already be able to check and assess the effects and remnants of the fire which started on Friday evening.

“We hope all of these will be resolved, hopefully, within this week. We also hope that Ayala can open already for the Sinulog weekend since it’s also a good line for business,” Suarez said.

According to Jeanette Japzon, corporate communications manager of Cebu Holdings Inc. (CHI) which manages Ayala Center Cebu, they are yet to check the extent of the damage caused by the fire.

The entire mall has been closed since Saturday.

“The mall will remain closed until the fire is extinguished and we have done our full systems check,”she said in a text message.

Safety measures

At the Golden Prince Hotel, a depressurization fan was activated and industrial fans were placed in order to prevent the smoke from entering the building’s premises.

“We have also activated our building management system (BMS). It is a computer-based control system installed in buildings that controls and monitors the building’s mechanical and electrical equipment such as ventilation and other systems,” said Aaron Que, vice president for corporate communications of Golden Prince.

He also said the hotel’s management has also locked down all possible openings into the building including windows, doors, slits, and vents. Face masks were also issued to both employees and guests.

Que said guests were promptly notified about the situation.

“The activation of our depressurization system positively worked for us and successfully eliminated the foggy environment from our guest corridors,” Que added.

Meanwhile Parklane Hotel general manager Cenelyn Manguilimotan expressed confidence that the firemen, volunteers and other government agencies have the situation under control.

“We are closely monitoring it but did not activate our Crisis Management Team. We just did our share of supporting them by sending food and bottled water,” she said.