Budget hotel chain Microtel eyes General Santos

GENERAL SANTOS CITY — Budget hotel chain Microtel Inns & Suites is planning to expand here, as it takes advantage of the city’s attraction as a convention site, a senior company official said last week. Grace T. Magnaye, Microtel Development Corp. business development manager, said the company and the Floirendo-owned Damosa Land, Inc. are in talks to open another facility in this city, which will be its second in Mindanao. Damosa holds the Microtel Inns & Suites franchise in Davao City and General Santos City. Microtel caters to both local and international business travelers and value-minded tourists. Microtel claims to stand out from other budget hotel operators because of the system-wide design of its buildings and furnishings that stress function, comfort and convenience, while meeting international quality standards. "Yes, there’s a plan to build a hotel in GenSan. Our top executives and the Damosa [management] are in the advance stage of negotiations," Ms. Magnaye said in a phone interview from Manila. She said total hotel investments will amount to P90 million for 50 rooms. The construction will start in the first quarter of next year. The proposed Microtel site will be along the national highway in front of St. Elizabeth Hospital. The building at the proposed site has been cleared of its occupants, which include a convenience store, bakeshop and drugstore. General Santos has attracted national conventions under its home stay program, but has had difficulty in accommodating gatherings with more than 2,500 participants. The possible entry of Microtel is expected to boost the city’s tourism industry. Existing hotel operators welcomed Microtel’s expansion plan. "We welcome new hotel operators since it would mean additional venues where tourists can be accommodated and for the city to further attract large summits," said Romeo Bartolome, general manager of East Asia Royale Hotel. East Asia Royale, which has 100 rooms, is the undisputed hotel choice of foreigners coming to the city. "It’s good for the city. It is showing that we are booming," Mr. Bartolome said. He noted that a new hotel player in the locality would be good for the industry because it will make the players more competitive. "We have loyal followers already from the corporate world," he said, bullish about the entry of giant shopping mall operators Robinsons and SM. Robinsons has started building a mall, and SM is expected to follow suit in the near term. The latter is still negotiating with the owner of a prospective site. Mr. Bartolome said East Asia Hotel would spend P100 million to expand its capacity by another 60 rooms, in line with the growing urbanization of the city. The proposed Microtel site is near East Asia Hotel. Microtel is one of the fastest growing hotel franchise brands in the Philippines and in the US. It has more than 300 inns worldwide. In the Philippines, it operates in Baguio City, Batangas, Boracay, Cabanatuan, Cavite, Mactan and Tarlac. It will soon open facilities in Palawan and at the SM Mall of Asia. — Romer S. Sarmiento, BusinessWorld