Sofitel needs one more week to recover from 'Pedring'

Luxury hotel Sofitel will reopen Monday next week, two weeks after a storm surge by Typhoon Pedring damaged six of its outlets, Sofitel Philippine Plaza general manager Goran Aleks said. Foremost of the outlets is its Spiral restaurant, which will actually resume operations in the firs week of November. Known for its lunch buffet at the hotel basement, Spiral was submerged in 80 centimeters of water when a storm surge hit Sofitel on Sept. 27, according to Aleks. The hotel has been closed since then, he said. http://www.gmanews.tv/story/233548/nation/pedring-checks-into-5-star-sofitel (Watch related video)
Even after its reopening, however, Sofitel could not accommodate beach and sunset bay weddings yet, said Aleks, with the Philippines facing three more storms before the year ends. Meanwhile, he said the five other outlets will resume operations in the first week of November. These outlets include Le Spa, SoFit, The Zen Institute, Philippe Tordjman Le Salon, and Gymboree, Aleks said. Losses from “Pedring" It will take the hotel management six months to provide an overall assessment of the losses Sofitel suffered from “Pedring." Spiral and Philippe Tordjman Le Salon were 20-percent damaged, and Le Spa, Gymboree were 5- to 10-percent damaged, the general manager said. He noted that when the storm surge took place, 43 cars were parked inside the hotel, but only four to five cars were total damaged. The hotel also had a 63 percent occupancy rate at the time, equivalent to 454 occupied rooms. The hotel, Aleks said, was bracing for its peak season during that usually occurs from October to December, when the storm surge happened. — PE/VS, GMA News