Ayala Land to expand hotel portfolio to 4,000 rooms by 2015

MANILA - Ayala Land Inc (ALI) is developing its own affordable and upscale hotel brands as well as building more tourism estates as part of its plan of having 4,000 hotel rooms by 2015.

On the sidelines of the company's annual stockholders meeting, ALI president Antonino Aquino said the property company is conceptualizing a "more economic" hotel brand with room prices at $60 or P2,500 per night. Rates at the Seda business man's hotel averages $128 or P5,000 per night.

Junie Jalandoni, senior vice president and head of AyalaLand Hotel and Resorts Corp, said the affordable hotel brand will rise initially in its South Park District development in Alabang, in Bacolod and in Iloilo. The firm will break ground on the first site in the second half of the year and it will be operational a year later.

ALI is also going upscale with the development of Seda Suites, which will have bigger room sizes. The first Seda Suite will rise in Bonifacio Global City (BGC).

"Tourism is one of the major items that has very good tailwind as far as the Philippine economy is concerned. All of our product initiatives are related to what is getting a lot of tailwind from the Philippine economy," said Aquino.

ALI is opening Seda hotels in Quezon City, Arca South in Taguig City, Nuvali in Laguna and Circuit in Makati after rolling out the brand in Davao, Cagayan de Oro and BGC.

By the end of the year, ALI will have a network of 2,000 hotel and resort rooms. It recently opened the Holiday Inn and The Raffles and Fairmont in Makati.

Aside from putting up more hotels, ALI is working to acquire more land and expand its island resort portfolio.

“What is attractive relative to the tourism estate sector is where you have the Visayas islands, that’s the place where marine life is good, a lot of corals have been formed, beaches are nice. That’s the target area where we are very interested,” Aquino said.

The firm had said it wants to double its land bank for tourism estates to 1,000 hectares in the next 2-3 years. It is preparing the master plan for a 300-hectare El Nido property in Palawan, which may include residential developments, among others. El Nido is an island resort complex consisting of the Lagen, Miniloc, Apulit and Pangulasian island resorts.

The real estate firm vowed further developments in El Nido will have limited impact on the environment.

“It will be very balanced. If ever there will be a conflict, it will be in favor of nature,” said Aquino.

ALI has also partnered with Subic Bay Development and Industrial Estate Corp for the development of Anvaya Cove, a 320-hectare leisure complex in Bataan.

source: interaksyon.com

When hotels are not the only option

Office manager Janice de Jesus is one ‘bakasyonista’ who likes the feel of home when she is traveling. She prefers to stay in a rental close to a wet market so she can buy her favorite vegetables and cook for her family.

For her, staying in a hotel is not always the best option. If she can find a rental that allows her the amenities of home, she’d prefer that over a stuffy hotel whose sliding doors you can’t even open.

“Usually when people plan a vacation, they assume that a hotel is the only option available to them,” she said.

An increasing number of people are turning to property rental as an alternative. Whether in the city or deep in the countryside, there are some great opportunities available to people that want to spend a little while in a house or apartment instead of a hotel.

Property rental has over the past few years become more and more popular, as people seek to engage more with the community they’re staying in. In Janice’s travels — for work or family recreation – she’s found holiday homes with their own kitchen. She opted for that during her recent visit to London weeks before the Olympics.

“We were able to visit the local markets for ingredients, which gave us a chance to mingle with the locals and find out more about their food culture,” she said. “It’s also obviously a money-saver, when you can cook your own meals instead of having to find a restaurant three times a day.”

Apartments and houses also offer more space than hotel rooms. In a hotel, you’ll normally find a bed, a table, and a chair, but a fully furnished apartment is often the same price as a hotel, and gives you much more of a sense of freedom, when you have a living area separate to the bedroom.

Obviously, there are some differences. You can’t call room service at 4 in the morning and ask them to make you a sandwich, rather, you have to make it yourself. But the independence is also part of the appeal. You can find many rental properties at this site.

For people able to work from home, a vacation in a rented property can still be productive. Many properties offer Internet access, and a holiday home in the country can be a fantastic way to work and relax at the same time.

In Janice’s recent trip to the U.K., that meant spending half a day working at the computer, and having the other half of the day to cycle through the hills, or go swimming in a nearby lake.

source: thefilam.net