WITH more than a month since it started offering “staycations” to the public, Grand Hyatt Manila in Bonifacio Global City, has yet to see enough demand to make it to end of the year, comfortably.
In an interview with hotel general manager Gottfried Bogensperger, he said, “We consider ourselves lucky if we reach a 10-percent hotel occupancy.” But so far, he said, their occupancy rate is about 3 percent, with one weekend reaching 8 percent.
Also weighing on the hotel’s shoulders, is the restriction on the number of people allowed to gather for social events like weddings, receptions, and family gatherings, he said.
“Hotels make their money on banquets, but right now, we are limited to host only 10 persons for receptions,” even in open spaces, he added. The restriction is part of the guidelines by Taguig City on mass gatherings. Other local government units have their respective restrictions on events and other mass gatherings, under the general community quarantine (GCQ).
In Quezon City, for instance, mass gatherings continue to be prohibited, although Masses are allowed up to 30 percent capacity of the venue.
Makati also prohibits mass gatherings for now, but some of its hotels accept wedding receptions (including civil weddings) as a restaurant booking. Shangri-La Manila, for example, can accommodate up to 50 persons in a wedding party at the Shang Palace.
The Department of Tourism’s (DOT) guidelines for hotel operations limit the seating capacity of banquet tables to 50 percent, ensure the proper distancing from chair to chair, and guests not face each other at the table.
The DOT guidelines also require function venues to have limited capacities to ensure physical distancing, and restaurants and other dining outlets “be mindful of the direction of the airflow in arranging tables to avoid droplet transmission prompted by air–conditioned ventilation.” (https://bit.ly/35VrFeD)
Hoteliers separately interviewed by BusinessMirror attest that the guidelines “are confusing. There are rules issued by the DOT, the DTI (Department of Trade and Industry), and our LGU.” A hotelier in Quezon City said, “We know that hotels are allowed to accommodate 50 percent for banquets,” but added, she didn’t know if wedding receptions fell under mass gatherings, and thus, essentially prohibited by the QC LGU.
The 66-story Grand Hyatt, co-owned by the Ty-led Federal Land Inc. and Orix Corp. of Japan, is managed by Hyatt Hotels International. It has 461 rooms and three major food and beverage outlets, the Grand Kitchen, No. 8 China House (closed for now), and The Peak.
From a peak of 700 employees pre-Covid, which includes contractuals, the hotel now has 400 regular employees. It was not closed despite the pandemic and accepted business process outsource employees. (See, “Hotels offering staycations can’t offer quarantine space,” in the BusinessMirror, Oct. 15, 2020.)
Bogensperger expressed optimism that the hotel revenues turn around in 2021, “once we get into MGCQ (modified GCQ),” and when there are improved guidelines on events, meetings, etc. “Maybe we can be allowed up to 50 persons for weddings,” he said. He and other hotel managers in BGC have been regularly meeting with Taguig Mayor Lino Cayetano to share their views on how to further reopen the local economy.
For sure, he said, 2020 is a bust for Grand Hyatt and the tourism businesses the country. “It’s a complete write-off, like many others in the business.” But if the hotel had closed to ride out the pandemic, “We would still have to spend P15 million a month to maintain the property.”
Covid precautionary measures “have trebled” the cost of the chemicals they use just to continuously disinfect and sanitize the property, said Bogensperger. The staff, he added, have also been retrained under the new sanitation protocols as well as in proper responses in case a guest gets Covid.
Staycationers at the Grand Hyatt take an antigen test before checking into the hotel, a service which it provides, with the fee tucked into the room rate. But guests may also get tested at an outside facility.
Other hotels accredited by the DOT to offer staycations include Makati Shangri-La Hotel, Okada Manila, Shangri-La at the Fort, Nobu Hotel-City of Dreams, Joy Nostalg Hotel & Suites Manila, Edsa Shangri-La Manila, Solaire Resort, Hyatt Regency-City of Dreams, and Nuwa-City of Dreams.
