THE iconic Apo View Hotel was officially relaunched last week under the new owner and management, with refurbishments now ongoing to bring back its former glory and, at the same time, expand its capacity to keep up with the city province’s further growth, alongside its flourishing tourism and meetings, incentives, conferences and exhibitions (Mice) industries.
The Icon Hotel Group of Eurotel, which acquired the oldest hotel in Davao from the Pamintuan family in 2016, is spending P280 million for renovation, of which P150 million had been remitted to the contractors.
“So the remaining budget will be spent on the improvements inside the hotel,” Eurotel Managing Director Edmundo G. Las told reporters during the recent Apo View’s grand relaunch ceremony.
While the 69-year-old accommodation facility—the second oldest in the Philippines, next only to Manila Hotel—undergoes a facelift, it retains some of its amenities to attract both the new and existing markets.
According to the top executive, they seek to strike a balance between the legend and the millennials.
“We should maintain the legend—the Apo View looks—but inside, we have to infuse a new design, a new concept and a blend of what will appeal,” Las explained. “So, this is the balance that we have to look into to be able to keep on going.”
Marrying the old and new
COMMITTED to keep the legacy of Apo View Hotel while adopting to change in today’s time, the new management integrates its old charm with the new.
“Normally, the new design concept, we apply it inside our room,” the managing director of Eurotel bared.
Boasting 156 smartly designed rooms, each accommodation unit is equipped with air-conditioning technology, dual-temperature shower, LED TV with access to cable channels, hypoallergenic pillows, chiropractic beds, free Wi-fi, in-room safety deposit boxes and standby power generator for an uninterrupted power supply.
Apo View, likewise, offers a wide array of international comfort-food classics served in a modern way and the best local dishes at its all-day dining buffet restaurant at the lobby, Café Josefina, Blue Room and Casino Filipino Players Club. A full-service 24-hour in-room dining is catered, too, to stay-in guests.
With banquet facilities, the hotel also serves as a venue for any special occasion, be it corporate functions, receptions and possibly everything in between.
To date, the Group has maintained the walkways, though wanting to improve it further with more lightings.
“We still have about P70 million to finish the improvement of the hallway. We have to build a new kitchen to serve new function rooms,” he said of their plan on the remaining budget.
“The façade will be restored. It should be [that] look of the Apo View Hotel few years back. Of course, we have to improve our lobby. We are now ordering three new elevators to replace our old ones,” he added.
Bolstering tourism, meeting sectors
CONFIDENT that the revamped Apo View will help boost the supply of accommodation facilities and venues in Davao City, both the local government and tourism agency welcomed the Group’s investment initiative.
In a message read for her by Councilor Abigail Dalodo-Ortiz, Mayor Sara Duteterte-Carpio said the hotel’s reintroduction is aligned with the national government’s “Build, Build, Build” program. “This is expected to usher in a golden age of infrastructure in the Philippines,” noted the local chief executive, who is also the president’s daughter.
The relaunch, according to her, signals the start of more development projects that espouse progress, but never at the expense of the environment—a key prerequisite in the continued socioeconomic development of Davao City.
Seeing the continued strong demand for guest and meeting rooms next year, Duterte-Carpio noted that Apo View’s renovation and expansion are timely as the city is going to host a number of events in 2018.
“I hope that with this milestone, the hotel will continue to delight more guests, who come to Davao City and allow them to experience the best of Davaoeño hospitality,” she said.
Department of Tourism Region 11 Director Roberto Alabado III cited that China, for instance, is looking forward to the city’s capacity to provide rooms.
Approximately, Davao has a combined 10,000 rooms of hotels, lodging houses, inns, hostels and dormitels, among others, per City Tourism Operations Office.
As for the city’s Mice market, he said there are roughly around 3,000 rooms available from two- to five-star hotels, with an average daily occupancy rate of 60 percent.
“[So] we only have 1,200 rooms left for Mice. That’s very small,” he said, considering that a national convention will have at least 3,000 people. Currently, various meetings from all over Mindanao, mostly from Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao, are being held in Davao almost every day.
“So our rooms for tourists [are] just 3,000 to 4,000 in Davao,” Alabado further explained. “Thank you very much [Eurotel] for investing here in Davao. In return, we will be helping each other because more tourists would mean business for everyone. And more business for everyone means more employment for everyone.”
Expecting a constant surge in tourism sector, the Davao City Investment Promotion has been talking to various hotel players to expand or put up their own facilities in the province.
“The more hotels that we have here in Davao, the more rooms then, the people will realize that we have higher room capacity and they won’t hesitate to come here. They are just looking for a room capacity so that they can host their guests. They will not come here, they will not bring large groups if we lack rooms. But, if they are assured that we have rooms for their guests, then they will come,” Alabado said.
Bullish on the city’s continued economic progress and hospitality sector’s growth momentum in the coming years, Las said the hotel is expecting 2018 as a banner year with 85-percent occupancy rate, 15 percent higher than their 70-percent goal by end of 2017.
To keep up with the market demand, he bared their plan to build another hotel and a condominium within the hotel’s 9,000-square-meter property.
“We’re looking at six floors,” he said of the boutique hotel beside Apo View. “Of course, in small market, they will compete to one another. But they will share a bigger market because [the boutique hotel] will cater to the different level of hotel clientele.”