Business hotel to open soon

AN 83-room four-star international business hotel is scheduled to soft-open this December.

Best Western Plus Lex Cebu general manager Bernard Neil Tanchan said Cebu needs additional hotel rooms that follow international standards to cater to the growing business travelers.

“We have decided to venture into the hotel business given that the city lacks more international brand hotels that would specifically deliver international standards for medium-range markets,” Tanchan said in a press briefing yesterday.

Best Western Plus Lex Cebu is located on the corner of Escario St. and Juana Osmena Ext. The hotel will officially open in January.

The 10-storey business hotel is owned and managed by Cebu-based Tanchan Business Ventures Inc., whose core businesses include Cold Storage Inc. and Alpine Ice Plant.

Aside from the city’s need for additional hotel rooms, Tanchan said it is Cebu’s vibrant tourism industry that prompted them to invest in the hotel industry. The firm invested over P150 million to put up the hotel, which is the family’s first hotel venture.

The firm tapped the expertise of Best Western International Inc. (BWI) to help them run the business. Tanchan said the hotel staff is trained by BWI.

BWI is an American hotel brand based in Phoenix, Arizona. It is reported to be the world’s biggest hotel chain with over 4,100 independently-owned and operated hotels in 100 countries and territories worldwide.

Best Western Plus Lex Cebu falls under BWI Asia’s four-star hotel category. The hotel in Cebu is the first Best Western Plus hotel in the Philippines.

Best Western Plus Lex Cebu hotel consultant Fay Paras is confident the hotel will do well in Cebu, given the perceived gap in the international hotels here. She said Best Western Plus Lex Cebu is right in the middle to address both value-for-money and high quality of service.

Paras said the Best Western Plus brand offers “above-standard features and services.”

Its distinct amenities are designed for the modern-day traveler who is practical, updated and appreciates great comfort. The hotel’s room prices range from P3,200 to P3,800.

“We are targeting the business transients who frequent Cebu with an average stay of 1.5 days here,” Paras said.

BWI is upbeat on the expansion, citing Asia as one of its key growth areas. BWI vice president for international operations Asia & Middle East Glenn de Souza said the company plans to increase the number of member- properties in the Philippines from 12 to 19 by 2015 and from nine to 15 in Vietnam.

BWI will also expand in Indonesia, Japan and South Korea. Other growth markets include Malaysia and Singapore as well as emerging markets such as Bangladesh and Iraq.

In the Philippines, Paras said BWI will put up hotels in Pampanga, Boracay, Palawan and Bohol.

After Cebu, Tanchan is looking at opening a hotel in Palawan under the same brand in the next five to seven years. He said it will probably be a resort and spa hotel type.

Best Western Plus Lex Cebu has 60 superior rooms, eight business class rooms, 10 deluxe rooms, one junior suite and four deluxe suites. Among its amenities are a fitness center, business center and meeting facilities such as 120-capacity ballroom, meeting rooms and a board room. The hotel is also part of BWI’s reservation system.