|
Monday, April 17, 2006
Hans Hauri, Marco Polo’s GM
By Jenara Regis Newman
AT the top of the renovated landmark hilltop hotel, Marco Polo Plaza, is Hans Hauri, a Swiss national, who has been working in Asia’s hotel industry in the past 25 years. He is a graduate of the Swiss Hotel Management School in Lausanne and speaks English, German and French.
The genial GM, who says you only have to look at your hands to remember his name, is all enthusiasm for the ongoing renovation of Marco Polo Plaza. He says management “has retained everything beautiful from before, all the beauty of the architecture and complemented it with a greater sense of space.” This is very evident in the lighting of the hotel’s grand lobby. Hauri explains that it is “the light that moves the heart. You’re generally not happy in dark places than in lighted ones.” So that lobby has become a well-lighted place where one can order drinks, wines, tapas.
The restaurant is now called Café Marco where one can see the chefs doing their thing. The café offers an international buffet “with a distinctly Asian section, a Western Section, a Japanese section including the cold section, seafoods and salads and sweets. Everything is done in-house. At the moment we cannot offer lechon because we’re still building the barbecue, but we do offer lechon manok from our rotisserie.” Just outside the café is the pool featuring a bigger swimming space and a bigger poolside bar where there’s a wood-fired pizza oven. Here, the cuisine is Mediterranean.
Hauri says the hotel’s executive chef is Canadian Luke J. Cagnon who is married to a Filipina. He assures that though the food will be authentic, it will also cater to the Filipino taste. He adds that the hotel is trying to get most of its food supplies from local sources.
Where the rooms are concerned, Hauri reveals that the biggest change is in the air-conditioning: it is now centralized and therefore, it is quieter. Bathroom fittings (and water pressure) have been improved and “all life safety systems are substantially improved. “In fact, management has added a third fire escape staircase. And now, Marco Polo has club rooms, from the 19th to the 23rd floor with a Continental Club Lounge that serves snacks throughout the day for the club guests, as well as breakfast and cocktails. It is located at the rooftop and has a magnificent view of the city.
All Marco Polo rooms are wired for high-speed internet and an additional feature in the (telephone) switchboard is its capacity for voice recordings, and for guests to access their voice mail through the mobile phones. The hotel also has a health club/gym. It's banquet areas include the grand ballroom and seven other function rooms. Also available for functions is the rooftop over the ballroom.
What is totally new is the “Garden Terraces.” It’s an amphitheater built below the swimming pool. It can seat 200 on the main floor and another 200 on the tiered steps. This has a stage, with Banilad/Mandaue/the sea as its backdrop, and is perfect for al-fresco dining or for open-air concerts and other events.
Other things new in Marco Polo Plaza Hotel are the uniforms: the food attendants are in Philip Rodriquez creations whole the front desk staff are in Junjun Escario's. Also new are the paintings that adorn the walls, which are all from the personal art collection of the hotel chairman, George Ty. They are all by Filipino artists.
Marco Polo Plaza will formally open to the public on April 27 with its 329 rooms. It has been a long wait for Hauri who has been here since last year, seeing to the nitty-gritty of the hotel renovation. He and his family (wife and twin sons) have been here long enough to say he loves it here for the following reasons: “First, the Cebuanos are warm and welcoming; second, the climate, because it is always cool (note: that’s because he lives on top of a hill); and third, the value system of the family is still intact. It’s something that even my family can feel.”
For Bisaya stories from Cebu. Click here. (April 17, 2006 issue)
Write letter to the editor.Click here.
Join the Sun.Star message board.Click here. |
|
[return to top]
[home]
[network page]
|
LOCAL NEWS
BUSINESS
OPINION
SPORTS
LIFESTYLE
FEATURE
SUPERBALITA
WEEKEND
|
