Tuesday, October 23, 2007 Property developer launches hotel in Lapu
THE room shortage problem in Cebu is slowly easing as a new hotel in Lapu-Lapu City will become fully operational early next month.
Real estate developer Sta. Lucia Realty Development Inc. inaugurated last Sunday its newest addition to the Vista Mar estate in Barangay Dapdap, Lapu-Lapu City–the SotoGrande Hotel and Resort.
The nine-story Soto-Grande, located a few meters behind the Vista Mar Beach Resort and Country Club, houses not only hotel rooms but residential condominium units as well.
Condo units
Sta. Lucia Realty corporate marketing director Michelle Robles said the SotoGrande has 77 hotel rooms, ballrooms, a karaoke lounge and restaurant.
The seventh to ninth floors of the building, on the other hand, houses 48 residential condo units.
Bookings
Imelda Yu, Vista Mar Beach Resort and Country Club general manager, said the SotoGrande already has bookings as early as Nov. 5. She added that 80 percent of the guests are Koreans.
Robles said the hotel has three-star accommodations with Mediterranean-inspired design.
Sold out
Gerry Quintos of Sta. Lucia Realty said the condo units at SotoGrande were already sold out even before the completion of the building.
Robles said aside from SotoGrande, Sta. Lucia Realty will also build three more buildings within the 60-hectare Residencia de Vistamar.
Success
Quintos explained that aside from the recently-launched La Mirada, Sta. Lucia plans to build another condominium and another hotel.
“The last one will be the hotel, which will depend on the success of the SotoGrande,” he said in an interview shortly before the inauguration of SotoGrande.
Investment
Sta. Lucia Realty chairman Exequiel Robles said the SotoGrande involved an investment of about P300 million, including the cost of the land.
He told news reporters that Sta. Lucia’s planned projects, including La Mirada and the two other still-unnamed buildings, indicate the company’s optimism about the Cebu market.
He said the target market of the SotoGrande residential units and the La Mirada condo complex are overseas Filipinos and foreigners who like to live or own property in Cebu. (LAP)
