Making a home for Filipino hospitality

GWEN DELA CRUZ
GWEN DELA CRUZ

SEDA, the Ayala business hotel, aims at being the “Home of Filipino Hospitality.” Tasked to make that aim come true for its Cebu hotel is its first general manager, Gwendolyn Lanceta de la Cruz.

Gwen comes from Zamboanga where she finished accountancy at the Ateneo de Zamboanga. She worked in that city for a few years, after which she ventured to Manila where she looked for a job either in the airline or hotel industry. She ended up with a job at The Peninsula, which she says is a very good training ground because the hotel is quality- and service-driven. She worked for seven years in Plantation Bay in Cebu, as guest relations manager, front office manager and senior duty manager.

She moved to Shangri-La’s Mactan Resort and Spa in 2003 as front office manager, then became a Shangri-La’s executive trainee for a year. After this, she was assigned as director of rooms in Shangri-La Hotel, Kuala Lumpur. Then, she was assigned as executive assistant manager of Traders Hotel, also in Kuala Lumpur. She became resident manager of Shangri-La’s Villingili Resort and Spa. Then she moved to Hong Kong as executive assistant to the Shangri-La president and chief executive officer. In 2016, she was back in Cebu, this time as resident manager of Shangri-La’s Mactan Resort and Spa. In May this year, after almost 15 years with Shangri-La, she decided to take time off from the industry for some “me time.”

“Me time” meant for Gwen six months to travel to places she wanted to visit, particularly Australia and the United Kingdom, where she found the visit to the Bronte sisters’ home very memorable. Before she left, a Shangri-La executive told her that there are two important things she should consider: first, that she would not have to touch her retirement fund and second, that she has health insurance. Having both, she happily set off on her travels. Before she set off though, she was already invited by Seda to be the hotel manager and, finding the hotel great, she had given her yes.

“I like Cebu because you can still feel the provincial spirit even as it is flourishing. Many years ago, Cebu was not like this. But still, here you can have a balanced life and you can enjoy the warmth and feel of Cebu,” she said. So it was not so hard for her to cut her “me time” by about a month to assume the position of general manager of Seda in Cebu.

Gwen, who’s just very new to her job, already appreciates her “great staff” that will make it easy for her to accomplish the vision of Seda “to be the leading brand synonymous with Filipino hospitality and service excellence,” and to fulfill its mission of “weaving Filipino hospitality and service excellence to create meaningful memories.”

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