Top 5 upcoming venues for Manila

For years, event planners had to contend with the same facilities for business events in Manila. However, as the Philippine economy grows, Metro Manila is levelling up with new venues for business events. Expect more than the tourism board’s slogan of fun in the Philippines. The number of hotel rooms in Metro Manila is soaring and set to reach a 26-year high in the next three years.

Colliers International analyst Romeo Arahan says an average of 4,300 rooms are expected to be delivered annually from this year until 2016, making it the highest number of units completed since 1988.

Local and foreign developers are on a roll to meet the growing demand for hotel rooms, in line with the government’s target of 10 million foreign tourist arrivals by 2016. Here are five in Metro Manila that meeting planners can choose from, for now:

Marco Polo Ortigas Manila

After two decades, Marco Polo enlivens the Ortigas business and commercial district with the opening of a five-star hotel. The 316-room property had its soft opening in March and all the full amenities are due to be ready this month.

The hotel has an impressive Continental Club Lounge located on the 44th floor. Marketing itself as the country’s first ‘sky hotel’, a sky lobby on the 24th level of the hotel tower offers stunning views of the metro. Vu, the sky bar on the 45th floor serves cocktails, tapas and looks out to the nearby valley, mountain range and lake on the east and the Ortigas cityscape towards the west. Vu’s alfresco and indoor options high up on the 45th floor make for a memorable cocktail setting for groups.

For large events, Marco Polo Grand Ballroom on the seventh level seats 450 guests for a banquet or 560 persons for cocktails. The ballroom can be divided into two, with a pre-function area. The ninth level features eight meeting rooms with modern audio-visual facilities, soundproofed dividers, natural light, and complimentary WiFi. The hotel has five dining outlets: an all-day restaurant, a specialty café, a Cantonese restaurant, a designer café and the ‘sky bar’.

Nobu Hotel and City of Dreams

The first Nobu Hotel in Asia is due to open this year at the City of Dreams Manila, a new integrated casino resort in the metro.

This partnership between celebrity chef Nobu Matsuhisa and Academy Award winning actor Robert de Niro (right) will deliver a 321-room hotel. The hotel features a Nobu Restaurant set in a cabana-style dining terrace on a platform deck to showcase Manila Bay’s stunning sunset views.

Chimmy Leung, associate director of group corporate communications for Melco International Development, says: “The City of Dreams Manila will have a sound strategic mix of hotel brands from celebrity inspired lifestyle, a luxury casino hotel experience for VIPS, and unparalleled services and facilities for MICE and premium business guests.”

There will be six hotel towers including a 260-room Crown Towers Hotel and the 321-room Nobu Hotel Manila, along with numerous specialty restaurants, bars, gaming facilities and a multilevel car park. With US$1.3 billion invested in the City of Dreams, the integrated casino resort is aimed at making Manila an appealing alternative to Macau’s luxury hotel scene.

Little has so far been revealed about the third upscale hotel to complete the 900-room portfolio of the complex. The complex is slated to open in the third quarter of the year.

The presence of a Nobu Hotel is much anticipated by domestic and international tourists. Apart from the luxury hotel rooms and the Nobu Restaurant, expect a Nobu Tea Lounge at the lobby, and a Nobu spa and fitness room at the hotel’s platform deck.

Entertainment City

Around 40 per cent of the 4,120 rooms to be completed this year will be coming from Entertainment City. Radisson Hotel is expected to have 500 rooms and Tune Hotel will have 204 rooms.

While there are luxury options, Tune Hotels at Entertainment City offers space-efficient rooms, focusing on offering high quality basics such as five-star beds and powerful hot showers. The strategically located hotel provides housekeeping services, electronic key card access into rooms and no access into the main lobby without a key card past midnight.

Tune currently has eight hotels in the Philippines, with three more scheduled to open within the year. Rather than meeting facilities, the hotels are aimed at providing affordable accommodations to delegates using business facilities in the Entertainment City area and nearby SMX Convention Centre.

Solaire Resort and Casino

The first of the four anchor properties in Manila’s Entertainment City is Solaire Resort and Casino.

Solaire appears to have a winning edge, having opened in March last year. To mark its first anniversary, it showcased a flair by hosting outstanding events such as the Solaire Open Golf Championship and Pinoy Pride Boxing.

This 500-room hotel features 15 dining outlets and delegates seeking extra pampering can opt for the bayside villas that range from 600 to 1000 sqm with each overlooking Manila Bay. Each villa has a 24-hour butler service, a dedicated 24-hour chef service for meals, in-suite spa facilities, private jacuzzi and spa, and putting green overlooking Manila Bay.

Planners of large events will be pleased to discover that Solaire has one of Manila’s largest ballrooms. The Grand Ballroom can accommodate a maximum of 1,000 guests banquet style. Its Entertainment Lounge, Eclipse, offers live entertainment throughout the day, making it a great venue for cocktails for a maximum of 200 guests.

Shanghai Jin Jiang International Hotels

One of China’s leading hotel operators is making a splash in Manila with the conveniently located 95-room Jin Jiang Inn Ortigas and 70-room Jin Jiang Inn Greenbelt. The Ortigas is a close to the Asian Development Bank headquarters and three large shopping malls. The Greenbelt hotel is across Ayala’s premier shopping malls and a short walk to top restaurants, museums, and the Makati Central Business District.

* Written by Maida Pineda