SMIC eyes foreign partners for Batangas hotel project

The Hotel Investment Group of the Sy family’s flagship firm SM Investments Corp. (SMIC) is in talks with foreign operators for its planned five-star hotel in Pico De Loro in Nasugbu, Batangas.

“We’re talking to a few operators and we hope to complete negotiations in the next two months, said Merrill Yu, senior vice-president and in charge of SM Hotels.

Yu said the upscale hotel will have 140 to 150 guest rooms and may have eight stories.

Aside from this, the group is also hoping to break ground on at least one boutique hotel this year as it continues to be on the lookout for properties in key locations throughout the country.

Yu said the boutique hotels will be adjacent or near an SM Mall as part of its expansion in the industry. Depending on the site potential, the boutique hotels will have 150 rooms for larger development and 50 rooms for smaller ones at a cost of P1.4 million per room.

He said the group is targeting to build two boutique hotels this year.

To further beef up its presence in the lodging industry, the group is on the lookout for properties in key cities across the country for future site of its planned hotels.

“We’re looking at a few properties but everything is still under review. We’re looking at major tourist sites like Bohol and Palawan,” Yu said.

The SM Hotel Investment Group is aggressively expanding its hotel portfolio with the addition of 532 hotel-rooms by the end of the year from the existing 128 rooms.

By end-December 2008, the group is expected to have a total of 660 hotel rooms and is seen to grow further to 1,394 guest rooms by the first half of 2010.

The SM Hotel Investment Group owns the Taal Vista Hotel in Tagaytay City, which is being expanded to include an additional 132 rooms from the current 128 rooms. Estimated to cost P650 million, the expansion will likewise add a 1,000-seater grand ballroom and six meeting rooms.

SMIC, in partnership with Accor, the owner of the Sofitel brand of hotels, will build a five-star, 400-room hotel in Mactan, Cebu estimated to cost P2.8 billion. The Sofitel Cebu Hotel is slated for opening at the end of the year.

Also in the pipeline is a two-in-one hotel building to be managed by Singapore-based Carlson Hotels Worldwide – Asia Pacific and to break ground in the second half of the year. Located right next to Mall of Asia along Roxas Boulevard, the project, which will house a total of 580 guest rooms, is estimated to cost P2.4 billion is scheduled to be completed in the third quarter of 2010.

The structure has been designed to have one hotel (The Raddison) with 500 upscale guest rooms ad another hotel, The Regent with 80 luxury suites, including a 400-squame meter presidential suite. These two hotels will boast world-class amenities such as business centers, swimming pools, fine-dining restaurants and exensive function facilities.

Aside from this, SMIC has partnered with Microtel Inn & Suites to put up a 150-room hotel within the 60-hectare SM Bay Central in Pasay City. It will be strategically located near the SMX Convention Center and the SM Mall of Asia, one of the biggest malls in Asia.