Robinsons Land to build 30 budget hotels in 5 years

MANILA, Philippines - Robinsons Land Corp. (RLC), the property development arm of the Gokongwei Group, is aiming to build at least 30 budget hotels across the country over the next five years to meet the growing demand for affordable accommodation, particularly by local tourists.

At the same time, RLC president Frederick Go announced that the hotel brand, Go Hotels, is now open for franchising, pointing out that they have already received inquiries from several interested parties. One businessman, whom Go refused to identify, is already looking at five sites for his planned foray into the value hotels business.

Go said since the soft opening of Go Hotels in its pilot site at the Robinsons Pioneer Cybergate complex in Mandaluyong City, the hotel has been registering an occupancy rate of more than 90 percent. 

“We’re very confident about this development plan that we intend to take this throughout the country. There is huge demand for proper accomodation and we intend to open branches in every city of the country,” Go said.

The next Go Hotels will rise in Bacolod and Dumaguete (both in 2011). Programmed for opening in 2012 are hotels in Palawan, Iloilo, Cebu and Tacloban. New sites for 2013 are Pangasinan, Ilocos Norte, Zamboanga, Batanes and Gen. Santos.

Built on the lot of the old Robinsons Apartelle, Go Hotel Pioneer offers 225 no-frills rooms with flat-screen television and free Wi-Fi connection targeted for budget-conscious travelers. Patterned after sister company Cebu Pacific’s novel pricing scheme where early birds get the lowest rate, Go Hotels is offering accommodations for as low as P388 a night. Regular room rates start at P1,888 per night.

Go said they intend to build Go Hotels in areas where RLC has a shopping center. As of end-March this year, RLC had a mall network of 29 with a gross leasable area of 811,000 square meters.

Go Hotels is the fifth hotel property of RLC after the 285-room Crowne Plaza Galleria Manila, 263-room Holiday Inn Galleria Manila, 210-room Cebu Midtown Hotel and the 108-room Summit Ridge Hotel Tagaytay.

In the fiscal year ending September 2009, RLC’s hotel division registered revenues of P1.04 billion or about 10 percent of total revenues.

Holiday Inn Galleria Manila and Crowne Plaza Galleria Manila posted occupancy rates of 77 percent and 72 percent, respectively, despite the global economic slowdown that has cut holiday travel.