Dusit Thani Hotel: Now the 'Best in the West'

More and more events are now being held at Dusit Thani Manila due to the hotel’s undisputed reputation for excellence virtually in everything  from the service to the amenities and facilities to its convenient location (“Flood free!” patrons stress) in the heart of Makati’s Central Business District. A lot of diplomatic receptions are now being held at the five-star luxury hotel, and just recently, it was chosen by a multicultural theater group as the venue for its fundraising show this September. In fact, the inimitable Johnny Litton will be celebrating his birthday at Dusit Thani today – no doubt owing to the fact that his birthday celebration in the hotel last year was nothing short of impressive.

In the last couple of years, Dusit has been the recipient of numerous awards and accolades, among them “Hotel of the Year” from the prestigious Hospitality Asia Platinum Awards (HAPA) held earlier this year in Singapore. The hotel bagged a total of 15 awards – the highest number in fact among all the other participating hotels in Thailand, Singapore, Indonesia, Malaysia, Vietnam and of course the Philippines – in the major categories such as “Best Service Excellence,” “Signature Luxury Hotel” and “Signature Business Hotel,” among many others.

The man responsible for Dusit Thani Manila’s unprecedented success is none other than its general manager Prateek Kumar who, incidentally (but perhaps not surprisingly), was also adjudged the “General Manager of the Year” by HAPA. Since he took over in 2008, the amiable young man has introduced numerous innovations that have distinguished the hotel from its peers. One of them is the “green initiative” through the use of biodegradable materials, promotion of local products and resources to reduce carbon footprint (like a lambanog cocktail using coconut, sugar cane and rice) and “unplugged” entertainment to conserve energy – earning for it a Silver Level of certification by EarthCheck, an internationally-recognized environmental management and certification program for the travel and tourism industry. 

Prior to his Manila assignment, Prateek, who obtained his Hotel Management degree from the Griffith University in Australia, has worked at a number of other establishments such as Ascott Raffles in Singapore. Part of Prateek’s charisma lies in his humility, which makes him a very likeable person not only to customers but to his staff who have imbibed the energy and dynamism of the young GM. Not surprisingly, he has received several offers from other establishments but so far he has been able to resist, although we are told that a hotel located in Metro Manila is looking at the Dusit group to manage its operations.

Other than the excellent service and amenities, another big draw are the restaurants, in particular Japanese sake bar and restaurant Umu (awarded the “Most Cosmopolitan Bar and Restaurant” also by HAPA) and Benjarong (“Most Authentic Asian Cuisine Restaurant”), Dusit’s Thai restaurant. Among the regulars include low-key businessman Vic Reyes (married to Boling Tuason), Joey Concepcion who is frequently seen with his family, presidential uncle Peping Cojuangco, presidential cousin Tony Boy Cojuangco and another low-key businessman Ricky Delgado.

Incidentally, Dusit will once again be the venue of the next PeopleAsia magazine’s “People of the Year” awards. There were numerous offers from other hotels to be the host of the event (the most anticipated and prestigious awards event) but the PeopleAsia board decided Dusit Thani Manila is still the place to be precisely because it is undisputedly “the very best.”

Finance firm wipes out savings

Many hardworking middle class people who thought they would be enjoying retirement after working for almost 30 years suddenly found all their savings wiped out when financing firm Credit Solutions Resource and Investment Corp. went under. Sources say the financing firm, managed by the family of former Makati Mayor Nemesio Yabut, owes over half a billion pesos to investors and has filed for rehabilitation with the Makati Regional Trial Court.

Compounding the problem of the Yabuts is the recent imbroglio involving the Makati Atrium building – for the longest time the home to the Home Development Mutual Fund (no pun intended) – until it decided to abandon the building over safety concerns sometime last year. HDMF, which is majority owner – has rejected the proposal for rehabilitation, making the future uncertain for tenants in the building. To make matters worse, the Yabuts are also reportedly facing tax evasion charges due to alleged delinquency in real estate tax payments. What a mess.

Ukkokei not okay

Still in Makati, Japanese noodle house Ukkokei Ramen Ron along Pasay Road has been ordered temporarily closed by the local government of Makati reportedly upon orders of Mayor Junjun Binay. Apparently, Mayor Binay has been receiving numerous complaints about the owner’s arrogance.

Just recently at the height of the torrential monsoon, a customer who arrived barely five minutes after 9 p.m. was reportedly turned away rudely by the owner. Apparently this is not the first time that such an incident has been reported. Many frequent patrons include VIP politicians like San Juan Congressman JV Ejercito, Leyte Congressman Martin Romualdez and young businessmen Jeffrey and Jason Go.

Spy tidbits

––Insiders tell us that the “insiders” are in after the Judicial and Bar Council deliberations, with the top slots going to the associate justices of the Supreme Court. Leading the nominees are Senior Associate Justice Tony Carpio with seven votes, followed by Associate Justices Roberto Abad, Arturo Brion and Ma. Lourdes Sereno – all of whom received six votes each.

––Korean Ambassador to the Philippines Lee Hye-min (a zero handicap golfer and favorite ambassador of many for his very amiable personality) is being suddenly pulled out from his Manila posting and redeployed to Paris. It can be recalled that when President Noy and Grace Lee were dating, people were wondering whether she was the Korean connection to Malacañang. Obviously not – because there is no blood relation between Miss Lee and the French-speaking ambassador.

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