DoubleDragon expands hotel footprint in Cebu

MANILA, Philippines — Property tycoon Edgar “Injap” Sia III, is expanding his business in Cebu with the addition of Hotel 101, which is targeted to be the biggest airport hotel in the Visayas and Mindanao regions.

Sia’s DoubleDragon Properties Corp. (DoubleDragon), through its hotel subsidiary, Hotel of Asia Inc. has secured the permits for Hotel 101-Cebu Mactan Airport, paving the way for the start of construction and pre-selling activities.

Hotel 101-Cebu Mactan Airport will have 548 rooms and will rise in a 5,493 square meter prime commercial lot along the Cebu Mactan Airport Terminal Road near Mactan Marina Mall.

Sia said the branded hotel concept has plans to open in five sites in Cebu, Libis, Boracay, Palawan and Bohol which are expected to generate P18.14 billion in revenues.

The five additional Hotel 101 properties are expected to be completed by 2024 and would enable DoubleDragon to reach its 5,000 room hotel portfolio goal by 2025, giving the company one of the largest portfolio of hotel rooms in the Philippines.

The operation of these Hotel 101 projects will be just in time for the expected upswing and full post-COVID-19 recovery by 2024, Sia said.

The Hotel 101 asset light concept allows DoubleDragon to generate revenue and income twice, first from the pre-selling of the condotel units, then second, after the project is completed, which means it can start generating long term recurring revenue from hotel operations.

Sia said DoubleDragon has four pillars of growth which are all in the sunrise sectors of the real estate space – hotel through Hotel of Asia Inc. (Hotel 101); provincial community malls through CityMall Commercial Centers, CentralHub Industrial Centers Inc. which is focused on warehouse and logistics complexes around the country and office leasing.

“We envision DoubleDragon being the parent company, to usher its subsidiaries to eventually conduct IPOs one by one when the right time comes,” Sia said.

The Hotel 101 model being a three-star affordable hotel maintained high occupancy even at the height of the pandemic.

Hotel 101’s ‘Happy Rooms’ have been designed from the very beginning to have the amenities of a studio unit, equipped with kitchenettes in each room, which makes it suitable to long staying guests.