Legend’s ‘hometel’

It could easily pass for a family compound with a sprawling garden.

Then again, the seven villas that make up The Legend Villas in Mandaluyong City has positioned itself as a "hometel", anchored by a service concept called "Bisita sa Bahay" that exemplifies how guests are treated.

"Value, service, quality. We are a three-star businessman’s hotel offering four-star amenities and first-class services. And our customers know the difference. That’s why they keep on coming back," said Legend Hotel International Corp. hotel business group senior assistant vice-president Francis Patrick Favoreal.

Repeat guest ratio has jumped to 60% from a range of 32% to 40%, following a three-year renovation that converted the villas into a Filipiniana hotel.

"We wanted to focus on our strength and go back to our roots. This is a hotel that is about Filipino hospitality," said Favoreal.

Being only three-storey high, the hotel has no elevators.

Seven villas offer a wide range of room types to meet almost every possible requirement. There are superior and premium rooms as well as deluxe and villa suites for single or double occupancy. There are also family rooms and team suites built for at least four people.

Accommodations, which include buffet breakfast for all occupants, are priced per room rather than per person.

Service

"We distinguish ourselves through Filipino hospitality. We anticipate our guests’ requests and we see to their comfort. We make our clients feel as if they were in their own home," said The Legend Villas’ hotel property manager Guinevere Villavicencio.

Even the coffee shop, which only serves Filipino home-cooked meals is WIFI (wireless fidelity)-enabled, allowing visitors meeting for business to connect to the internet, if needed.

Corporate guests and their families comprise about 80% of the hotel market, most of them from companies located within an eight-kilometer radius from its location on Pioneer St.

Responding to the needs of repeat clients, the hotel has expanded a wing and put in more function or meeting rooms.

"Although we are in a competitive industry, we are not into volume selling. We do not have to lower our rates to sell as many rooms as possible to break even. We only have 125 rooms. To us, it’s all about providing the good service that will keep guests coming back," said Villavicencio.