New hotel Kabayan pays homage to overseas Filipino workers

Despite the downturn in the tourism sector, hotel and hospitality firm The Legend Hotels International remains optimistic about its growth target. The company, the developer of The Legend Hotels in Manila and Palawan, has just inaugurated last Jan. 18 its latest project Kabayan Hotel.

Constructed as a hotel-cum deluxe dormitory, it will be the first of its kind in the country. What’s more remarkable about the concept is that it is primarily geared to pay homage, and provide a temporary home, to our modern-day heroes, the overseas Filipino workers (OFWs).

"Kabayan Hotel is the answer to what we have found to be a basic need of returning and departing OFWs," says Nelson L. Napud, The Legend Hotels president. "Most want to stay in a place besides that of their relatives where they can feel secure and comfortable.

With six stories, 75 hotel rooms, 38 dormitory rooms and a total of 228 beds, the P150-million project was built according to stringent international standards. It features air-conditioned rooms, private toilet and bath, cable TV, 24-hour running hot and cold water, impeccable service staff, food and beverage and sophisticated fire protection system all with the OFWs needs and wants in mind.

"Kabayan is so named because it is the usual and accustomed greeting of Filipinos when they meet fellow Filipinos abroad," Napud adds: "It is the most logical name for the hotel-dormtelle because it connotes closeness, trust and intimacy. The advantage of staying at Kabayan Hotel vis-à-vis staying at hotels is you partake of the same facilities without feeling intimidated."

Napud assures that once an OFW or value-conscious traveler steps into Kabayan Hotel, he will feel safe and secure after being disoriented from a long stay outside of his homeland. He will find the place affordable and worth every centavo of his hard-earned money. The staff, trained to be always courteous and accommodating, will provide warm personalized service. Convenience of the traveler is of utmost importance as well as his immaculate sanitary requirements.

Located in bustling Pasay City, at the corner of EDSA and Zamora St. near Rotonda, which is in close proximity to the airport, the Makati Central Business District, and major government offices, Kabayan Hotel will be a choice place of transient residence because of its affordable rates. A deluxe hotel room is pegged at P1,080 while a premium one is only P899. For dormitory accommodations, the rate is as low as P199 net per bed a day.

The government estimates that some six million OFWs are scattered in every corner of the globe contributing an immense $8 billion in remittances annually.