Hail Farewell@The Marriot

The Grand Ballroom of the Cebu City Marriott Hotel  was transformed into an airport setting when they had their traditional Hail Farewell for the hotel’s outgoing general manager Roy Abraham and incoming general manager Bruce Winton. From the hallway down to the entrance of the ballroom, a tube was created with the smiling sales and marketing ladies dressed as airline crew welcoming all the passengers into the aircraft, just like the real thing. A couple of weeks before the event, boarding pass-like invitations were issued to the invitees, which included prominent personalities of the metro from the business, travel, hotel and government sectors.

Just like in the first class pre-departure lounges, flowing red and white wine, champagne, a wide array of hors d’oeuvres were served. United States Honorary Consul John Domingo had a brief talk on behalf of outgoing general manager, Roy Abraham, who wasn’t able to make it to the event due to health concerns. Roy, who has been with the Cebu City Marriott Hotel for three years, will surely be missed by all his friends that he gained during his stint. I for one will. It was during his term that the hotel was 80-90 percent refurbished, one of his greatest achievements and contribution to the hotel which he can truly be proud of. I will never forget that Roy himself, together with the hotel’s former PR Manager Joan Danao, toured me around the hotel during the renovation process and gave me an idea of how it will look like after the project. 

Incoming general manger Bruce Winton, on the other hand, has been with the Marriott group for quite sometime now. He began his career as a culinary intern at the Farmington Marriott in Hartford, Connecticut. He has held Director of Restaurants, Director of F&B and Director of Operations positions at 8 Marriott properties including among others, the London Marriott Grosvenor Square, The Boston Marriott Copley Place, the JW Marriott Washington DC, the Greenbelt Marriott in the Maryland suburbs of Washington and the historic Key Bridge Marriott in Arlington, Virginia. His immediate assignment was at the JW Marriott Seoul Korea as resident manager, his first in the Asia-Pacific Region. Roy and Bruce have one thing in common. They both have beautiful Filipina wives. Bruce is happily married to the beautiful Christina Diaz-Winton.

Even without Roy around that evening, Bruce made sure to meet all the guests personally. He, too, made sure that everyone was having a good time, thus, making the night a memorable one. To Roy, we will truly miss you! To Bruce, welcome to Cebu and mabuhay! Cheers!