Living the grand lifestyle
The first Grand Hyatt Residences in Southeast Asia has opened in Bonifacio Global City, which speaks volumes about the hotel chain’s optimism and faith in the Philippine market.
Built by real estate developer Federal Land Inc., the new Grand Hyatt Manila Residences is connected directly to the Grand Hyatt Manila hotel on 35th Street corner Eighth Avenue in BGC, and unit owners will be able to experience “living grand” at double the scale, enjoying the perks not only of their luxurious residences but also that of the five-star hotel’s.
“What makes this project so unique and so special is that it’s an extension of the hotel,” says Gottfried Bogensperger, general manager of both the Grand Hyatt Manila and the Grand Hyatt Manila Residences. “You can utilize the services from the hotel, from hiring your own chef or waiter to a limousine to pick somebody up from the airport.”
Affiliated with Manila Doctors Hospital, Grand Hyatt can also do antigen tests, offers laundry services and deep cleaning to its residents. “That’s what the hotel is here for — that these services are expanded and extended to them,” says Bogensperger, or “GB,” as his staff fondly calls him.
The Grand Hyatt Manila Residences’ two towers encompass 188 units, and the 50-story Tower 2 even has a helipad on top for its tenants’ convenience.
“Our units are designed with the ultimate luxury and exclusivity for all our residents,” adds Guita Saenz-Resurreccion, head of sales for Federal Land Inc. “We have a very low floor-to-unit ratio. In the lower zone, for example, where our two-bedroom units are located, we only have eight units to a floor, and then in the higher zones we have only four units to a floor all the way to only two units to a floor.”
“There are only two towers in the development, so this is going to be the last in the series,” notes Cathy Bengzon, Federal Land marketing head.
Grand Central
You can’t beat the location and stunning, wraparound views, either. The Grand Hyatt Manila Residences are strategically located in close proximity to BGC’s finest restaurants, schools, and major infrastructure developments. Recently, the Kalayaan Bridge of the BGC-Ortigas road link project was opened, connecting Ortigas Center directly to BGC via Eighth Avenue, which happens to be exactly where the Grand Hyatt Manila Residences are located.
“It’s the World of Hyatt!” GB enthuses.
If you purchase a unit, you are automatically enrolled in the World of Hyatt Globalist Program — the highest level in the World of Hyatt loyalty program, according to Resurreccion — so you can earn points for availing of hotel services and redeem them, and all you have to do to renew your membership is to keep accumulating points.
“If you use our services frequently we give you credits back,” notes GB. “If you want to go on holiday somewhere else or want to dine in a restaurant, you can use Hyatt points instead of actual cash and money.”
He says the whole Grand Hyatt complex has been very well designed, taking maximum advantage of views and integrating well with the surrounding community. Japanese department store Mitsukoshi will open soon, he reveals.
“It will create a new community around this whole area and we hope that the hotel will become the center of a meeting place for people to go,” he says. “That’s why we say this is ‘Grand Central.’ The whole uptown area will become a little city within a city.
‘Care is the centerpiece’
“What I think makes Hyatt different from other players in the market is really their purpose,” GB continues. “Care is the centerpiece, where we say, okay, everything revolves around care, not just to our guests but also to the Residences next door.”
To extend the Grand Hyatt’s brand of five-star service to its residents, employees are trained and cultivated in the hotel first, “so that it becomes a seamless interaction with the residences and the hotel operation,” GB says.
Though the hotel is not fully operational yet, most of the Grand Hyatt Manila’s dining and retail outlets are now open seven days a week: The Pool House, The Lounge, The Peak Grill (open five days a week), and GB says they’re thinking of opening their Chinese restaurant, No. 8 China House, as well.
“The Pool House is testing a very interesting new concept, which is called a ‘Bamboo BBQ,’ the Philippine way of cooking things in bamboo,” he says. “We did a test for Independence Day, which was very well received. I think people are looking forward to having different kinds of experiences than their regular normal, so they’re willing to explore new things and splurge a little on themselves.”
A sign that things are returning to normal: They were almost fully booked for Father’s Day.
Plastic-free by July 1
Bogensperger says the biggest challenge they faced at the onset of the pandemic was fear, but the Hyatt group immediately engaged the Global Biorisk Advisory Council, which specially trains people in handling biological risks such as viruses. “So we have about 60 people who are fully trained, they know exactly what to do; they immediately bought the equipment and gear needed to really disinfect the place, to clean it and sanitize it properly.”
He hopes that by the end of July his workforce of 380 employees will be 100 percent vaccinated, and takes the hotel’s sustainability commitment seriously as well. By July 1 he promises that the Grand Hyatt Manila will be plastic-free.
“We are a multi-purpose hotel so we can take any segment, from leisure to quarantine to business travelers,” he says. “The hotel has been really refocused and re-set up so that you have everything in place to be actively engaged.”
The GM, who is originally from Austria and looks and sounds like the actor Liam Neeson, has been with the Hyatt group for 35 years.
“Don’t remind me!” he laughs. “When I was living in Switzerland after doing hotel schools I wanted to explore opportunities. In a magazine I saw a beautiful Hyatt on a beach in Cancun, Mexico, saw the warmth of the palm trees and white sand, and that alone was inspiring enough.”
He joined the Hyatt in Switzerland, starting in food and beverage until he fulfilled his dream of being posted to Mexico as chef de cuisine at the Hyatt Cancun Caribe, and was promoted to executive sous chef soon after.
In 1992 he was sent to the Grand Hyatt Singapore as executive sous chef, and started a lengthy sojourn in Southeast Asia, working at the Hyatt Regency Johor Bahru as executive chef before moving to the Grand Hyatt Seoul and circling back to Singapore, where he honed his skill set enough to go after the leadership position of general manager in 2004.
In 2006 he was posted to the Philippines with his family as general manager of the Grand Hyatt Manila and area vice president for the Philippines and Vietnam. “I was always very curious about hospitality in my family, and I must say I have not worked a single day,” he says. “I am happy to go to work.”
When I ask him what he loves so much about the hotel business, he replies, “The people. You work with the community. It’s almost like a little gypsy lifestyle — you’re moving around in the world, settle in different communities and become very open-minded. It doesn’t matter where you go, people are nice. There are very few people who are friendlier than Filipinos! They are warm; they are hardy. Embracing the local culture is important, where if somebody comes in and says, ‘I would like to experience something good, to see what is the Philippine way of living and enjoying,’ you are bringing that flair into the hotel.
“When people ask me where I want to retire, I say, ‘Hopefully in the Residences next door!’”
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To have a 360-degree, virtual tour of the Grand Hyatt Manila Residences model units, call 8551-1212, visit http://www.grandhyattmanilaresidences.com.ph/ or contact www.federalland.ph.
For hotel inquiries and reservations at Grand Hyatt Manila, visit https://manila.grand.hyatt.com/, call 8838-1234 or email manila.grand@hyatt.com. For updates on activities and offers, follow Grand Hyatt Manila at facebook.com/grandhyattmanilaph and instagram.com/grandhyattmanilaph.
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Follow the author on Instagram @theresejamoragarceau and Facebook (Therese Jamora-Garceau).
