P15B earmarked for Seda hotel portfolio expansion

The Ayala group is shelling out some P15 billion to quadruple its hotel portfolio carrying homegrown brand Seda in the next three years, as it grooms this four-star hotel brand to become a leading player in the country’s thriving hospitality industry.

In a briefing Wednesday, Seda group director of sales and marketing Melissa Carlos said the hotel group would add more than 2,400 rooms in eight new destinations this year through 2019.  The expansion program will bring Seda’s total hotel portfolio to 3,281 rooms by 2019.

“Our goal is to be the leading Filipino hotel brand catering to global travelers in the Philippines,” Carlos said.

Since its founding in 2012, Seda—which is under Ayala Land Hotels and Resorts Corp.—has built an inventory of 817 rooms spread over five properties broken down by room count as follows: Seda BGC (179), Seda Centrio in Cagayan de Oro City (150), Seda Abreeza in Davao City (186), Seda Nuvali in Laguna (150) and Seda Atria in Iloilo City (152).

Carlos said the brand’s flagship, Seda BGC, had been so successful that expansion was now underway.  Occupancy rate last year stood at 87 percent, better than the 71 percent average hotel occupancy rate in Metro Manila in the fourth quarter of 2016.

To be built adjacent to Seda BGC is a new tower that will offer 342 rooms, including 48 serviced apartments to cater to long-stay guests, many of whom are project consultants and will remain in the country from three to six months.  The new stand-alone Seda BGC tower will be completed in 2018 at an estimated cost of around P2 billion and seamlessly interconnect with the current tower at three levels. It will have an all-day dining outlet to seat 300 persons and function rooms that can seat up to 450 persons.

But prior to the opening of BGC hotel extension, Seda will open three new hotel properties this year in three new locations—Quezon City, El Nido in Palawan and Bacolod.

In Quezon City, the 438-room Seda Vertis North is set to open by April this year.  This will be Seda’s first large-format hotel, which is strategically located in a bustling retail area beside Trinoma Mall and the upcoming Vertis North Mall.

Carlos said the group was set to open in the last quarter of the year Seda Lio, its first venture into resort development. This beachfront resort-hotel in El Nido, Palawan will have 153 rooms as well as an expansive pool and deck. The two-storey Seda Lio has been designed to have a “low environmental impact” on its surroundings and may serve as a model for future Seda hotels in other Ayala resort areas.

In July, the group is set to open the 154-room Seda Capitol Central in Bacolod City.

In 2018, Seda will also open in two new locations: Circuit Makati (255 rooms) and Arca South or formerly FTI complex (265 rooms). —DORIS DUMLAO-ABADILLA