Once known as Makati’s honky-tonk district, Poblacion has gentrified its neighborhood with theme restaurants and three- and four-star hotels, hostels and bed-and-breakfast places.
On top of that, condominiums are also selling furnished units like hotel rooms on a nightly or weekly basis.
As if these weren’t enough, another local hotel and a couple of Thai hostels are coming up.
Belgian hotelier and long-time Filipino resident, Philippe Bartholomi, thus has a challenging job of keeping the 182-room Y2 Residence Hotel in people’s minds.
The hotel’s name Y2 stands Yin and Yang and its matching high-contrast interiors were conceived by designers Tessa Prieto Valdes and Tess Alindongan.
“The idea of the yin and yang is that in this very busy area, the hotel is like an oasis. It’s really a party here at night with bands, karaokes and a disco across the parking area. Special windows were installed to shut down the noise. They can party outside but when they come here, they feel the quiet and sleep,” explains Bartholomi.
The hotel’s prime location near Makati Avenue is one of the main attractions.
“This is a place for bohemian experiences,” says Bartholomi.
Aside from the accessibility and ambience, people will remember the service.
“I know it’s a bit of a cliché because everyone says the same, ‘Our people offer personalized service and so on,” says the general manager of Y2 Residence Hotel. “But this is where we make a difference.”
A veteran of deluxe hotels and resorts, Bartholomi keeps his staff members on their toes as they carry out their tasks with Western precision infused with Asian warmth and hospitality. Despite the growing number of rooms in Poblacion, guests keep coming and returning to Y2.
The hotel has been posting healthy occupancy; it ended 2016 with 82 percent.
The most popular rooms are the studios which start at P3,000 a night. Most of its clients stay for corporate businesses in the banking, information technology and business process outsourcing services.
It also caters to Middle Eastern guests who favor the large two-bedroom units where they can cook.
Corporate accounts are still handled the traditional way: The sales team calls on businesses and nurtures their relations.
Then there’s the growing business from online hotel reservation sites. Guests refer to TripAdvisor for its ranking and guests’ comments. Y2 Residence Hotel has received an Award of Excellence for its consistent service.
Bartholomi also wears another hat as one of HII’s four corporate group directors. HII is bullish about opening more hotels and resorts this year. Bartholomi handles provincial properties such as the Harvest Hotel in Nueva Ecija and the upcoming Hue Hotel & Resorts in Puerto Princesa and Boracay.
Harvest Hotel is in a prime location in Cabanatuan City. Rated four stars, the 86-room hotel is equipped with a ballroom, meeting rooms and restaurant named Café Ecija.
Hue in Boracay is set to open in Station 2 this summer.
“We are not going to compete with the north of White Beach. First of all, we don’t have the advantage of having almost a private beach. Still, it’s not a vanilla resort. It’s going to be the first resort in Boracay that will have a retail area and a food court with some 20 different concepts from concessionaires,” he says.
Bartholomi’s long career in hospitality dates back to the mid-’80s when his friend, a Belgian chef at Century Park Hotel, told him about an opening for a sous chef at Silahis Hotel. Bartholomi worked his way up from sous chef to executive chef at the Playboy Club at the top of Silahis.
The owner, Leandro Enriquez, saw his potential and urged the reluctant Bartholomi to become the general manager of the Playboy Club.
He also met his future wife Gina, who worked at the public relations and reception of Silahis.
After Silahis, Bartholomi went to Melbourne, Australia, to work for a company where he set up a restaurant, bar and catering service.
He then joined William Stelton’s Bistro Group to launch the first opera restaurant in Asia called La Scala.
The singing waiters trained by musical director Myrna Lopez of the Metropolitan Theater were the main attraction.
Still under Stelton’s group, he opened Barbareeba, a Brazilian/Latin American restaurant dance club. It was made popular by the Sabor Latino band.
Bartholomi then joined Studebaker International in Singapore to handle the restaurant-club-cafe in Sydney, Melbourne, Singapore, Bali and Manila.
When he returned to the Philippines, Bartholomi worked as general manager for Manila Polo Club then moved to Boracay as the GM of Friday’s.
From 2008 to 2012, Bartholomi served as general manager of 550-room Century Park Hotel, to oversee the planned renovation of the guest rooms.
He also worked as a consultant for Roberto Ongpin, chair of Alphaland Balesin Island Club, Inc., and the City Club at Alphaland Makati Place, Inc.
One day, an old friend, Peter Stevens, HII’s executive director, invited Bartholomi to join the company.
In 2013, Bartholomi started out as general manager of Y2 Residence Hotel, supervising the pre-opening and its transformation from an existing building into a hotel.
Bartholomi believes in the adage that the more the tree bears fruit, the more its branches bow down.
“The most important lesson is to be humble. Listen to both your guests and employees,” he says.
Aside from his career, Bartholomi is also proud of his two children who are now chefs.
At Enderun Colleges, his children Alexandré and Brigitte undertook a rigorous culinary program by Alain Ducasse, the first chef to win the highest three Michelin stars for his restaurants.
Alexandré first worked at the bistro of Alain Ducasse called Aux Lyonnais then started out as a commis, the entry-level of the kitchen at Shangri-La Paris.
Today he is the sous chef at Samba, the fine dining restaurant at Shangri-La at The Fort.
Brigitte is starting out as a commis at Allard bistro, which is also under the Alain Ducasse Group.
“Even if you went to the best schools anywhere in the world, you start from entry-level. There’s nobody who starts as manager or anything like that. That’s the problem with the kids right now. They get the diploma, and then they are shocked when they cannot get a managerial position right away,” says Bartholomi.
Although he never imposed the restaurant career on his children, Bartholomi has imparted the value of work and respect.
“I hope they learned that if you want something, you really have to work for it. Nothing comes from the sky,” he says —CONTRIBUTED