DoubleDragon adds Bohol, Boracay to hotel portfolio

Real estate builder DoubleDragon Properties Corp. is expanding its hospitality business by bringing its Hotel 101 brand to Boracay and Bohol, two of the country’s popular beach destinations.

The upcoming beachfront hotels in Boracay and Bohol, to be launched later this year, will add to the three Hotel 101 properties already operating or are under construction.

DoubleDragon chair Edgar Sia II said in an e-mail the group was investing P2.23 billion to build the 519-room Hotel 101 in Davao City, which would be Mindanao’s biggest hotel. The Davao hotel would break ground in the last quarter of the year and may open in 2020.

Sia added the 608-room Hotel 101-Fort Bonifacio, now under construction, would cost P2.9 billion.

Hotel 101 is a brand of Hotel of Asia Inc. (HOA), a subsidiary of DoubleDragon, which aims to have a total of 5,000 hotel rooms in its portfolio by 2020.

To date, HOA operates the Hotel 101-Manila near Mall of Asia. The hotel rooms are offered to real estate investors in exchange for an opportunity to earn from its occupancy.

“We envision Hotel 101 to become the largest and most recognized hotel chain in the Philippines, significantly contributing to the recurring income of DoubleDragon, and at the same time providing the market with an innovative, safe and secure investment platform,” Sia said.

Sia said these new projects were in line with the company’s vision to make DoubleDragon “the most dominant player in the Philippine real estate sectors of community mall retail leasing, industrial leasing and hotels.”

Apart from Hotel 101, HOA is also exclusive master franchisee of JinJiang Inn in the Philippines. JinJiang Inn, one of the largest hotel chains in China, is seen to cater to growing tourists from mainland China. HOA currently operates two JinJiang Inns in the Philippines, one located along San Miguel Avenue in Ortigas and another located along Pasay Road in Makati.

JinJiang Inn-Boracay and Ascott-DD Meridian Park Manila would also start construction this year, Sia said.

In Davao, the upcoming Hotel 101 is a joint venture between HOA and Davao-based W2JP2 Corp. It will rise on a 5,300-square-meter prime commercial lot located at Eco West Drive near SM City-Davao. Rooms would be priced at P2,500 to P2,800 per night.

Apart from the hotel rooms, the upcoming property would have a commercial and retail strip, and facilities to cater to conventions.

DoubleDragon recently upgraded its 2020 goal, targeting 1.2 million square meters of leasable space with a mix of office leasing, community mall retail leasing, industrial leasing and hotels.