Hotel 101-fort makes for a sound investment

Hotel 101 Group general manager Lei Apostol, DoubleDragon sales head Tina Dy, DoubleDragon chief investment officer Hannah Yulo, and DoubleDragon president Ferdinand Sia at the launch of Hotel 101-Fort

By 2020, a 33-storey business and leisure hotel is expected to rise within the bustling business district that is Bonifacio Global City.

Hotel 101-Fort, which is being developed by a unit of DoubleDragon Properties Corp., will be offering by that time 606 well appointed hotel rooms, a three-level podium with specialty retail shops and dining outlets, as well as an amenity floor.

For tourists and even those traveling for work, the addition of a three-star hotel within the BGC area should be a welcome development as one will be afforded a new hotel choice backed by a reputable company such as DoubleDragon.

Hassle-free

For investors, Hotel 101-Fort offers an opportunity to earn additional income through its condotel proposition.

DoubleDragon chair Edgar “Injap” Sia II explained in an interview that this condotel concept is a relatively hassle-free investment as one need only to buy a unit, and sign a contract with the property management company, which will then be tasked to manage your unit.

Thirty percent of the total gross room revenues will be divided equally among all the investors or unit owners. The income share is usually credited to their accounts every 16th of the following month.

According to Sia, Hotel 101-Fort is the second hotel to be launched under the flagship homegrown brand of Hotel Asia Inc., a unit of DoubleDragon. The official launch, which signaled the start of pre-selling, was held last March 14.

The first was Hotel 101-Manila, which has been in operations for about a year and half.

“So now we got the model right and we’re at this stage that we’re ready to aggressively roll out and duplicate the concept nationwide. That’s where we are now—we’re ramping up the expansion because we have the confidence (on the back of) a working prototype that is Hotel 101-Manila,” Sia explained.

“So the second one is Fort and hopefully, we will have the sales launch for the other 101 hotels in Davao, Bohol and Boracay this year,” he added.

Strategic location

Meanwhile, DoubleDragon chief investment officer Hannah Yulo said on the sidelines of the launch that Hotel 101-Fort boasts of a “superior location” that will bring value to the market.

“Hotel 101-Fort has a beautiful location as it’s just a few minutes walking distance from the shopping district of BGC. I believe it’s going to be the only three-star hotel at Fort. We’re a business and leisure hotel. I think that being in this location and given the price points we’re looking at, Hotel 101-Fort is going to bring a lot of value in the market,” Yulo explained.

She noted that Hotel 101-Fort actually has a “superior location, and so we expect very good room rates, which would be higher than the existing ones in Hotel 101-Manila.”

“We envision Hotel 101 to become the largest and most recognized hotel chain in the Philippines with Hotel 101-Fort standing as one of our premium, flagship properties. Its enviable location puts you at the center of business and pleasure,” added Sia, according to a statement issued during the sales launch.

Meeting targets

Hotel 101-Fort formed part of the target hospitality portfolio of DoubleDragon by 2020.

According to Yulo, the target was to have 5,000 rooms, 4,000 of which will come from the Hotel 101 brand while the remaining will come from Jinjiang Inn.

“We have secured 74 percent of the 5,000 rooms in terms of landbank, and in terms of securing projects, including the 866 operational rooms,” she added.

The hospitality segment is just one of the four businesses under DoubleDragon.

The target was to have a total of 1.2 million sqm of leasable space, 700,000 sqm of which would come from community malls through the Citymall brand; 300,000 sqm from office spaces; 100,000 sqm from the 5,000 rooms; and 100,000 sqm from Central Hub, the company’s industrial leasing business.