MANILA, Philippines — Fans of luxury hotel chain Four Seasons — who must be wondering why the hospitality brand has so far skipped the Philippine market — now need not fret.
We hear that Malaysian tycoon Ong Beng Seng, managing director of Singapore-listed Hotel Properties, which owns the Four Seasons in Singapore, and franchise holder of the Singapore Formula One Grand Prix, has finally taken an interest in the Philippines.
No less than the first couple has apparently convinced Ong to enter the Philippine market. Apparently, those F1 visits of President Marcos and first lady Liza Marcos have originated some deals.
Ong himself had already flown to the country to scout for possible locations, and we mean he’s not interested in just one.
Four Seasons is expected to break into Metro Manila’s hospitality scene as well as in some of the country’s top beach destinations, well-placed sources told Biz Buzz.
Now, that’s one great news to greet the new year.
—DORIS DUMLAO-ABADILLA
Lockers for VVIP stash
Union Bank of the Philippines, whose roster of ultra-wealthy clientele scaled up with the integration of Citibank’s local retail and consumer business, has built for these affluent people a safe haven for tangible assets that they need to stash away.
We’re talking about family heirlooms or valuable documents that VVIPs don’t want to keep at home.
These are not the typical safe deposit boxes offered by banks. Instead of keys, they can only be opened with the user’s biometrics in true James Bond fashion.
The individual storage units, or lockers for the rich, come in different configurations. They can store jewelry, watches and some can even fit framed paintings.
The vault, located at the basement of UnionBank’s The Ark branch on Ayala Avenue in Makati, is also offered as a place for these VVIPs to hang out while inspecting their stash.
Ana Maria Aboitiz Delgado, who will officially take over as UnionBank president in the new year, had talked about this high-tech vault being constructed for VVIP clients a year ago.
Now, the place is all set for an official launch in the coming weeks as part of UnionBank’s wealth center.
No need to go to Switzerland or the Cayman Islands to get that topnotch private banking vault experience.