Seda Hotel allots P15B to finish 9 developments

SEDA HOTEL is investing P15 billion to complete nine developments and quadruple its portfolio to 3,282 rooms and serviced apartments by 2019.

The homegrown brand of Ayala Land Hotels and Resorts Corp. ( AHRC) will open 2,400 more rooms within the next three years, Melissa J. Carlos, group director of sales and marketing, said in a media briefing in Taguig City on Wednesday.

The incoming inventory, which includes 555 serviced apartments, will add to the existing 817 rooms in Seda BGC in Taguig City, Seda Centrio in Cagayan de Oro City, Seda Abreeza in Davao City, Seda Nuvali in Laguna and Seda Atria in Iloilo City.

In April, the subsidiary of Ayala Land, Inc. will open its biggest city hotel with 438 rooms — Seda Vertis North — in the emerging business district of Quezon City. It will next bring 150 rooms online at Seda Capitol Central in Bacolod in July.

AHRC will then launch Seda Lio within the fourth quarter for meeting, incentives, conferences and events, destination weddings, families and foreign leisure travelers. It will offer 153 rooms in lowrise buildings within a 345-hectare tourism estate in El Nido, Palawan.

In 2018, the company will open Seda Circuit Makati, which will have 255 rooms, and a second tower offering 294 rooms and 48 serviced apartments catering to long-stay guests within the Bonifacio Global City (BGC) in Taguig.

“We have particularly been successful in BGC and continue to be despite the opening of new hotels in the area and in the nearby Makati,” Ms. Carlos said.

Seda BGC — the flagship property of AHRC — registered an average occupancy rate of 87% last year, compared with the 65% industry average. Also, the hotel’s room rates have increased 10% annually since 2013.

“These increases indicate sustained demand for rooms in our BGC location, mostly by BPO ( business process outsourcing) business travelers in their 20s and 30s as opposed to Makati’s more senior travelers,” Ms. Carlos said.

The second Seda BGC tower, which will interconnect with the current hotel in three levels, will require P2.1 billion in investments. It allow for the expansion of the existing property’s all- day dining outlet to seat 300 guests and function rooms to accommodate 450 people.

AHRC will open four more hotels in 2019. The pipeline includes Seda City Gates beside the Makati Medical Center and Seda Central Block in Cebu City, which will offer 293 and 214 serviced apartments, respectively.

The company founded in 2012 will open 350 rooms in Seda Bay Area in Pasay City and 265 rooms in Seda Arca South in Taguig City within 2019.

“Seda has been successful in highly underserved areas,” Ms. Carlos said, noting the operational Seda Hotels have posted occupancy rates hovering above 70% and guest repeat rate of 42% or more than double the 15-20% industry average.

“Across all out properties, our guest satisfaction scores ranged from 83-86%, which is way above the industry average hovering in the ’70s. All our hotels also took the number one slot in their category in each of their cities,” Ms. Carlos added.