Hard work, resolve have propelled Seda’s first female GM to the top
GWEN Dela Cruz achieves a milestone as the first female general manager (GM) of the homegrown chain of business-leisure hotels, Seda. At the helm of the Seda Ayala Center Cebu (ACC), the flagship property of the brand in the Visayas, she is distinguished from other Filipino GMs for her extensive experience in luxury hotels and resorts here and abroad. Her vision is to share her expertise in order to make the 301-room Seda ACC the region’s hotel of choice.
In addition to impressive credentials, Ms. Dela Cruz was fortunate to work with mentors in prestigious properties in Asia who taught her how to be a Jill-ofall-trades from cleaning bathrooms to keeping rooms and restaurants full and crunching numbers to delighting royalty and discerning guests.
She also welcomed the challenges of being an executive assistant to an international chain’s CEO which allowed her to work with GMs of different nationalities and acquire their insights on the nuances of five-star hospitality and how to be a people’s person.
Like most hoteliers, Ms. Dela Cruz, an accounting graduate from Ateneo de Zamboanga, started with a modest position as a secretary at a deluxe hotel in Makati.
Ms. Dela Cruz counted working in Shangri-la Kuala Lumpur, ranked by Conde Nast Traveller as the Malaysian capital’s No. 1 hotel, as one of the highlights of her career.
Last October 2018, she consolidated her long experience by accepting the post as GM of Seda ACC, owned by the Ayala Group. She was impressed with Seda’s international standards infused with genuine Filipino hospitality and its rapid growth of eight hotels since 2012.
She was attracted to Seda because of its family-oriented work culture and that it provides its associates a work-life balance. “As in most hotels, it is results-driven, yet everyone truly supports each other and has fun,” she said.