HOTEL BUILT BY IMELDA MARCOS IN LEYTE ENDS OPERATIONS

TACLOBAN CITY—A premier hotel formerly owned by former first lady Imelda Marcos and leased by a private company from the Leyte provincial government has ceased operations after almost 12 years since it reopened under a new management.

The Oriental Leyte Hotel in Palo town stopped operating on April 6 but the management declined to explain why it chose to close down the hotel.

In a statement posted on its social media account, the Oriental Leyte Hotel expressed its gratitude to all its previous guests and to its employees for their service.

“It is with profound emotions that we bid farewell and express our deepest gratitude for your unending support and patronage of the Oriental Hotel over the past 12 years,” it said in a statement.

“As we officially close our doors on April 6, 2024, at 10 p.m., we thank you from the bottom of our hearts for being a part of our uniquely Oriental journey,” the hotel management added.

Former First Lady Imelda Marcos ordered the construction of the hotel in 1983, which was then known as the MacArthur Park Beach Resort.

In 2012, the hotel reopened as Oriental Leyte Hotel. But it was destroyed a year after when Super Typhoon Yolanda pummeled Leyte. It opened again in 2016 after extensive repairs.

The Oriental Hotel Leyte, which is located just beside the MacArthur Shrine National Memorial Park in Palo, is part of The Oriental Hotels and Resorts chain of LKY Group of Companies.

Lease agreement

It had a 25-year lease agreement with the provincial government of Leyte, which owns the facility when it became part of the properties of the Marcoses sequestered by the government after the fall of strongman Ferdinand Marcos Sr. in 1986.

While it was enjoying good business since it reopened in 2016, the travel restrictions imposed at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic between 2020 and 2022 saw the hotel’s booking sales and patronage decline.