BACOLOD | SM Casa Hotel [10F|hot]

[thomasian]

SM hospitality arm to build 14 hotels for tourists, OFWs
By Lovely Nica P. Lee
19 Nov 2007
Source: BusinessWorld

THE HOTEL Investments Group of listed holding firm SM Investments Corp. is planning to put up a hotel chain nationwide in order to tap the growing consumers in the domestic tourism market.

To be called Casa SM, the hotel will be built in 14 sites that the company has yet to be determined by the company. The hotels, which will be marketed to local tourists and overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) visiting the country, will feature a minimum of 50 rooms at an average size of 24 square meters each and will have a rate of P2,000 per night.

"We’re fine-tuning the 14 sites. Once we select the sites, we’ll finalize the [budget]," said Merril F. Yu, senior vice-president of the Hotel Investments Group. "There’s a growing demand for hotel accommodations from multiple users in second- and third-tier locations and we’re going in those areas," he added. Mr. Yu also said that the strategy was to open one Casa SM in places where the SM malls exist. There are 30 SM malls nationwide.

"As the tourist number increases, we want to develop hotels that add value to SM products," he said. "We’d like to capture synergies of an existing mall structure and build a hotel [near the mall]," he added. Mr. Yu said the group aims to open two beta sites by the end of 2009, which would serve as the springboard to the balance of the 12 other units they would be coming up.

He also noted the possibility of partnering with an international management operator for the hotels depending on how many rooms a site requires. The Hotel Investment Group is now busy completing the expansion of Taal Vista Hotel from 128 rooms to 262 rooms, Mr. Yu added.

He said the group has also jump-started the renovation and conversion of the 400-room Cebu hotel beside SM City Cebu into a five-star operation by Sofitel of the Accor Group, a European hotel management firm.

The P2.8-billion five-star hotel was designed by United States-based master planner and architect Wimberly Allison Tong and Goo. Preparations are also being made for a Radisson Hotel in the Mall of Asia Complex which will have about 400 rooms, Mr. Yu said.

The hotel will be developed and managed by Carlson Hotels Asia Pacific, and aims to be the country’s premier business and tourism district by the Manila Bay. The Hotel Investment Group is positioned as a progressive development group that will optimize multiple investment vehicles in travel and tourism, and consequently, add value to the existing businesses of SM Investments.

The group contributes 8% in the total revenues of SM Investments Corp.’s property development business. SM Investments is the Sy family’s publicly listed holding firm, which handles its real estate, retail merchandising, shopping malls, and banking businesses.

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SMIC to build hotel chain near SM malls
By Honey Madrilejos-Reyes
19 Nov 2007
Source: Business Mirror

SM Investments Corp. (SMIC), the publicly-traded holding firm led by shopping-mall mogul Henry Sy, will put up a hotel chain for businessmen to bolster its position in the country’s growing tourism industry.

In an interview, senior vice president for hotel investments group Merril F. Yu said the plan is to build the hotels near the SM shopping malls to make them more enticing to clients.

“Our plan is to test the market first by starting with two hotels. Our target is to put up a total of 14, which we hope to complete in the next two years,” he said. They will consist of 50 rooms, with an average rate of P2,000 per day. Yu said that SM Investments will likely tap an international operator to manage the hotels.

Earlier, SMIC tapped European hotel operator Accor to run its P2.8-billion hotel in Mactan, Cebu. The five-star hotel has 400 rooms and forms part of the Sofitel brand of international hotels.

It is expected to open in December 2008. Other SM hotel projects in the pipeline are two hotels in SM BayCity to include the recently announced Microtel project; a hotel in Hamilo Coast; and boutique hotels in selected sites in Luzon and the Visayas. Next year, SMIC is spending P15.6 billion to fund its property projects, including hotels.

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SM mulls boutique hotels near malls
19 Nov 2007
Source: Malaya

SM Investment Corp. plans to build a string of boutique hotels of 50 rooms each near the SM malls nationwide. For starters, the conglomerate is assessing possible sites in 14 malls.

SM is currently building a series of residential condominium buildings adjacent to its malls. Merril F. Yu, SM Investments senior vice president for hotel investments group, said the the company will break ground in two "beta sites" next year.

The two "beta sites" would be operational by end 2009, according to Yu. "This will allow to capture the synergy of two existing structures and add value to them", said Yu. Yun said SM will invest P1.7 million per room for its hotel business.

SM Investments would tap outside expertise in running the hotels, according to Yu. SM Investments earlier also used its mall as a pivot factor in developing its condominium development in two projects in Manila.

"SM Mezza" is a four tower residential project SM Developments Corp., SM Investment’s unit, is developing adjacent to the SM Sta. Mesa mall. The "Grass Residences" meanwhile is a similar three-tower development that will rise beside the SM North Edsa in Quezon City.

SM Investments meanwhile intends to spend roughly P26 billion for capital expenditures by 2008, with focus on property, tourism and mall development. SM Investments executive vice president Jose Sio said roughly P15.6 billion would be spent for property development.

About P6 billion will be set aside for mall expansion and SM’s retail and banking businesses will be budgeted P2 billion and P2.3 billion respectively. Sio said about P7 billion of the intended capex "may be funded by borrowings" with the balance to come from cash from operations.

[thomasian]

[Dvorak]

i think this is a very good move by SM.. kaya lang sana they priced it below 2,000 per room, para mas mag click.. dapat nasa 1T to 1.5T range lang.. at bawal dapat short time! hehehe

[thomasian]

Feeling ko yun nga ang iniiwasan, kaya they placed it on the 2K range.

Anyone has ideas on the first two location?

My SSC instinct tells me SM North EDSA is one. Instinct also tells me it may be built behind Grass Res., yung gray box sa likod ng center tower sa rendering. I hope I'm right.

[--SuperB0y--]

nope, that's parking buildings eh. baka dun sa harap ng grass since meron pang for future development dun.

[anone]

Tama si Dvorak. Dapat nasa range lang ng P1000 to P1500 para mag click. Dahil marami akong kilala dito na mga taga probinsya na sa Mabuhay Hotel tumutuloy pag pumupunta ng Manila.

[bustero]

not really a new idea but it will nice to see how sm one of the country's biggest companies implements this.

[thomasian]

Originally Posted by -TC-

Good idea for a budget hotel but the name Casa SM sounds like.... errr .... a cheap motel to me. See the thread title and you know what I mean (with the shortcut 'hot' for hotel in the title pa). Better branding sana. Or just make sure minimum is 24 hrs.

I don't know, but it sounds so classy to me. Like it's some sosyal na hotel. Tapos Spanish pa yung name, not bad at all.

[stephenpdavid]

Kapag "SM" ang nakikita ko..naaalala ko pa rin ang "ShoeMart"...hehehe

[leechtat]

wow.. great news.. may bago nanaman ako mapupuntahang motel.. haha.. joke... pero ang mura ha... nice...

[lightsaber46]

SM Investments’ hotel group to build two units within 2008
http://www.bworldonline.com/BW030308/content.php?id=042

THE HOTEL Investments Group of SM Investments Corp. is ready to build its first two homegrown hotels within the year.

"We’re very close to selecting the first two sites. They will break ground probably in the middle of this year and then construction and completion time will be about two years," said Merril F. Yu, senior vice-president of the Hotel Investments Group.

In an interview, Mr. Yu said the hotels, to be named SM Inns, will be built according to the property size with a cost of P1.4 million per room.

"There are two types depending on the site potential. There will be a larger development of about 150 rooms and a smaller one probably about 50 rooms," he said.

Mr. Yu stopped short of identifying the hotels’ location, only that these will be adjacent or near an SM mall.

"We would like to increase synergy with the malls so we’re targeting [to locate them in] about half of the malls. Next year, we’re looking [to do] possibly five," he said.

SM Prime Holdings, the mall operator subsidiary of SM Investments, ended 2007 with 30 malls. It will open this year three additional outlets in Pangasinan, Marikina and Bulacan.

With an initial overnight stay rate of P2,000, the hotels will be catering to local business travellers, domestic tourism and overseas workers who are on vacation, Mr. Yu said.

He added the group is considering local and foreign entities to manage the hotels.

"The inns would be handled by a management partner similar to what we have done in Cebu with our Sofitel which is under the Accor brand and in Mall of Asia, the Radisson Hotel with the Carlson brand. We’re looking for professional operators who have the expertise to make our investments one of the top hotels," Mr. Yu said.

Mr. Yu added that the group will be opening the Cebu Sofitel by the end of the year and break ground the Radisson Hotel in Mall of Asia.

The Hotel Investments Group serves as SM Investments’ development group aimed at the travel and tourism market.

It contributes 8% in the total revenues of SM Investments, the listed holding firm of the Sy family, which has businesses in the real estate, retail merchandising, shopping malls and banking. — Lovely Nica P. Lee
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From the article I think its now called SM Inns and to will be launch this year, much earlier than 2009; if this is the same project.

[MakatiBoy]

Originally Posted by thomasian

I don't know, but it sounds so classy to me. Like it's some sosyal na hotel. Tapos Spanish pa yung name, not bad at all.

Yeah, ala armani (www.armanicasa.com).

[^sneakers^]

gawin na lang Casa Esse Emme. kaso pinalitan na e. SM Inns na.

[Waldenstrom]

Can't they put away the SM Logo? It sucks.

[thomasian]

From the hotel thread.

Originally Posted by mambo

SM diversifies, to build 14 hotels in 5 years

SM Investments Corp. will this year start building two of the 14 low-rise hotels that it wants to build within five years through its hotel arm.

“The company will soon conduct ground breaking for the two hotels,” Merril Yu, senior vice president of SMIC Investment Group, said after the company’s stockholders’ meeting Friday.

He refused to say where the company would build the hotels, apart from saying the 14 would rise up within the SM group’s 30 shopping malls.

One of the two hotels to be built starting this year will have 50 rooms, and the other 150. Their construction cost is estimated at P280 million at P1.4 million per room.

The size of the rooms in the planned 14 low-rise hotels will be 24 square meters, and the developer plans to charge just P2,000 a night to make them affordable to locals.

Earlier, Yu said the company’s low-rise hotels would compete with Days Hotels and other boutique hotels here. Days Hotels operates properties in Tagaytay, Subic Bay, Batangas, Bais, Mactan and Iloilo. It plans to build more hotels in Makati, Baguio City, Boracay, Bohol, Davao, General Santos City, Camiguin and Palawan.

The low-rise hotels apart, SMIC Hotel Investment Group is also building a P2.8-billion five-star hotel in Mactan. It recently signed a contract with European firm Accor to operate a 400-room Sofitel hotel here.

The company is also building the 400-room Radisson Hotel within the Mall of Asia Complex and plans to put up a P450-million hotel in Batangas.

The company is now expanding its Vista Hotel in Tagaytay City to 260 rooms from 128 at a cost of P650 million. That expansion will also add a 1,000-seat ballroom and six meeting rooms to the property. Jenniffer B. Austria, Manila Standard 28/04/2008

[-TC-]

...In an interview, Mr. Yu said the hotels, to be named SM Inns...

The thread title should now be "SM Inns [hot] - Metro Manila" since we don't know the exact locations yet and perhaps this thread should be temporarily placed in the subforum "Manila and the Rest of the Metro". Otherwise, this thread will be floating around in limbo.

[Eriq]

They should rename it to "Bed and Dine SM" or BDSM.

[Il Tenore]

Originally Posted by thomasian

Feeling ko yun nga ang iniiwasan, kaya they placed it on the 2K range.

Anyone has ideas on the first two location?

My SSC instinct tells me SM North EDSA is one. Instinct also tells me it may be built behind Grass Res., yung gray box sa likod ng center tower sa rendering. I hope I'm right.

ang pangit ng logo..

sana palitan ang font into Times New Roman tapos Silver ang color.. naks! bagay na!

[rover3]

Originally Posted by stephenpdavid

Kapag "SM" ang nakikita ko..naaalala ko pa rin ang "ShoeMart"...hehehe

SM? Hmmm. Wait until foreigners get ahold of that. Magiging Casa S&M. So it'll have a reputation of being a chain of Sado-Masochism parlors.

[Eriq]

SM Hostel