Oct. 14--THE hotel and resorts unit of property developer Ayala Land, Inc. (ALI) will be closing the Marriott Hotel in Cebu City by the end of the year for refurbishment and a 2018 reopening under the homegrown Seda brand.
AyalaLand Hotels and Resorts Corp.'s (AHRC) contract with Mariott International Hotels will expire at the end of December and officials said the decision to rebrand was reached given gains in Seda hotel operations.
AHRC President and CEO Al Legaspi expressed appreciation for the Marriott Cebu's performance over the past 20 years, saying it had helped boost the growth of the Cebu Business Park (CBP) and the rest of Cebu City.
"Seda in CBP will be our biggest hotel in the Visayas which is but fitting given Cebu City's transformation as a global business center," Legaspi said.
The project will be the first Seda to be established in Cebu.
"Seda, which now has 1,255 rooms throughout the country, is ready to fill the needs of CBP locators and visitors," Legaspi claimed.
Officials said that since a 2012 launch, the Seda hotel brand had since grown to include locations in Bonifacio Global City, Cagayan de Oro City, Davao City, Iloilo City, Nuvali in Laguna It recently opened the biggest hotel in the Quezon City with 438 rooms, a ballroom and a presidential suite.
Officials said they were aiming to double room inventory over the next two years.