Robinsons Land opens 2 budget hotels in Visayas

Manila — Property developer Robinsons Land Corp. has added 200 rooms to its growing hotel portfolio with the opening of two more budget hotels in Visayas under the gohotels.ph brand—one in Tacloban and another in Dumaguete.

In a press statement yesterday, gohotels.ph general manager Elizabeth D. Gregorio said the two new no-frills hotels in these “largely untapped” cities were located beside Robinsons malls. As such, they are seen benefiting from the synergy since the mall will make it more convenient for their guests looking for dining, shopping and entertainment options.

The 102-room Dumaguete branch had a soft opening last March 27 while the 98-room Tacloban hotel held a soft opening last April 26. The Tacloban gohotel will have a grand opening this May 16 but there is no schedule yet for the grand opening of the Dumaguete hotel.

The 200 rooms added to the gohotels.ph chain by the two new branches raised gohotel’s total portfolio to 600 rooms in five branches.

Operating under the motto “A place for every Juan,” gohotels.ph promises clean, affordable, secure and strategically located but no-frills hotel rooms, mostly through online booking. Pricing is variable, similar to the system used by RLC’s affiliate airline Cebu Pacific—also part of the Gokongwei group—in which the rate is cheaper the earlier a client books. Typically, the price of a room a night will range from a low of P388 pesos to a high as P2,088 plus value added tax.

Dumaguete is known as a university town with at least four universities located in the city proper, namely, Silliman, Foundation, Negros Oriental and St. Paul. As such, RLC is upbeat on the demand for hotels in the area. The gohotels branch in Dumaguete is seen to benefit from the transport terminal beside the mall, which will be completed soon.

“The quiet city of Dumaguete has recently seen a surge in tourism because the lush marine life off the beaches of nearby Dauin and Apo Island has been attracting a rising number of local and foreign scuba diving enthusiasts,” the RLC statement said.

“The local economy is also booming as the high level of education of its residents and the presence of the university have attracted business process outsourcing firms into setting up operations in the city,” it added.

On the other hand, gohotels Tacloban is seen to help map out the city as a tourism hotspot. The city boasts of its relatively untapped natural attractions and a rich historical heritage. It was in Tacloban where General Douglas MacArthur fulfilled his famous promise to “return” to the Philippines and liberate it from the Japanese occupation during World War II.

Gregorio said gohotels would also cater to travelers and businessmen from other parts of Leyte, Samar and Cebu due to the proximity of access roads and existing land, sea and air transport terminals.

Aside from the new gohotels branch, RLC has added an annex to its Robinsons Place Tacloban Mall, which the property developer described as “a huge success.” RLC has counted over 18 million visitors to the Tacloban mall in just two years after opening its doors to the city.

After the opening of its 223-room pilot branch in Mandaluyong City, RLC has reported a strong demand for gohotels, which focuses on essential travel services such as the quality of its bed and bath facilities and does not charge guests for frills they do not need.
RLC’s plan is to roll out 30 gohotels over the next five years, ideally adjacent to its shopping malls./INQUIRER