HAVE you met Henry?
Before I did, the name of The Henry’s
General Manager, Mirro Reperruga, already caught my interest in a social gathering I
attended recently. But while his name sounds
foreign, Mirro is actually Filipino, and
he’s at the helm of The Henry,
a chic 38-room boutique at One Paseo Saturnino Center
along Ma. Luisa Road in Banilad, Cebu City.
A day before super typhoon Yolanda hit the Visayas, I spent a leisurely afternoon
with Mirro Reperruga after meeting Henry who stands guard at the hotel lobby. The Henry is the first boutique hotel in Cebu City, and it’s owned by the Hospitality Int’l. Inc. (HI!), the country’s first design-driven lodging properties. HI! operates hotels, condotels, residential condominiums and serviced residences—like the Joya Lofts and Towers in Rockwell in Makati, Ramada Manila Central in Binondo, Crosswinds Resort Suites in Tagaytay and The Picasso serviced residences in Alabang, just to name a few.
Over special culinary creations of Rica King Deen of Rica’s Restaurant, a concessionaire of The Henry, which serves the dining needs guests, I got to know more about The Henry and its owning company.
HI! was founded by Luis Monserrat in 1998 after years of management and marketing experience with Citibank, Coca-Cola in Mexico and the Philippines plus stints in Latin America and the Caribbean as Director of E & J Gallo Wineries. While I was all ears as Mirro talked about the growing company, Eugene Gozun, Rica’s operations manager, made sure we enjoyed its popular dishes—Mixed Green Salad with three kinds of lettuce, balsamic dressing and herb sticks; Al Quatro Formaggi or 4-cheese pizza, Baked Sea Bass, Pork Steak served with buttered mashed potato. I tried all the dishes and then the delicious desserts: Frozen Brazo Mantecado, a delightful twist of Brazo de Mercedes with layers of meringue, custard, ice cream on graham crust, and Muddy Crepe filled with cookies and cream spread. According to Mirro, The Henry room bookings are inclusive of a set breakfast at Rica’s, but they will offer a buffet spread soon.
A tour of The Henry had me admiring its spacious and artistically decorated rooms. Here are regionally sourced materials given a hip European look.
All 38 rooms (classified as Big, Large, X-Large and XX-Large) have their own distinct character dominated by a mural on its wall. (Some of them reminded me of artists’ lofts and art galleries in SOHO, New York City.) The Henry guarantees that every guest of theirs will have a unique, pleasurable and inspiring experience.