Families cash in on Aklan hotel demand

KALIBO, Aklan—Guests arriving at Garcia Legaspi Mansion in Aklan’s capital town of Kalibo will not miss Gerwin Garcia.

At the check-in counter, he welcomes them, ensures them that all their needs are provided for, acts as their driver and tour guide, and even wakes them up so they won’t miss their flight.

Gerwin also happens to be the owner and manager of the seven-room hotel.

“Many guests are surprised to later find out that I own the hotel because I’m hands-on in running it and servicing our clients,” he says.

Quality service

While he maintains a five-member hotel staff, Gerwin works hard to render quality service to their guests.

Garcia Legaspi Mansion is among the oldest and most popular hotels in Kalibo. It occupies the third floor of the family-owned mansion on Roxas Avenue.

Gerwin and his family live on the second floor while a commercial bank and a store rent the ground floor.

Still, the hotel is sought-after by tourists, especially during the Ati-Atihan festival every January because of its location at the heart of the capital. It is one of the many hotels that are directly managed by owners and converted from residences. The owners, who usually act as manager, also live in the building.

“We have a shortage of hotel rooms here, especially during the Ati-Atihan Festival, and many families decided to invest in hotels and pension houses by renovating their houses and adding rooms,” says Gerwin, president of the Kalibo Ati-Atihan Accommodations Association.

These include Glow Moon Inn, Ambito Pension, La Esperanza Hotel, Villa Atong-Atang, Little Glow Moon, Judith’s Pension, Queen’s Inn, Center Parkway Pension House and the Suburbia Garden Hotel.

Gerwin says the 25 members of the association have a total of 440 rooms. The number may be enough during regular days, but there’s a shortage during the peak season from October to March and especially during the Ati-Atihan, when tens of thousands of tourists and devotees flock to the festival held in honor of the Child Jesus.

Ati-Atihan festival

Held every third week of January, the festival is famous for its religiosity and spontaneous street-dancing and merrymaking, popularly known as sadsad. It is unique because there is no specific performance area and revelers can join competing tribes performing in the streets.

Hotel rooms for the Ati-Atihan are usually booked much earlier, even a year before. Guests who cannot be accommodated are billeted in the neighboring towns of Numancia and New Washington, while many others stay in the houses of friends and relatives, Gerwin says.

“That’s why many homes open their doors to guests,” he says.

Hotels owned and run by families in Kalibo have clear advantages. Guests can directly address any requests to the owners, most of whom live there.

“We try to make the stay of our guests here as comfortable as possible and they are part of our celebration every year,” Gerwin says.

The opening of direct flights from Korea and Taiwan to Kalibo for tourists going to Boracay Island increased the need for more hotels in the town. Modern hotels have started sprouting in Kalibo and neighboring areas.

Gerwin says he plans to invest in another hotel building with modern amenities and more rooms. But he says his older hotel and other family-run hotels and pension houses will always be part of the town.

“We worked hard to run and maintain these hotels and these also reflect the pride and hospitality of residents,” he says.