Cebu hotel continues to focus on Sky adventure market

Experience gliding in the air atop one building to another with only a harness and a wire holding you from a 473 feet drop to the pavement below.

That’s what Crown Regency Hotel and Tower offers to foreign and local tourists as they opened their dual-line zip line facility connecting Tower 1, or the Crown Regency, to Tower 3, or the Ultima Residences. It is one of the first zip line rides in an urban setting.

“The zip line is about 76 meters long or 250 feet in distance and takes you up to 473 feet in the air from Tower 1 to Tower 3,” said  Richard Cole, consultant for safety and security standards of their extreme adventure segment.

The zip line, however, is one of the newest addition to the Crown Regency’s Sky adventure packages—the Sky  Extreme Adventure and Sky Experience Adventure packages.

Richard J. King, chairman of J. King and Sons, said in 2009 that the Sky adventure activities would place the hotel in a strategic position since it might not be the tallest building in the next couple of years.

J. King and Sons is the property developer of Fuente Triangle Property, which includes the Crown Regency Hotel and Tower and Ultima Residences at Osmeña Boulevard, Cebu City.

King has continued to invest in the Sky adventure brand.

Cole said with the growing popularity of the sky adventure brand, King is investing on five more adventure offerings.

Within the year, Cole said they would be offering the next exciting rides in their facility which would include Airgliders, Free Fall at the Drop Zone, the Vertex, the Cliff Hanger and the Sky Lift.

The Sky adventure brand started with the Sky Experience adventure packages in 2008 with the edge roller coaster as its main attraction.

The coaster ride literally goes around the edge on the 35th floor of the 45-story building.

King said the ride was the first of its kind in the world.

The Sky Extreme Adventure, which was launched in April, includes the zip line and wall climbing packages.

At present, the adventure packages have become popular among foreign and local tourists.

Cole said many tour groups who come to the facility consider the rides among the “must tries” in Cebu.

“Well, this is the only place that you can experience these adventures that’s located within the city and you don’t have to go all the way to the mountains to experience especially the zip line and the wall climbing, which are the first two offerings we have for the Sky Extreme Adventure,” he said.

Cole said they opened Sky Extreme Adventure in April this year starting off with the 10 meters by 10 meters Paramount Climbing Wall in Valentines Day this year.

“The Paramount Climbing Wall is at the 40th level of the building, 468 feet from the ground,” Cole said.

Cole said there are many people who now visits the place to try out their offerings especially during the weekends.

“We open from 2 p.m. to midnight during weekdays and 10 a.m. to 1 a.m. on Saturdays and until midnight on Sundays. This is because there are more people who come during weekends than on weekdays,” he said.

The adventure starts at the 35th floor of the 45 story Crown Regency Hotel, where the first segment of the adventure activities are housed like the Edge Roller Coaster and the Sky Walk Extreme among others.

“The Sky Experience Adventure opened about two to three years ago before we opened the Sky Extreme Adventure which starts from the 40th floor up to the 45th floor. The Sky Experience Adventure starts from the 35th floor to the 38th floor,” Cole said.

For the Sky Experience Adventure, they offer three Combo packages including Combo 1 at P550 for access pass, one ride and a souvenir shirt, Combo 2 offers the same plus one more ride at P750 while the third Combo offers three rides plus the souvenir shirt and the access pass for only P1,000. For an access pass, one only needs to pay P250.

Activities and facilities at the Sky Experience Adventures aside from the already well received Edge Coaster and Sky Walk Extreme includes the Sky Bar, Sparkz Restobar, Stratus International, Sky Lounge, and the 4-D Theater.

At present, Cole has 10 well-trained staff who help him in managing the facility and ensuring their customers’ safety.

There are six Combos offered for Sky Extreme Adventure. Combo 1 offers one ride and a souvenir for only P600 Combos 2 to 6 offer two to six rides and a souvenir T-shirt at P1,200, P1,800, P2,400, P3,000, and P3,600.

“Basically the rates are at P600 per ride.”