addtional info:
SM hotel in Cebu is Radisson Hotel
Inquirer.Net
First Posted 09:12:00
05 September 2008
THE first SM hotel in Cebu will be named Radisson Hotel,
not Sofitel, and will be managed by Carlson Hotels Worldwide-Asia Pacific.
SM Investments Corp. (SMIC), the hotel investment arm of the SM Group, announced yesterday that it has signed its third management agreement with Carlson.
The agreement allows Carlson to operate and manage the
400-room hotel beside SM City Cebu
which is undergoing construction improvements, said the press release.
Earlier reports referred to the SM hotel project as carrying the Sofitel brand.
Cebu Daily News checked with the SM City management in Cebu and was told that a press conference will be held on Monday to discuss the matter.
SMIC senior Merril Yu and SM Prime Holdings Inc. vice president Marissa Fernan will be present to answer questions during the press conference.
In September 2007, SMIC said the hotel located beside SM City Cebu will be managed by European hotel operator, Accor.
Accor runs a chain of hotels and restaurants worldwide which includes the Sofitel, Novotel and the Mercure Networks composed of Dorint, Libertel, Obis Hotels, Parthenon Apartments and All Seasons.
In a corporate disclosure to the Philippine Stock Exchange dated Sept. 4, SMIC said Radisson Hotel will open in the first quarter of 2009.
SMIC and Carlson have previous agreements for the management of two SM hotels in the Mall of Asia complex in Pasay City.
The hotels, The Regent Manila Bay and Radisson Manila Bays, are scheduled to open within 2010.
In the press statement, Yu said it “makes sense” to extend the Carlson brand to Cebu with its “synergistic relationship” with the hotel group based on the previous two agreements.
Yu said “tangible rewards will be reaped from the partnership.”
Radisson Hotel Cebu features 10 meeting rooms, 1,000-square meter ballroom, spa and fitness center, lobby lounge and restaurant among others.
The SMIC said Carlson is an internationally recognized hotel group with about 9,000 rooms in operation and more than 10,000 room under development in the Asia Pacific region. /
Reporter Cris Evert B. Lato