Foreign hotel operator to run mall giant's Cebu property

MANILA, Philippines - The investment arm of the Philippines’ biggest mall companies partnered with a foreign hotel operator to manage its 400-room Cebu City hotel, its third such arrangement. In a disclosure to the Philippine Stock Exchange (PSE), SM Investments Corp (SMIC) announced the agreement with Carlson Hotels Worldwide-Asia Pacific. Two previous agreements allowed Carlson to manage two hotels in the SM Group's Mall of Asia Complex in Pasay City, The Regent Manila Bay and Radisson Manila Bay. Both hotels, which will share the same building structure, are scheduled to open in 2010, SMIC said. Meanwhile, the Cebu hotel—called the Radisson Hotel Cebu—will open in the first quarter next year. The hotel will feature a 1,000 square meter ballroom, a spa, a fitness center, a lobby lounge, and an all-day dining restaurant. The hotel is strategically located at the heart of Cebu City, only two kilometers from the central business district and less than 20 kilometers from the airport, the company said. “We already enjoy an exceptionally synergistic relationship with the Carlson Group, having them in our Manila Bay location," said Merril Yu, senior vice president for SM’s hotel group said in a statement. “It makes sense to extend this to our product in Cebu and reap the tangible rewards of an established partnership." Carlson, one of the world’s ten largest hotel operators, runs five hotel brands in the region—Regent Hotels & Resorts, Radisson Hotels & Resorts, Park Plaza Hotels & Resorts, Country Inns & Suites By Carlson, and Park Inn, according to the company’s website. It manages 9,000 rooms and has more than 10,000 more under development in the Asia-Pacific, SMIC said. - GMANews.TV