Conrad Manila hotel opening next month

MANILA, Philippines – Another global luxury hotel brand has entered the Philippines and seeks to establish itself as the market leader in the hospitality segment as Conrad Manila opens its six-star doors to business and lifestyle travelers by the second week of June.

Inspired by cruise ships that ply Manila Bay, the eight-story Conrad Manila is poised to be a significant addition to the metro’s dynamic cityscape with primary targets of lifestyle tourists and the MICE (meetings, incentives, conferences, events) market.

“We aim for it to be the leading luxury hotel in Manila and we seek to establish it as the market leader. We are confident and we have a very good feeling that there will be lot of opportunities for us,” Conrad Manila general manager Harald Feurstein told The STAR.

“We are now seeing a lot of excitement for the hotel and the brand. There are a lot of anticipation from the foreign and domestic markets,” he added.

Despite competition from various international and local hotels in the metro, Feurstein said Conrad Manila is unique as it is not connected to the casino environment unlike other hotels in the same upper segment.

“There’s a lot of competition but they are more of the integrated casino resorts which have a different market that they cater to. We don’t want to rely on just one segment, we want to try our best to cater to the different segments,” he added.

As to their strategy in becoming the market leader, Feurstein noted Conrad Manila will bank on the Hilton worldwide network which has over 50 million customers and combine it with its local expertise to tap more of the domestic market.

“It’s also about the experience that we create and service delivered that we achieve. It’s about how we combine that with technology to really elevate the experience of the guests to a different level,” he said.

Feurstein added Conrad Manila continues to bank on the ever-changing traveling attitudes and patterns of tourists and tries to stay ahead of the curve.

“I think the people are also looking for something new. In as much as we like what’s there which is all good and great, it’s nice to have something new,” he said.

Furthermore, the global brand is also maximizing the continuous growth of the business sector and the Philippine economy as a whole.

“The economy and business are buoyant now. The Philippines has been the tiger economy for the past years. There are more developments. Tourism numbers are going up. The more infrastructure develops, the more the demand will follow,” he added.

On matters of expansion, Feurstein said the Conrad brand will focus in Manila and is unlikely to enter other key cities such as Cebu, Boracay and Davao.

“Conrad is not one that we will spread out too much. We want to concentrate in this strategic and key city. As a luxury brand, we are more selective. We don’t want to oversaturate,” he added.

Conrad Manila is the first Hilton Worldwide and Conrad Hotels and Resorts property in Manila and is located at the heart of the SM Bay City development.

It also marks the SM Group’s entry to the luxury hotel segment and is set to bolster the company’s existing portfolio which includes Taal Vista Hotel, Radisson Blu Cebu, Pico Sands Hotel, Park Inn by Radisson Davao and Park Inn by Radisson Clark.

“Without a doubt, the two companies will have a strong synergy that we will ride on. The hotel is a very strategic asset for SM,” Feurstein said.

The 347-room hotel also boasts of its six multi-functional event rooms with total area of 2,400 square meters, its 24-hour fitness center, spa, fine dining restaurants and executive lounge.

It is also positioned atop S Maison, the high-end retail complex of the SM Investments Corp., and is in close proximity to business districts and international airport terminals.

“Our mission is to create inspired travellers. In Conrad, we say, never just stay but stay inspired and that’s why we are trying to create the unexpected and what goes beyond what other hotels offer,” he said.

Conrad Hotels and Resorts consists of 23 properties across five continents. It is part of hospitality company Hilton Worldwide that has a portfolio of 12 brands, over 4,500 hotels and 745,000 rooms in 97 countries.