Megaworld ties up with Marriott for 350-room hotel project in Manila

Upscale property developer Megaworld Corp. has inked an agreement with Marriott Hotels International B.V. for the development and management of a 350-room hotel project in Manila.

In a disclosure to the Philippine Stock Exchange, Megaworld said the hotel will rise in a 25-hectare company property being developed into a multi-purpose project called Newport City.

Marriott International owns the Marriott chain of first-class, full-service hotels worldwide. In 2004, it posted revenues of $10 billion.

Marriott Hotels are located in major gateway cities worldwide including Atlanta, Houston, Miami, Washington, D.C., Bangkok, Dubai, Kuala Lumpur, Hong Kong, Shanghai, Quito (Ecuador), Lima and Mexico City.

Megaworld said it will plan, design, construct, furnish, equip and own the planned hotel while the Marriott group will manage the hotel and provide technical services in the planning, design and construction stage.

"This will ensure that the hotel will be built and furnished to world-class standards," said Megaworld’s Investor Relations officer John Hao, adding that Newport City will be comparable to Asia’s most exciting hotel-and-golf resorts.

Hao said Megaworld is currently in talks with a top foreign hotel interior design group to work on the hotel interiors, including the grand lobby of the Marriott Hotel.

The Marriott Hotel at Newport City is the first in Metro Manila and the second in the country after Cebu, which was a tie up with the Ayala group.

Aside from a first-class hotel, the Newport City urban resort project will host a low-density residential area, an office park, a themed shopping and entertainment hub, and an institutional center featuring a sports club, a church and other community facilities and services.

The commercial and entertainment hub will have a shopping village as its centerpiece, while the business park is designed as potential headquarters of information technology and business process outsourcing companies, as well as those engaged in airport-related services.