CEBU, Philippines - The sprouting of hotels along Archbishop Reyes St. is not a threat to an economy-class hotel in the area that has been performing well for almost four years now.
Expansion plans for Golden Prince Hotel is in fact to be implemented in the third quarter of this year, according to hotel president Benny Que.
“We see them as our partner. They complement with our operation and services,” he told The Freeman.
Aside from the 25-story condominium-hotel and residential project of Filinvest, the Grand Cenia, which had its topping-off ceremony on Thursday, construction of Elizabeth Hotel is also near completion. Cebu Parklane Hotel is also within the vicinity.
Golden Prince is however confident that it will continue to enjoy the patronage, especially of its return clients, who are mostly corporate or business travelers.
“We at Golden Prince take pride of our people and our customer service which we branded as hospitality service. We always encourage our hotel staff to go the extra mile to service our guests. Even small services like assisting them in reading the maps,” Que said
He said Golden Prince, which currently has 57 rooms, has not had problems on marketing the hotel. It however received complaints of the difficulty to book with the hotel. This is why an expansion plan of 100 more rooms is now in the pipeline.
Golden Prince bought the 1,100-square meter property next to the hotel to be annexed to the 600-square meter hotel.
Aside from its proximity to the Ayala Center Cebu, Que said Golden Prince takes its strength from the people working in the hotel.
“Our people are our advantage. We train and retrain them on good customer service and we try our very best to give them incentives, such as housing subsidies to make them happy and contented,” he said.
Que said Golden Prince also makes it a point to sell the whole of Cebu province to their guests, especially foreigners. The hotel provides transportation services and link with tour agencies for guests, who expressed desire to visit tourist spots in the province.
Golden Prince also owns Golden Valley Hotel, which is located beside the University of San Carlos. Golden Valley caters to group meetings or conferences mostly of government and non-government organizations.— Jessica B. Natad