Go Hotels: Back to basics

MANILA, Philippines - What can P400 buy these days? A new pair of shoes, maybe, or the latest paperback bestseller. There are a number of possibilities, but a night’s stay at a decent hotel may not be one of them — until now.

Imagine an air-conditioned room, with a 22-inch LCD television, and free wireless Internet access for only P388 a night. It’s a dream made a reality by Go Hotels.

Dubbed the first chain of value hotels in the Philippines, Go Hotels has a variable pricing scheme much like Cebu Pacific’s budget fares. With this system, booking early will result in a lower rate for a room, while walk-ins will be charged a higher fee.

Guests have four breakfast options: (clockwise, from top left) Go Fish (boneless bangus with rice and egg), Go Healthy (yogurt, cereals and fruits), Go Pinoy (beef tapa with rice and egg), and Go West (ham, egg and cheese with fries).

Early bookings can be charged as low as P388, while walk-ins can be charged as much as P1,888 for an overnight stay.

“What we have done is to give you everything that is important to a traveler and excluded everything that you hate or that you don’t really need — for example, the mini-bar that you don’t even touch anyway. We don’t provide you with extra extras that you have to pay for, but you don’t really need,” said Frederick Go, president of Robinsons Land Corp., at the grand launch of Go Hotels last Sept. 3.

Go Hotels has no frills. No mini-bar, no room service, and no bottles of shampoo. There is no telephone, but there is an intercom in every room.

What the hotel does provide is a one-use sachet of shampoo, a tiny one-use bar of soap, two bath towels, and a choice between chiropractic-contoured pillows and hypoallergenic fiber-filled pillows, said Liz Gregorio, general manager of Go Hotels.

She added that every yellow and green-themed room has either twin beds or one queen-sized bed. Rooms also have a desk, and both a rainshower and handheld showerhead. Chairs come with the desk in rooms with a queen-sized bed.

Each Go Hotels’ room is equipped with quality bed with choice of hypoallergenic fiber-filled pillows or chiropractic-contoured pillows and offers Wi-Fi and use of safety de-posit box.

But perhaps one of the most important considerations in staying in a hotel is the bathroom. Go Hotels’ toilets are top of the line, and the bathroom is spacious.

Another consideration is eating inside the rooms. Gregorio said the practice is discouraged partly to keep the rooms clean.  

“Every floor, the 5th and the 6th, where the rooms are, has an eating area with seats and tables in the lobby,” she said, adding that the eating areas have a seating capacity of 30 to 50 people, and that they never have a problem because the guests don’t eat at the same time.

Guests aren’t complaining either. An American visiting the Philippines is staying at the hotel, and he said, “The staff is doing good. I have no problems with the hotel.”

Indeed, the staff members in their yellow and green-collared shirts were very attentive and helpful. The staff attire at the hotel is casual and breeds an atmosphere that makes the hotel employees seem very approachable.

“We are very confident and positive about this development that we hope to take this around the country,” said Frederick Go, adding that Robinsons Land Corp. is planning to open hotels in every province in the country to address the huge demand and lack of proper accommodation for travelers.

Pasig City Mayor Benjamin Abalos Jr., in his speech at the hotel launch, said Go Hotels is promoting local tourism by offering such cheap rates.

“People will flock to the provinces instead of going abroad,” he said, adding that in the wake of the tragedy at the Quirino Grandstand, “We must help our country.”

The first branch of Go Hotels is located at the fifth and sixth floors of the 17-story Robinsons Cybergate Plaza, beside Robinsons Mall Pioneer, along EDSA.

Robinsons Land Corp. is planning to open 30 more hotels in the next five years, starting with branches in Bacolod and Dumaguete in 2011, Palawan, Iloilo, Davao, Tacloban, and Cebu in 2012, and Ilocos Norte, Butuan, Zamboanga, General Santos, and Pangasinan in 2013.

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For inquiries or reservations, log on to http://www.gohotels.ph or call 0922-GOHOTEL (4646835) or (02) 398-8788.