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| Soft launch for Davao City’s D’Leonor Hotel - Tuesday, January 05, 2010 at 14:25 |
| Written by Alan Rivera / Special to the BusinessMirror Sunday, 03 January 2010 20:24 DAVAO City has a population of 1,396,163 (2008 estimate) in an area of 2,443.61 sq km. Its climate is tropical, with temperatures ranging from 15 to 34 degrees Centigrade all year round. It is hardly, if ever, visited by typhoons. The average monthly crime rate is 0.88 per 10,000 persons. The city is approximately 946 aerial kilometers from Manila and is strategically located in the Asia-Pacific Rim. It serves as a gateway to the world. It is a key player in the flourishing trading hub called the Brunei-Indonesia-Malaysia-Philippines East Asean Growth Area (BIMP-Eaga). Davao City is considered the de facto capital of Mindanao and its strategic position provides access and linkage to the 20-million market of the whole province and the 51.4-million market of the BIMP-Eaga. The city has one of the highest literacy rates in Asia at 95.1 percent. (Ateneo de Davao is right in there.) Its labor force is cited as among the best in the region—educated, easily trainable, industrious and English speaking. The city is a place of perfect balance: fast paced yet relaxed. The luxuries of cosmopolitan living complement the beauty of the great outdoors. It is an investment haven where business and pleasure blend and where different cultures and diversities are appreciated, respected and nurtured in a peaceful and harmonious environment. Aside from its indigenous tongue, the other major languages and dialects are Filipino, Chinese, English and Cebuano, with a sprinkling of Ilocano and Pampango thrown into the mix. Last Nov. 30, the newest hotel in Davao had a soft launch. It was such a quiet opening that it might have gone unnoticed had the event not been covered by a photographer from another newspaper in Davao and whose pictures saw print the next day. But there was indeed a launch, as this gate-crasher could surmise and a blessing since guests started picking up shiny peso coins rolling on the corridor’s floor. Rounding the corridor, everyone proceeded to a relatively large function room where Davao Vice Mayor Sara Duterte gave a “KISS” of a speech, meaning she “Kept It Short and Sweet,” very unlike typical politcians who go into a display of hyperbole and hot air. This vice mayor thankfully went against tradition by not surrounding herself with an obvious and obnoxious security detail. They were there, but they were hiding in plain sight. Leonora Lim, the owner, was there, but her presence was also low key, in keeping with the character of the launch. The Lims come from Sta. Maria, in a quiet part of Davao del Sur, and the family’s business is in pharmaceuticals. As the enterprise grew, so did their clients. Weekly meetings with representatives coming from Manila and the other regions were so regular, that billeting them in different hotels became costly and looking for vacant rooms in a classy hotel became a problem. It’s not a stretch to imagine that being Chinese, and naturally a whiz with numbers, they probably figured the solution to that problem was to build their own hotel. It was a no-brainer: Spending on their own hotels would give them some return on investment compared with the money that would go to other hotels if they just continued renting rooms. D’Leonor Hotel is easy to find since it’s just a stone’s throw from Victoria Plaza Mall. UCPB Bajada is niched in its façade. These are just two of the visible landmarks along the main road going downtown. You’ll also find two other banking establishments to guide you: Banco de Oro on one side and Bank of the Philippine Islands on the other. Even a stranger won’t miss it because traffic slows as one reaches the mall’s location and one can easily pick out these establishments. One mustn’t judge this small hotel by its cover, though, since its small façade belies the well-planned spaces of its interiors. This writer’s curiosity led to checking the place out while construction was going on days before its soft launch and was surprised at the rooms which were all pleasantly livable. Okay, for starters, let’s not include the lobby. Heck, if you want cavernous lobbies, go to any of Manila’s five-star hotels. This is not to mean that D’Leonor’s lobby isn’t decent; it’s just not cathedral-like. The rooms are something else; no, they aren’t loud (in case you were thinking of grand), but they are spacious. It’s not just a hotel room. Each room, from the Presidential to the Executive (which has two bedrooms and two bathrooms) to the regular room, has a living room, a dining room and a pantry with furnished microwave, a rice cooker and a refrigerator. And there’s the ubiquitous TV which has cable. I believe one can connect a DVD player to it. These are not your typical motel room layouts, but suites meant for guests who grab the opportunity to bring their family along to enjoy whatever Davao has to offer. How about ziplines, whitewater rafting, mountain climbing, crocodile farms and ostrich meat, durians, marang and pomelo, among other exotic stuff? D’Leonor is aimed at the AB market. It is basically a businessman’s hotel. The tasteful interiors with their warm and classy colors of browns and vanilla provide a soothingly relaxing ambiance for any harried businessman. Nothing in the room screams “jarring.” Okay, exceptions are the choice of tacky paintings in each room which does not spell c-l-a-s-s. Its furniture, and even the linens, spelled good, sensible quiet taste (kudos to their interior designer). While D’Leonor is along a busy main road, it is surprisingly quiet since traffic isn’t like Manila’s, where drivers go into road rage and blow their horns a lot. And curse a mouthful, too. Davao is not like that. There is nothing in the way of ostentatious displays in Davao or hyperventilations. The Financial Times of London conducted a survey of leading cities in Asia (through its FDI magazine) and found Davao City one of the 10 Asian Cities of the Future. In the same survey, the city ranked fifth in Asia in Human Resources and sixth among Most Cost-Effective. Davao City also ranked as the Most Competitive Metro City in the Philippines based on a competitiveness survey conducted by the Asian Institute of Management. From1996 to 2000, Davao City made it among the Top 20 Most Livable Cities in Asia at 17th place and was the highest-ranked Philippine city in a survey conducted by the Asiaweek magazine. Other plaques of recognition cite Davao City as the Cleanest and Greenest City in the country; Champion in Local Government Performance for USAID-assisted projects; Kalakbay’s Destination of the Year; top honors in the National Literacy Awards; Best City Library; and Most Child-Friendly City in the country. To quote: “Come to Davao as a visitor and leave as a friend. It is a city for all seasons and reasons.” Source : http://businessmirror.com.ph/home/regions/20425-soft-launch-for-davao-citys-dleonor-hotel.html |