Homegrown pension house levels up to hotel category

CEBU, Philippines — After reaping business success as a pension house facility for 20 years, NS Royale Pension finally gets a P30 million upgrade to level up to hotel category.

Developed by the family-owned Nico Shirl Realty Corporation, the facility recently reopened as the new NS Royal Hotel at Juana Osmeña street in uptown Cebu capitalizing on the promising tourism industry in Cebu.

Nixon Dizon, who sits as the president of the company, said that they are transforming the hotel to offer facilities based on their personal requirements and preferences when they travel abroad.

"We travel a lot, and one of our primary requirements is comfort, service, and proximity of the important destinations. Our hotel is fortunately located at the center of Cebu's bests. We are capitalizing on these advantages," said Nixon in a press conference.

From a mere pension house, which provided good business for the family in the last 20 years, the family decided to enter the fertile hotel business in Cebu and compete with the veterans or even against the international chains.

“This is our first major renovation since we opened 20 years ago. We felt the timing was right with all the developments we are seeing in Cebu now,” said Nixon.

The new NS Royal Hotel is now personally managed by Nixon's son Joshua Thad Carlos Ouano Dizon as chief operating officer (COO). This is also to provide millennial and younger flavor to the new mid-range hospitality facility.

"We wanted to be known as a boutique business hotel in Cebu that offers a five-star hotel experience,” said Joshua.

The younger Dizon’s job is to help run the company while also sharing the “millennial mindset” to make the hotel more attractive and engaging to younger travelers.

“We are really making the hotel more modern. A lot has happened to Cebu and its progress is unstoppable. We need to ride the growth or else we will be left behind,” Joshua said adding that Wi-Fi connection has been installed in all the rooms.

NS Royal Hotel is a 37-room hotel and it has a 120-seat meeting room for small Mice (meetings, incentives, convention and exhibition) events.

The management has appointed a homegrown restaurant brand "Fudge" as its food and beverage provider, with a restaurant outlet at the hotel lobby that can accommodate 40 guests.

While other hotel boasts of having the best spas, swimming pool, view, and other attractions, NS Royal Hotel’s unique selling proposition is providing guests “a restful stay.”

Nixon said they have made hefty investment on beds and linens to make sure guests would have a comfortable sleep after a long day of work or exploring Cebu.

According to Nixon, large part of the investment was put on buying the best beds, linens, pillows, which are also their top qualification in choosing a place to stay when traveling abroad.

The entry of NS Royal Hotel to the hotel class accommodation sector in Cebu will pave the way for the family's plan to establish a hotel chain bearing the brand, in the future.