Ayala’s Seda sets course for refresh

Proud Filipino hotel brand

MANILA, Philippines — Ayala Land Hospitality (ALH) is positioning its flagship homegrown brand Seda Hotels at the forefront of its bold new direction in hospitality, setting course to refresh all 12 existing properties over the next three years.

ALH has started the phased opening of the transformation in its first three properties – Seda BGC in Taguig, Seda Centrio in Cagayan de Oro and Seda Abreeza in Davao City – with full completion targeted by the end of the month, according to ALH president and CEO George Aquino.

“So after these first three, I think we have four in the coming year. So we continue and we’re going to refresh that. So the next three years, all the Sedas will be refreshed,” Aquino told The STAR.

“We’re really making that commitment to make sure that we have these exciting Sedas and it’s really our commitment to making sure that the guest stay and the guest experience are always special, and we’re really committed to making that for our guests,” he said.

With its strategic locations in major city destinations across the country, Aquino said that Seda Hotels has performed strongly in the business segment, with its properties emerging as the first choice for among business travelers.

He pointed out that Seda also performs very well in both margins and occupancy.

With the ongoing as well as upcoming enhancements, Seda Hotels are seen further bolstering its position in the market.

“Seda is the gateway to any city we’re at. We want to make sure it’s positioned as the gateway. That if you are going to go to any city where there’s a Seda located, then that’s your first option and that’s your first choice because you know what you’re going to get,” Aquino said.

“Like with any kind of renovation or refreshing, we do expect the occupancy to grow because of interest to try out something new, right? So we do expect our revenues and occupancy to go up based on, you know, the investment that we’re putting in,” he said.

In terms of future expansion for Seda, Aquino said ALH would look at areas where the Department of Tourism is expecting growth as well as where the country’s infrastructure development is going to be.

“Our focus for Seda is really to keep it in key markets in the country. But at this point, our main focus is really on refreshing our existing 12 Seda Hotels because I want to make sure, if we do ever expand our brand, we want to make sure that this is the brand that that we can probably say is one of the best in the country,” he said.

Seda Hotels is part of ALH’s expansive portfolio which also includes other brands like El Nido Resorts and Huni, Lio, alongside international luxury names such as Raffles Makati, Fairmont Makati, the upcoming Mandarin Oriental Makati and the acquired the New World Hotel Makati.

ALH has also recently announced a partnership with Marriott International to bring the Moxy Hotel brand to the Philippines as well as a partnership with Hilton to open the first Canopy by Hilton in the country.

“The good thing with our portfolio for Ayala Land Hospitality is we really have a broad and diverse portfolio. We’re not focused on this one segment. You can have everything from I guess under, P3,000 to P4,000, all the way to a luxury experience,” Aquino said.

“Seda, this is where the sweet spot is for us. We’re very proud of where we position Seda because it really is the sweet spot for us in every destination and every city we’re at,” he said.

Aquino said that ALH is also deeply committed to sustainability, as evidenced by moves to phase out single-use plastics, adopting advanced water treatment and air purification systems and sourcing fresh organic produce straight from local farmers.

As part of the company’s ongoing refresh and transformation, ALH is also focusing on building smarter from the ground up, which means using energy-efficient materials, designing spaces that maximize natural light, incorporating renewable energy and implementing water conservation measures.

Through its partnership with the International Finance Corp., Seda Hotels is working toward achieving the EDGE Zero Carbon certification in line with its sustainability journey.

“Currently, we have four hotels that are EDGE certified. And our goal by the end of the year is to have at least 65 percent of our Seda Hotels to be EDGE certified,” Aquino said.

“We’re just excited to welcome people to our newly-refurbished Seda Hotels. We’re proud of it. You can expect us to do the same kind of improvement in the coming years. We’re very focused on making sure that Seda is a brand that every Filipino can be proud of,” he said.