Cebu’s first heritage hotel to open by fourth quarter

CEBU, Philippines - Cebu’s first cultural and heritage hotel, the 79-room Palm Grass Hotel, targets to open by the fourth quarter of this year.

Palm Grass Hotel general manager Bebilou Espina said the construction is now 85 percent complete.

“We are ready to welcome our guests during the Christmas holidays and we’re all excited to start this journey to our past,” Espina said.

According to Espina, Palm Grass, The Cebu Heritage Hotel, the first of its kind in the province and possibly in the country, aims to revive interest to Cebuano history and culture. It will house a historical gallery, a mini-library and a mini-book store on Cebu heritage.

The seven-storey themed hotel will have 10 suite rooms named after Cebu heroes. It will have a function room named after the uprising of Tres de Abril. All 79 guest rooms will contain artworks of local artists depicting the lifestyle of Cebuanos during the pre-Spanish and Spanish colonial periods.

A coffee shop-cum-restaurant located at the ground floor is named after Lumaya, which according to folklore, is the founder of the Rajahnate of Cebu. A mini-bar called Hardin Dagami  will be available at the roofdeck which will have its own garden and an open wellness gym.

Palm Grass Hotel is owned and managed by descendants of Cebuano Katipunero Isidro Guivelondo. According to local history, Guivelondo’s house in Mabolo was the meeting place for the planning of the Tres de Abril uprising.

The hotel will also introduce the first salt-water swimming pool located at the 7th floor, Espina said.

Melba Guivelondo-Blanco, one of the company incorporators said the hotel is their tribute to the legacy of their parents Caridad Tan Guivelondo and Mamerto Arcilla Blanco.

“Palm Grass is our tribute to Cebu history and Mother Earth. We advocate for the preservation and promotion of the Cebu Cultural Heritage because we believe that through appreciating the bravery, determination and selflessness of heroic Cebuanos in history, our people today will be able to realize that indeed a united people will be able to build a better society,” she said.,

Recently, major hotels in Cebu reported an all-time-high performance since 2014, owing the strengthening of Cebu's positioning as preferred destination for Meetings, Incentives, Conferences, and Exhibition (MICE) events, and it sustained charm as preferred leisure and business destination. —  (FREEMAN)