Ayala Hotels Inc. plans to open five boutique hotels across the Philippines at a cost of US$75 million to US$100 million.
The division of Ayala Land Inc. is developing hotels in Davao City and Taguig that are expected to open next year, and three additional projects are in the pipeline.
“We decided to develop our boutique hotel business as we realized that there is a product gap in this hotel segment,” Vice President and Chief Operating Officer Michael Alexis C. Legaspi tells BusinessWorld.
Ayala’s boutique hotels will be “generally more stylish, even thematic in design—not boxed in by standards typical of conventional or chain hotels,” Legaspi says.
Properties will average about 180 guestrooms and will charge about 3,500 pesos (US$80) and up. Target guests will be business travelers looking to mix business with leisure.