Intramuros-based The Bayleaf hotel has laid the cornerstones of two properties in Cavite and Laguna that will bear its brand when they open within the next two years.
Ed Vitug, general manager of The Bayleaf Intramuros, said the construction of the 150-room The Bayleaf Cavite is scheduled to finish by December 2015 while 150-room The Bayleaf Laguna in mid-2016.
Like the model in Intramuros, the two hotels will support the hospitality programs of nearby Lyceum of the Philippines University (LPU) campuses.
“The Bayleaf hotel is officially the training and teaching hotel of LPU. Our business model allows us to utilize our students to give them real-life experiences outside the hotel labs inside the school but in an actual full-service hotel,” said Vitug in an email interview. He added that this “gives them an environment where they can apply what they are being trained for while being closely supervised by the hotel staff. It’s a win-win both for the hotel and the students.”
The hotel in Intramuros has been successful in this model. Operations is handled by hotel professionals, from rank-and-file crew to management. To support the school, it takes in a limited number of OJT applicants from nearby LPU Manila. Synergy between the teaching faculty and the hotel also becomes easy to execute.
Whereas the development of the 57-room Intramuros hotel was constrained by limited space, The Bayleaf in the two locations will be three times bigger. Each will have at least three restaurants and several ballroom and meeting rooms. The rooftop restaurant concept— a popular feature in the Intramuros hotel—will be replicated in Laguna and Cavite.
The development not only has become strategic because the hotels are needed by the school; the domestic markets in Cavite and Laguna are also largely underserved. The Bayleaf predicts the wedding market is sizable enough in these areas such that the Cavite hotel will have a wedding park for this niche. The operating principles and business model will be the same, emphasized Vitug.
This article was printed on Hospitality News Philippines’ July 25, 2014 issue.
