Manila Hotel’s new ‘story’

“Everyone has a Manila Hotel story,” says Denise Tambuatco, the hotel’s senior vice president for marketing. This is the reason, she says, that when the management of Manila Hotel embarked on the “transformation” of the more-than-a-century-old establishment, they took care that even as they strove to bring the “Grande Dame” up to the highest contemporary standards, they also kept the “look” and “feel” of the heritage institution of which many Filipinos hold fond memories.

After all, it was to preserve the “patrimony” of the Filipino people that the members of the Yap family, including executive vice president Dr. Enrique Yap Jr.—who took over the reins of the hotel’s management from his grandfather, the late Emilio Yap—won over a Malaysian conglomerate in a Supreme Court decision that handed control of Manila Hotel to them.

Although it does not have a general manager like most hotels, Manila Hotel relies on Yap and hotel president Joey Lina to set the general directions and oversee daily operations.

Not only do Filipinos—and some foreigners—remember personal and familial events taking place in Manila Hotel, we also associate it with significant historical events and personalities.

Perhaps this is the reason Tambuatco, and public relations executive Kristine Facto, start our tour after a buffet lunch at Café Ilang-Ilang at the historic MacArthur Suite, so named because before World War II, it housed the family of Gen. Douglas MacArthur who was then serving as a military advisor to the Commonwealth government.

The suite evokes the feel, spirit and even furnishings of the Commonwealth period, even if the only Commonwealth-era relics are a pair of armchairs that survived the torching of the hotel by Japanese troops.

Soon after the MacArthurs fled the hotel to seek sanctuary on Corregidor Island and thence to Australia, their Filipino butler, recalls Tambuatco, packed whatever memorabilia he could find in a box and then buried it on the hotel grounds. This he handed to MacArthur’s widow, Jean, years after the war, moving her to tears.

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While the MacArthur Suite will remain intact, the hotel’s Presidential Suite is undergoing renovation. Its small kidney-shaped pool, says Tambuatco, will be replaced with a larger lap pool that will allow guests to enjoy the famous Manila Bay sunset even as they soak in its dying rays. When it is finished, the suite will be the biggest in the country, measuring over 1,000 square feet.

Also undergoing renovation is the Fiesta Pavilion, which can accommodate over 2,000 guests. Pillars which used to block the view of the main stage during functions will be torn down, while a high-tech lighting system will bathe the pavilion’s walls in whatever color or design theme the event demands. “This mastery of space matches the state-of-the-art light and sound technology for events that thrive on drama and spectacle, making true the hotel’s promise to deliver a sense of theater to every celebration,” a hotel release says.

The transformation project, which will be pursued over a two- or three-year period, will also include the renovation of the hotel’s porte-cochere  or covered driveway, which is, explains Tambuatco, proving too small to accommodate tour buses. For now, at the entrance can also be found receptionists, doormen and baggage handlers in attires that hark back to the Commonwealth period—ruffles and coronets, top hats and gloves—that give guests a sense of the hotel’s unique appeal.

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Overall, says Tambuatco, Manila Hotel seeks to reposition the property as “a resort hotel surrounded by history.”

There are plans, for instance, to bump out the dining areas right up to the water to give diners an enviable view of Manila Bay unhampered by looming ships and the nearby port, and a larger, expansive garden.

It’s their goal, she says, to transport guests to a tropical retreat in the middle of the city, complete with breathtaking views, restful spa services, and attentive, solicitous staff.

The “transformation,” Tambuatco stresses, goes beyond  mere appearance or atmosphere. It also involves working with the hotel staff, orienting them on new standards of service to provide what the hotel describes as “a rare ambience harking back to a slower pace of life, the era of gracious living, where services are solicitous and gently polite, professional yet unobtrusive.”

The architectural firm of Manny Samson and Associates is overseeing the transformation project, with a budget that Tambuatco prefers to keep confidential for now.

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While the “action,” the trendy restaurants and bars, the huge shopping malls, businesses and even educational institutions can now be found in Makati and outlying districts like Bonifacio Global City and Ortigas, Manila will always remain special, Tambuatco believes.

This is why moving Manila Hotel to a trendier locale is not within the horizon of the hotel management’s vision for the future, she says.

“Patrimony,” after all, can be construed in many ways. It is not always preserving the old as an artifact of years past and stories told. “Patrimony” can also be keeping up with the present while pursuing a more vibrant future. Our memories of Manila Hotel will always sustain us, bringing us back to familiar favorite dishes (the  pancit  wrapped in banana leaf and paper, the purple  puto  bumbong), and to events that played important roles in our lives and in our history.

But the historical has a way of turning musty and tired. And it is in the balance between the old and the new, the traditional and progressive, that will ensure that Manila Hotel will live on and create new and warm memories for generations.