11 Luxury Hotels Built in Manila in 1976: What Happened to Them?

27/06/2024

In 1976, the Philippines played host to the annual meeting of the International Monetary Fund and World Bank. It was a high-profile summit attended by thousands of delegates from all over the world. The government of former President Ferdinand Marcos Sr. prepared for the summit by greenlighting the construction of several new luxury hotels, giving developers access to loans mostly from the Development Bank of the Philippines and the Government Service Insurance System.

According to reports at the time, up to 14 new hotels were built or refurbished at the cost of nearly $500 million in order to accommodate the influx of visitors for the annual summit. A New York Times report even said that, a year after the hotels were completed, the average occupancy rate was just "a little better than 40 percent," making it difficult, and even impossible for all of them to meet the interest payment on their loans.

As many people know, the Sofitel, or what was once known as the Philippine Plaza Hotel, was one of these hotels. At the end of the month, the final guests of the Sofitel Philippine Plaza Hotel will check out and it will accept no more. It will cease operations after nearly 50 years.

That got us thinking, what ever happened to all of the other hotels that opened that year?

1| Manila Mandarin Hotel

Mandarin Oriental

The Mandarin Oriental Manila, originally called Manila Mandarin, once stood in the heart of Makati’s central business district, on the corner of Makati Avenue and Paseo De Roxas. Designed by architect Leandro Locsin, the hotel had 18 stories and was famous among Manila’s most discerning clientele for its spa and dining outlets like Tin Hau, Tivoli, and Paseo Uno.

The Mandarin Oriental group’s lease of the land where the hotel was built was due to expire in 2026, but, in 2014, the hotel group decided to close it instead. The hotel’s last day of operations was on September 9, 2014, with 37-year-old German expat Frank Schuengel having the honor of being the last guest ever to check out of the hotel.

"I don’t know what to say at a moment like this, other than a huge you thank you to all of you, the Mandarin Oriental Manila’s last General Manager Torsten van Dullemen was quoted as saying. "When you walk through the door, walk with your head up high, and with pride."

A new Mandarin Oriental Manila Hotel is being built across the street at the Ayala Trinagle Gardens and was expected to open in 2020. But delays caused by the pandemic pushed the opening back to 2026.

2| Silahis International

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Silahis Hotel was a huge hotel located along Roxas Boulevard near Malate Church in Manila. It was designed by architect Lor Calma and Rogelio Villarosa and had 21 stories and 600 rooms. In the late 1970s and early 1980s, it became a popular nightspot, with nightlife king Louie Ysmael opening his Stargazer nightclub there. The country’s first and only Playboy Club was also located at the hotel.

The Silahis Hotel was owned by the Enriquez-Panlilio clan, which developed close relations with then-President Ferdinand Marcos Sr. and his family. After the EDSA People Power Revolution overthrew the government of President Marcos Sr., the government sequestered seized or sequestered many companies, properties, and assets between 1986 and 1987 linked to the so-called Marcos cronies, and that included the Silahis Hotel and the many other businesses and properties of the Enriquez-Panlilio clan.

While the family challenged the takeover, the hotel had been taken over by the Accor Hotels group and renamed Sofitel Grand Boulevard Hotel, and later just Grand Boulevard Hotel after the Accor group inked a management contract with the nearby Philippine Plaza Hotel.

The hotel has gone through other challenges through the years, including tax payment issues with the Manila City Hall. We wrote a more extensive story about the hotel’s history here.

Today, the hotel still stands along Roxas Boulevard, abandoned and now merely a shadow of what it once was.

3| The Peninsula Manila

Peninsula Hotels website

The Peninsula Hotel Manila is a hotel that is part of the Peninsula Hotels Group based in Hong Kong. Located along Ayala Avenue and Makati Avenue, it has 497 rooms and suites and is perhaps best known for its opulent lobby. Designed by architect Gabriel Formoso, the hotel has also become a symbol of elegance and luxury in local hospitality since it opened on September 14, 1976.

The hotel has undergone extensive renovations and refurbishments through the years, most notably in 1994 when its now instantly recognizable front fountain was installed. Unfortunately, the hotel has also gained notoriety for being the site of the infamous siege in 2007, when rebel forces led by Senator Antonio Trillanes took control of the hotel’s second floor and called for the ouster of then-President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo. Military forces, including an armored personnel carrier, stormed the hotel in order to end the siege but causing much damage in the process.

Today the hotel is still very much active and is a preferred business and leisure destination for local and foreign travelers.

4| Century Park Hotel

Century Park

The Century Park is a 19-story hotel located P. Ocampo Street, near FB Harrison, in Manila. Originally called Century Park Sheraton, the hotel had 300 rooms and several F&B outlets and a shopping and commercial arcade when it opened.

The hotel opened a new wing in 1980, adding 60 suites. A subsidiary company owned by Tycoon Lucio Tan bought a sizable interest in the hotel in 1985, making him a majority shareholder. To this day the hotel is part of the billionaire’s LT Group through Maranaw Hotels and Resort Corporation.

The hotel dropped the Sheraton name after the franchise agreement lapsed in 1996 and was not renewed. Today the hotel is still a popular destination for business and leisure traveler, offering three outdoor swimming pools, gym, six F&B outlets, 14 function rooms and a total of 474 rooms.

5| Holiday Inn Manila (Traders Hotel, Hotel Jen)

FACEBOOK/HOTEL JEN

The original Holiday Inn in Manila was designed by architect Carlos Arguelles and had 370 rooms. It operated for nearly two decades as Holiday Inn before the Shangri-La Group took over and renamed it Traders by Shangri-La Hotel in 1995. The hotel focused mainly on business travelers, equipping all the rooms with business travel necessities. The hotel also became known for its T Lounge, located at Level 19 and which offered 180 degree-views of the city and the bay.

The hotel underwent a few name changes over the years, from Traders Hotel and then back to Traders Hotel by Shangri-La before being rebranded to Hotel Jen in 2014 as part of a broader initiative by the Shangri-La Group to cater to a new generation of travelers. By that time it had 308 rooms.

In August 2022, the Shangri-La group announced that Hotel Jen would close and cease operations by September 2022.

6| Hotel Mirador

The Hotel Mirador is located in the Ermita ditrict of Manila. There is not much information available online about the hotel, except that it was renamed to Hotel Prince Manila sometime in the late 1990s. the hotel is still operational today

7| Manila Garden Hotel

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The Manila Garden Hotel had 511 rooms when it opened in 1976. It was rebranded as Hotel Nikko Manila Garden after the Hotel Nikko group of Japan. In 1995, Dusit International of Thailand bought shares in the holding company and it was subsequently renamed to Dusit Hotel Nikko Manila.

The Thain group initiated extensive renovations and refurbishments for the hotel in the early to mid-2000s and was officially rebranded to Dusit Thani Hotel in 2008. Today it still sits in the Ayala Center compound in Makati, along EDSA, and is well-known for its signature Thai restaurant Benjarong, among many other F&B offerings and amenities.

8| Philippine Village Hotel

Igi Talao

The Philippine Village Hotel was built inside the Nayong Pilipino compound near the Manila International Airport in 1974, two full years before the WB-IMF meetings in 1976. Designed by National Artist for Architecture Juan Nakpil, the Philippine Village Hotel was notable for being the site of the country’s first-ever land-based casino, as well as for being the home of the delegates of the Miss Universe beauty pageant in 1974 that was held in Manila that year.

The hotel was one of the properties seized by the government in 1986 after the EDSA People Power revolution. The hotel closed and permanently ceased operations in 2001. According to officials of the Manila International Airport Authority, the once grand hotel will soon be demolished to make way for the expansion of the adjacent NAIA Terminal 2.

9| Manila Midtown Hotel

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The Manila Midtown Hotel was located in the Ermita district of Manila. With 581 rooms, it was a popular events venue besides being a business and leisure hotel. The hotel was owned by the Gokongwei family, whose Robinsons Land Corp eventually built Robinsons Place in the adjacent area in the 1980s.

By the mid-2000s, RLC decided to expand the shopping complex and build more residential condominiums in the area. According to news reports at the time, "the closure of Manila Midtown came on the heels of sustained losses owing to low occupancy rates." On May 31, 2003, the Manila Midtown closed permanently. It was eventually torn down to make way for the Midtown Wing of Robinsons Place Manila and the construction of Adriatico Place Residences.

10| Regent of Manila

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The Regent of Manila was built along EDSA near the corner of Roxas Boulevard in Pasay City. It was a luxurious hotel that was popular with high-end clientele. However, a devastating fire hit the hotel in 1985, killing 16 people. It was forced to close down for years after. However, under new management and after extensive renovations, it reopened in August 1994 under the name Heritage Hotel.

Today the hotel has 450 rooms, the all-day dining outlet Riviera Café, a gym and spa, and several function rooms.

11| Philippine Plaza Hotel

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The Philippine Plaza Hotel was reportedly the biggest and most expensive out of all the hotels built during this period. A New York Times report from 1976 said the cost for the hotel ran up to $100,000 a room.

But the hotel, which was designed by Leandro Locsin and stands on a piece of land in the Cultural of Center of the Philippines Complex was completed in time, and, over the years, has welcomed a multitude of guests from all corners of the globe. It was called the Westin Philippine Plaza after a management contract with the Westin Group, which lasped in 2005. After that, the hotel signed a new management contract with Accord Hotels, and the hotel was subsequently rebranded into the Sofitel Philippine Plaza.

The Sofitel was since become one of the most popular hotels in Metro Manila, primarily because of its stunning views of sunset at Manila Bay, as well as its iconic Spiral restaurant, that serves arguably the best and most extensive buffets in the city, if not the country.

However the hotel has encountered its share of problems over the years including floodings during severe typhoons, and challenges posed by the pandemic. In May, management announced that the hotel will close at the end of business hours of June 30, 2024. After nearly 50 years, the hotel near the bay is closing down, and there’s no official word on whether the hotel might eventually reopen in the future.

Note: Some other hotels, like the Manila Hotel, the Hyatt Regency and The Admiral Hotel were already existing even before the 1976 IMF-World Bank meeting, but were given access to loans in order to spruce up and expand to accommodate more guests who flew in for the event.