By Mark Louis F. Ferrolino
Special Features Writer
ROBINSONS Land Corp. (RLC) plans to open three more hotels under the Summit brand, bringing the total number of its Summit hotels to eight in the next two years.
The three additional branches will be located in Greenhills in San Juan; Naga City in Bicol; and General Santos City in South Cotabato.
“We are building more hotels to cater to more clients for both business and leisure. As mentioned, we will be opening three more and hopefully more hotels,” Summit Hotels and Resorts Operations Manager Drixel M. Ortega told BusinessWorld on the sidelines of Josiah’s Hospitality Management’s launch of its partnership with Summit Ridge Tagaytay last week.
RLC currently operates five Summit hotels — Summit Ridge Tagaytay, Summit Hotel Magnolia in Quezon City, Summit Galleria Cebu and Summit Circle Cebu, and Summit Hotel Tacloban in Leyte. Summit Hotel Tacloban opened in April with 138 rooms, giving the Gokongwei-led property firm a total room inventory of 758 under the Summit brand.
Aside from ramping up its portfolio, Summit Hotels and Resorts continue to keep each of its properties unique by incorporating designs that are related to where these branches are located.
For instance, Summit hotel in Cebu features designs associated with the province’s mangoes, while the hotel in Tacloban features decor related to its famous Pintados Festival.
“I think that’s also one way of sending that message — that we know what the trends are,” Mr. Ortega said, noting the company adjusts to what the market needs.
JOSIAH’S PARTNERSHIP
As part of the initiative, the management of Summit Ridge Tagaytay tapped Josiah’s Catering, Inc. as its new food and beverage (F&B) partner.
“To bring Josiah’s — our brand — in different cities, the best partnership is hotel. And then, there are hotels that look for F&B provider like Summit Ridge. It’s a good thing that they tapped us,” Freshnaida Versoza, chief operating officer of Josiah’s Catering, told BusinessWorld.
“For Josiah’s Hospitality Management, it’s our first property to handle. We’re really excited for it because Summit Ridge has a lot of potential that can give in the market,” Ms. Versoza added.
Josiah’s is set to open a new concept restaurant, Sartin, at the Summit Ridge Tagaytay by June that will become the hotel’s in-house restaurant.
Sartin is a Filipino restaurant that specializes in Tagalog, Kapampangan and Ilonggo dishes, which according to Ms. Versoza, are the best of the best recipes of their family members, infused with Josiah’s twist. It could cater to 100 up to 200 diners.
“I wanted to strengthen the brand because I believe that Filipinos, at the end of the day, always go back to our comfort food such as Sinigang, Bulalo, and Adobo,” Ms. Versoza said.
“Tagaytay is a perfect location for our first F&B operations management because aside from its picturesque views and cool climate, it is a culinary destination on its own. We want to make the Tagaytay experience more exciting and delicious for tourists and locals,” she said.

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