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Distinctively bai

bai Hotel Cebu is the biggest hotel in Visayas and Mindanao to date and also a culinary destination. The hotel changed the business landscape of both the city and the province when it opened.

Cafe bai carving station

As a first-time guest in bai hotel Cebu, one can easily feel the ambiance of “modern luxury and spaciousness.” Indeed, the biggest hotel in Visayas and Mindanao to date but also a culinary destination having 8 dining options including a fine-dining restaurant. Some of these are Café bai, Marble + Grain Steakhouse, and Ume Japanese Cuisine which are all part of the top 10 restaurants in Mandaue City. The Twilight Roofdeck Lounge + Bar on the 23rd floor gives you a 360-degree view of the cities of Mandaue, Cebu, and Lapu-Lapu.

Alfred M. Reyes, General Manager and Vice President of Operations at bai Hotel Cebu.

“We are also proud to say that we have an advanced security system to ensure the safety of our guests and associates,” shared Alfred M. Reyes, General Manager and Vice President of Operations at bai Hotel Cebu.  Upon entering the hotel, guests walk through metal detectors while their baggage goes through the X-ray inspection machine. “Our glass windows are also coated with anti-blast films for additional protection. We also have a seismic accelerograph that detects early signs of an earthquake and a fire detection alarm system that is very sensitive and accurate.”

The hotel is mostly composed of glass walls to showcase the city and the harbor. It is the first property in Cebu that is environmentally sustainable by using low-emission glass windows that shield the interiors from about 30 percent of UV heat, thus saving electricity by lessening the use of automatic air conditioning units. With this concept, the hotel supports sustainable nature-based tourism.

bai Hotel Cebu is meant for business travelers who look forward to doing business in Cebu and leisure travelers who intend to visit Cebu and its neighboring islands. It is near the Mactan Cebu International Airport which is 25 minutes away, and the Domestic Port of Cebu which is 10 minutes away.

The hotel also has plenty of recreational facilities: a fitness center with a sauna, an infinity outdoor lap pool, and kiddie pool, and an in-house spa – The Spa at Cebu by RSpa. Serviced offices are also located on the 5th floor of the hotel catering to businesses that are looking to lease office space in a prominent location in Cebu.

More choices for travelers

Executive one bedroom

Reyes said that bai Hotel Cebu changed the business landscape of both the city and the province when it opened. “Our 668 rooms, 12 event venues, and 8 dining outlets added more choices to travelers who come either for business, leisure, or both. Because of this additional inventory, Cebu is now able to accept larger demands of tourists—Korean, Chinese, Japanese, and others—as well as large-scale meetings, conferences, and events.

Being a culinary destination, it offers guests delectable choices. At Ume Japanese Cuisine, ala carte meals are specially prepared by its Japanese Chef. The Marble + Grain Steakhouse is its very own fine-dining restaurant, where they serve prime USDA steak. For those who would love to talk, meet with friends and pick up where they left off, they have a self-serving coffee outlet—Wallstreet Coffee + Bar. The all-day dining restaurant, Café bai serves eastern to western specialties and is the #1 restaurant in Mandaue today.

Infinity lap pool (night)

Aside from sponsorships, collaborations, social media, and tri-media advertising, they have a membership program, the bai Platinum Membership. Members get exclusive perks and privileges such as huge discounts on their food and beverage outlets as well as two (2) complimentary overnight stays at bai Hotel Cebu and a cash voucher on selected outlets. Members are also entitled to exclusive promos at bai Hotel Cebu and discounts on their partner establishments they could avail of year-round.

Customer First

 Reyes’ work motto is “customer first – I always remind my associates about that,” he related. “I am very hands-on. I walk around the hotel regularly, do ocular inspections. I dine in our outlets to check the quality of our food. I talk directly to guests to ask about their stay. I do not usually stay inside my office. I just go there when I need to sign documents.”

The hardworking GM has been in the industry for more than 30 years. He graduated from the University of San Jose – Recoletos and had two certificates for finishing General Management Programs from Cornell University. He worked in various properties locally and abroad. His most remarkable achievement so far in his career is being the first Filipino to open a 668-room hotel in the Philippines.

“We strive to improve every day by monitoring all online reviews published on the internet and taking necessary actions for those that need our attention,” explained Reyes on how they stay current in terms of hotel reputation management. “We keep good comments and reviews as compliments. We practice transparency within the team by having our general assembly every month. In these events, we update our associates about the hotel’s current standing and discuss different situations as well as strategies. We are very thankful that we are gaining popularity and getting positive reviews and recommendations even though we are just in the first year of our operations.”

View from Twilight Roofdeck Lounge and Bar
Twilight (interior)

Managing a huge property while understanding the millennial workforce plus the evolution of digital platforms and the rising demand of travelers make his day exciting and challenging. Cebu is becoming the next M.I.C.E. destination in Southeast Asia. Hotels and properties are taking advantage of this. “This is an opportunity and I am very excited and positive about it. This positioning of Cebu challenges me to be more creative in finding ways to entice clients and continuously learn and improve in my job. Working in the hospitality industry with passion gives you the drive to manage a property like bai Hotel Cebu,” Reyes quipped.

bai Hotel Cebu envisions itself to be the most preferred world-class Filipino hotel. To achieve this, Reyes and his associates continuously work together on making bai Hotel Cebu the number 1 hotel in Mandaue City. In the long run, it aims to expand within Visayas and Mindanao with even bigger properties in terms of space and rooms, and more amenities and facilities than the present.

bai Hotel Cebu is distinctively one which stands by its own magnificence.

#baiexperience #baihotelcebu #cebu #hospitality #philippines #worldhotels

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Raul Lebajo’s ‘Enter His World’ Book Launch

In his book, the artist invites the viewer and art lover to enter his fantastic world and pursue the surrealist vision in his paintings and drawings.

It was a proud moment for our family when my father-in-law, master surrealist painter Raul Lebajo launched his first coffee table book entitled, “Enter His World,” at the Ayala Museum recently. Finally, it has been out after 20 years in the making. It was authored by noted art critic and historian, Alice Guillermo, and published by LC: Questor Worldwide Corporation.

In his book, the artist invites the viewer and art lover to enter his fantastic world and pursue the surrealist vision in these paintings and drawings.  “Special to Lebajo’s art is the experience of universal energy that courses throughout the whole nature,” describes the author. ”

Lebajo’s masterpieces crafted over the years are divided into several topics which composed the book’s entirety.  Of course, there are landscapes of cosmic energy, the secret life of plants, offerings of fruit, an uncommon aviary, reinventing nature, varieties of organic life, a marine universe, humans in nature, forces as archetypes, cosmic furniture, the vases series, sculptures, and other works.

“Raul Lebajo is a true artist of nature, but this does not mean that he does traditional landscapes and still life paintings of flowers. He does not paint valleys of earth, trees, and sky as though they stretched out before him, or does he paint flowers bunched together in a vase for his personal delectation. Not for him is a linear perspective, for, in fact, he plays with perspective, and his views are often warped, telescoped, spiraling, and spinning into multiple worlds,” – Alice Guillermo. She received her graduate degrees in France and at the University of the Philippines-Diliman.

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Martin Gerard Villamor: Cool Mayor of Cebu’s Nature Haven

With its vast freshwater supply, lush vegetation, and soon-to-open theme park, Carmen is set to be the top weekend getaway in Cebu.

Mayor Martin Gerard Villamor has fulfilled his vision for the town of Carmen, Cebu. Composed of 21 barangays the town’s assets lie on its forests teeming with springs that support the endangered bareback fruit bats, nocturnal cats, and other flora and fauna.

Now on his last term and eight years in office, Villamor realized that he can’t do everything. “I still have a lot of unfinished business,” he shared during an exclusive interview with Experience Travel and Living magazine at the Carmen municipal office. His top most agenda is to make Carmen a top tourist destination in the province of Cebu by focusing on eco-tourism.

“We are halfway there with the opening of Cebu Safari, the establishment of several monasteries for faith tourism, and the development of a road network leading to these destinations.” He will also set up the Carmen Marina that will cater to yachts and small boats, hopefully, all these will turn the town into a first-class municipality.

The town will also be the home of the biggest Aqua Intergalactic theme park owned by Bantigui Leisure Resort. Located in Barangay Luyang, Carmen, the 5-hectare development project will boast inflatable facilities for swimming and other sports activities. The park is expected to be completed in two years’ time.

Despite being an agricultural town, Villamor said a good food security plan has yet to be implemented. “We try to maintain our town to be green, with lots of agricultural lands to plant crops such as corn for food security.”

Aside from fishing and agriculture livelihood, employment opportunities are now available for the people of Carmen with the growing number of businesses in the area.

A peaceful town

There are no drug-related problems in Carmen. Minor incidents and petty crimes are immediately addressed by the law enforcers.

In terms of infrastructure, the Mayor is concerned about the narrow roads that are contributing to Carmen’s traffic woes. He advocated for wider roads 20 years ago but unfortunately, land prices have gone up. However, he proudly claimed their barangay roads are better than most towns in Cebu.

Education is also a focal point. He stressed that the lack of education can hamper the town’s growth. Classroom shortage has been addressed already in most barangays. “To date, we only lack 10 or 20 classrooms, thanks to our partner, the Ramon Aboitiz Foundation.”

Last year, the town placed second among communities with a high incidence of malnutrition. This year Carmen went down to 22 or 23. Villamor is happy with this development and has since then assigned a dedicated health unit to monitor the issue.

Another concern to be resolved is water availability. “Many wanted to have water but don’t pay their bills so I decided to look for a private supplier to supply water to everyone,” he said. Right now, they have a grandstand near the plaza, partly funded by the water company. They built a sports facility so people will not be involved in bad activities.

Trust and Confidence

As he sets the vision and pace for the development of Carmen, Villamor has learned to trust the people around him. “They know how to do their job. Because of the trust, I seldom call for a meeting. I only call them when they have problems to report to me,” he quipped.

The down-to-earth mayor is adamant in pursuing a “zero-corruption” policy in his office. The “Transparency Seal” has been posted on the municipality’s website indicating its compliance. “When state auditors come here, I always tell them that they should dig deeper.”

His management style is unconventional. His simple manner of dressing reflects his laid-back approach to life.

He is known to be very approachable. He’s at work almost every day, answering questions and addressing barangay problems from the town plaza and not from his office at the municipal building. He signs papers in the morning and attends several meetings. He usually keeps his afternoons free.

His management style is unconventional. His simple manner of dressing reflects his laid-back approach to life. “My routine is almost the same every day with my glass of beer that helps me unwind,” he laughed. “What people love about me is that ‘this is who I am, they know that I’m gay, that I drink beer.’”

Definitely, the people will credit him for the town’s development, but the biggest challenge is his ability to relate to people of all types. “As mayor, you have to say yes. I seldom say no, I want to please everybody as much as I can. To be frank about it, I want to be as real and truthful as possible with as many people as possible.”

Heeding the call of politics

Villamor took up architecture at the University of San Carlos and became a successful businessman. He had a gasoline station and was also involved in construction and distributorship. But he gave them all up to be the campaign manager of his dad, Virginio, when he ran for mayor in Carmen. His dad was the municipal mayor for nine years, vice-mayor for three years, and the mayor again for five years.

Villamor had no plans of being in politics because of his temperament. He is very strict, a trait that is not exactly acceptable in public service. But as the years pass he learned to adjust. He is the 12th mayor of Carmen, “hopefully not the 13th,” he quipped, saying he now wants to give other people a chance to serve the town. He is looking to run for a councilor to help protect his legacy and other projects.

He is the eldest of seven siblings, with two adopted kids. “They (siblings) look older than me. My secret there is that when I get mad, I throw everything. All out ‘yan. After that, I will be fine. I don’t sleep on it. My staff would check on me if ‘may sapot pa ba si mayor’ (is mayor still mad)?’”

But unlike most of his other siblings and friends, he does not travel much. He wants to experience traveling from Saint Petersburg to Vladivostok in Russia by train. But for now, his heart remains in Carmen, Cebu. “I don’t want to make Carmen a city because the land taxes will get higher. I want it to remain a small, but a first-class municipality no less,” he concluded.

(Re-posted from ExperienceTravelPH)