A total of 13 staycation hotels in Metro Manila have resumed operations following the recent switch of the National Capital Region (NCR)-plus to a more relaxed community quarantine status.
These staycation hotels have 5,986 rooms available for booking, the Manila Bulletin learned.
The Inter-Agency Task Force (IATF) on the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases had earlier placed Metro Manila, Bulacan, Rizal, Laguna, and Cavite — collectively known as NCR-plus — under a general community quarantine (GCQ) with "heightened restrictions" from May 15 to 30.
Only essential travel is allowed going to and from the NCR-plus, but the IATF has allowed the implementation of "specialized markets" of the DOT, and the staycation program is one of them. As expected, such activities will still be subject to the strict observance of minimum public health standards (MPHS).
"While the IATF allowed our request to permit leisure travel under the current quarantine condition, we would like to remind everyone that the health and safety of our guests and tourism workers remain the utmost priority," Tourism Secretary Bernadette Romulo-Puyat said in a statement on Tuesday, May 18.
"These staycation hotels, all of which are star-rated, have the capacity and have been inspected and oriented on the new normal protocols to ensure this," Puyat added.
The DOT said the accredited staycation hotels in Metro Manila are the Grand Hyatt Hotel, Okada Manila Hotel, Shangri-la at the Fort, Nobu Hotel, Joy Nostalg Hotel & Suites Manila, EDSA Shangri-la Manila, Solaire Resort, Hyatt Regency and Nuwa Hotel of City of Dreams, The Peninsula Manila, Aruga by Rockwell, Sheraton Manila Hotel, and Hilton Manila.
These establishments are currently not being utilized as coronavirus disease (COVID-19) quarantine facilities, Puyat noted.
In an advisory, the DOT noted that only accommodation establishments granted with a Certificate of Authority to Operate for Staycation (CAOS) will be allowed to resume operations.
Only guests from within the NCR-plus bubble will be allowed, and they must also be wiltin the 18 to 65 age range.