MEDIUM RARE

Before the lights go out, said the president of the company that manages and operates the five-star hotel, “Let’s do lunch.”

I still find it hard counting the decades when we spent Tuesdays, me and my colleagues, at Sofitel hotel (aka Philippine Plaza) for our Bulong Pulungan press lunches where we’d invite a newsmaker or newsmakers and grill them on developments. The hotel’s parking lot, which looked more like a park surrounded by trees and flowering hedges, was a couple minutes’ walk to the ballroom or one of the conference rooms. There may be newer hotels, but not a one could or can match this one for its aesthetics, its spaciousness and greenery (kept perennially green by a platoon of gardeners).

Sadly, Sofitel will close its doors on July 1, 2024. “We do not own the land,” explained Steve Peña Sy, and it would be nigh impossible to raise US$120 million to renew the lease. “But all 450 fulltime, regular employees have been compensated for their services, and many of them have found a new job, thankfully.”

Last Saturday, lunch at the hotel’s popular Spiral buffet was lively with the expected weekend crowd. At ₱3,800 a pop, were they there for sentimental or purely gastronomic reasons only? The hotel attracts more local tourists than foreigners, and they contribute to its 86 percent average occupancy.

Sofitel’s location is a plus factor, emitting a resort vibe along Roxas Blvd., the sprawl under skies so blue and so close to Manila Bay you could almost touch the waves when you stood up from the bath tub in the Imperial Suite (₱330,000 a night).

What would GSIS, which owns the land, do with an empty hotel on its hands? After July 1, 2024, Sofitel will be the third hotel in Metro Manila to shut down after the Intercontinental and Mandarin, both in Makati, decades ago.

True, the middle-ageing Sofitel at 48 needs more than a coat of paint to bring it up to date, turn it from old to new and “in”. Not far away in Quezon City, on the same day Mr. Sy and I were sharing anecdotes about Sofitel, Enrique K. Razon and his team were getting ready to open Solaire North, the first casino hotel in Quezon City.