Megaworld Hotels and Resorts (MHR) officially ignites the festive season across its 11 hotels nearing 4,000 room keys located in numerous townships in the Philippines through an online thanksgiving celebration. “Hope and Harmony”, this year’s theme, ushers in the spirit of gratefulness together with Belmont Hotel Boracay, Belmont Hotel Manila, Hotel Lucky Chinatown, Eastwood Richmonde Hotel, Richmonde Hotel Iloilo, Richmonde Hotel Ortigas, Savoy Hotel Boracay, Savoy Hotel Mactan Newtown, Savoy Hotel Manila, Twin Lakes Hotel, and its newest property Kingsford Hotel Manila.
With restrictions easing up and things moving forward, MHR spearheads a hybrid program for guests present both onsite and online. To ensure everyone’s safety, guests and suppliers present onsite underwent a mandatory antigen testing with enforced social distancing protocols throughout the program.
Marking the beginning of the evening’s festivities, all attendees online were virtually transported to the lobby of Twin lakes Hotel. Immediately, Kammerchor Manila, a chorale ensemble sang “Kumukutikutitap” right beside a 14-feet tall Christmas Tree bedazzled in champaign and gold ornaments. Afterwards, Ms. Lara Quigaman-Alcaraz gracefully took command of the program as the event’s beguiling host.
Kammerchor Manila fills the air with yuletide hits for everyone to enjoy 
Lara Quigaman-Alcaraz, event host
Welcoming everyone to this joyous occasion is Ms. Cleofe Albiso, Group General Manager (GGM) of MHR. With a heart that’s grateful, she looked back on the challenges that all industries continue to face. She also acknowledged the progress everyone has made to keep up with the global pandemic. On a lighter note, she shares “It is inspiring to see more children (in the hotels) after a long time of being kept in their homes, it is encouraging to see them going out again giving them a sense of normalcy”. She further adds that “these children are observing us (especially) how we manage through this crisis knowing how we do things will determine their future as we gradually lift restrictions”.
Cleofe Albiso, Group General Manager of Megaworld Hotels and Resorts 
(From left) Eden Decano, Group Director of Finance, Cleofe Albiso, Group General Manager, and Divine Delos Reyes, Group Director of Human Resources
She also took the opportunity to thank Dr. Andrew Tan, founder, chairman and president of Megworld Corporation for his continued drive and support together with all the stakeholders and most of all the pool of associates who continue to serve guests even amidst the global pandemic. Lastly, she ends her address with a gleamer of hope as she officially introduces the newly opened Kingsford Hotel Manila located at the Entertainment City of Paranaque with General Manager Joe Fijardo at the helm of leadership. The new hotel with its 529 rooms has given jobs to almost 200 individuals and already managed to cater to more than 95,000 returning Filipinos and other guests for their essential stays since its soft opening last March of this year.
Adding to everyone’s enjoyment was singer-songwriter, Kate Torralba as she serenaded everyone with her original Awit-Award Nominated song entitled “Pictures”. Right after, the Circle of Happiness video was played to give all the viewers a glimpse of Megaworld Hotels and Resorts’ efforts in maintaining the organization’s culture that is anchored on God, self-development, family, work, and concern for community. Kingsford Hotel Manila’s front office associate, Ms. Janeen Delos Reyes, Belmont Hotel Boracay’s Area Marketing Communications Officer, Ms. Sarah Santos along with MHR’s Group Director of Human Resources, Ms. Divine Delos Reyes also shared their testimonies about the tribulations they had to personally face and triumphed over during the pandemic with the help of MHR.
To recognize the prime movers of the culture of MHR, the event also gave due recognition to all property General Managers namely: Mr. Oliver Esguerra of Twin lakes Hotel, Mr. Jeremy Go of Hotel Lucky Chinatown, Mr. Joe Fijardo of Kingsford Hotel Manila, Mr. Josef Chiongbian of Savoy Hotel Mactan Newtown, Mr. Avinash Menon, Cluster General Manager of the Savoy & Belmont Brands, Mr. Socrates “Sonny” Alvaro of Belmont Hotel Manila, Mr. Elmar Lina of Belmont Hotel Boracay and OIC of Savoy Hotel Boracay, Mr. Jun Justo of Eastwood Richmonde Hotel, Ms. Natalie Lim of Richmonde Hotel Iloilo, and Mr. Jorold Montelibano of Richmonde Hotel Ortigas together with Ms. Cleofe Albiso. To show heartfelt appreciation, the kids of attending associates surprised the leaders with hand-written thank you cards and flowers to thank them for all that they do best which is taking care of their people. Ms. Albiso also led everyone to a toast and raised a glass for hope and continued harmony as we all walk together towards a better and safer tomorrow.
The event became more interactive with each engaging question flashed in between segments through the screens. Viewers online were all encouraged to comment their answers and as well as tag family and friends for them to join in the fun of the program. At the end, special vouchers from L’Uva Vineyard Spa of Twin Lakes Hotels and other overnight stay gift certificates across all hotels were given away. After the announcement of winners, more Christmas carols were sung by both Kate Torralba and Kammerchor Manila that filled the entire lobby with that much needed holiday cheer.
To know more about the country’s largest homegrown hotel chain, please visit Megaworld Hotels and Resorts’ website www.megaworlcorp.com/hotels or official Facebook page for room bookings and other exciting holiday promotions./PN
