The Pines City has been in its lofty location in the Gran Cordillera for almost a century now. Nestling at a cool 5,000 feet above the sweltering lowlands of Northern Luzon, Baguio City was designed by American architect Daniel Burnham as a compact garden city for a population of 25,000 people. Now, it’s a bustling highland city of 350,000.
During the tourism peak season of February up to May, almost a million people, majority of whom are locals, trek to the "Summer Capital of the Philippines" to have the feel of an air-conditioned city in an American colonial era ambiance.
Catering to the tourists’ needs are 88 tourist accommodation facilities of various types and classes. One of these is the new four-story, 60-room Microtel Inn & Suites, wholly owned by Victory Liner, Inc., one of the biggest bus companies in the country that services Central and Northern Luzon. Located at Upper Session Road, Microtel is connected by an elevated walkway to the new, world class, two-story Victory Liner Passenger Terminal.
"It was the synergy between Victory Liner, which brings in passengers and tourists to Baguio, and Microtel Inn & Suites, which accommodates them," explains Roy Martin, sales director of all the five Microtel Inn & Suites in the country. "This was the reason why they built this new passenger terminal and Microtel Baguio," adds Martin. "Microtel’s unique service is that while en route to any of our hotels, one can text his reservation directly to our front desk, so he would have a room reserved for him even if he wasn’t able to make an advance booking."
Aside from Baguio, Microtel Inn & Suites, which is operated by Paramount Property Management Company, has also hotels in Luisita, Tarlac, Eagle Ridge in Gen. Trias in Cavite, Santo Tomas in Batangas, and in Calapan City in Oriental Mindoro. Paramount also manages Lima City Hotel in Malvar, Batangas and Salcedo Suites at LPL Manor in Salcedo Village in Makati City. Next year, two more hotels – in Boracay and Tagaytay – will be the newest addition.
"Microtel Baguio, which is the only fully air-conditioned hotel here, opened in November 2004 in time for the Ad Congress," says Robbie B. Gonzalez, who manages both Baguio and Luisita Hotels. "By February this year, our occupancy have picked up already. We’re no frills hotel with not much amenities like a restaurant, but despite being an economy hotel, we offer our guests five-star service," adds Gonzalez, who like Martin, were former frontliners of de luxe hotels in Manila.
Aside from having chiropractic beds, Microtel is probably the only hotel chain in the country that have Braille markings for its visually challenged guests in all its signages – from room numbers to restrooms. It even has a microwave at the lobby where guests could have their microwave – ready food heated, and an ice machine in one corner to cool their drinks.
So next time you go to Baguio to relax, rummage in its many ukay-ukay stalls, go on ghost hunting or simply to get away from it all, you know where to stay.
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