The Metro Manila Development Authority has announced it will partially close the Workers’ Inn (formerly Gwapotel) in the Port Area in Manila next week for a major renovation.
MMDA officer-in-charge Thomas Orbos said the renovation will begin Monday, September 26. He, however, pointed out that the budget hotel for workers, travelers, and students will only be partially closed as many still patronize it.
“We don’t want to displace our regular clientele which averages 500 daily. And more important, closing down the facility would worsen traffic because these people would be stranded while waiting for a ride during rush hours,” Orbos said.
The four-story facility will be closed from 6 a.m. until 6 p.m. starting Monday to make way for the renovation and repair work on the plumbing, leaking roofs, damaged ceilings, worn out vinyl tiles, broken windows and clogged drainage system.
The renovation will also improve the lighting fixtures and re-upholster the beds and the pillows, and debug and disinfect the premises.
The budget for renovation will be sourced from the excess funds of the hotel from its 2015 profits.
Orbos said the renovation will be finished in a month.
The MMDA urged the local government units and private business entities to take a cue from the agency for its shelter innovations.
“The concept of Gwapotel is a practical alternative to in-city relocation and somehow helps solve our traffic problems,” said Orbos.
The Workers’ Inn, which was built in 2007, is still maintained and operated by the MMDA.
The facility posted net earnings of P1.4 million from January to June 2016. Its occupancy rate increased within two weeks, after it was given proper attention.
An average of over 400 guests stayed at the Workers’ Inn in August this year.
The facility offers safe and decent 12-hour lodging with free showers for workers, students and travelers for P50, and brings lodgers closer to their workplaces, schools, and other destinations.
More than 20 food stalls on the ground floor of the inn sell a wide variety of local delicacies.
The Workers’ Inn was inaugurated on May 1, 2007 and started operations in May 14 the same year.
Close circuit television cameras were installed on each floor of the building to ensure the safety of the guests. Each floor has a TV set, electric fans for ventilation, and beds for up to 200 guests and security guards are on duty at any given time.
Ordinary workers, vendors, small entrepreneurs, white collar-job employees and other transients from the provinces doing business in Metro Manila have stayed at the hotel.
The Gwapotel project is part of the MMDA’s urban renewal program.
In September 2007, then MMDA chairman Bayani Fernando spearheaded the construction of Gwapotel.
During its first year of service, the hotel, painted in Fernando’s signature pink and blue, posted an average occupancy rate of 73 percent, or 519 guests daily.
