Aside from the ever-smiling residents you see everywhere in the city, Bacolod is also known for the very popular MassKara Festival, where the locals don elaborately colorful masks of smiling faces, and dance in the streets to the electrifying beat of the drums.
The city’s annual cultural celebration was originally put up to show that the residents continue to manifest a happy spirit in spite of the many challenges they faced in the past decades. Thus came to be, Bacolod’s tag as “The City Of Smiles”.
SM Hotels and Conventions Corp. (SMHCC) has given residents of and visitors to Bacolod more reasons to smile by opening its newest hotel the other day.
The fifth in SMHCC’s portfolio, Park Inn by Radisson Bacolod is strategically located downtown, and has a total of 150 superior and de luxe rooms and junior suites, two outdoor pools, a fitness center, and an art gallery to serve as venue for year-round art and photography exhibitions by local talents.
Meeting planners and other event organizers will find it easy to book their functions at any of the hotel’s three conference rooms and two private banquet rooms. Moreover, this new, vibrant upper-midscale hotel is adjacent and has easy access to the SMX Convention Center.
Those who want to squeeze in some shopping in between their business for the day will delight in the fact that the hotel is actually a part of the humongous SM City Bacolod shopping mall complex.
Guests who go for the finer things in life will be happy to note that they have a choice of comfortable king-size beds or relaxing twin beds. Each room is equipped with a refreshing and well-designed bathroom and intuitive amenities such as bedside USB ports and free Wi-Fi.
This family-friendly hotel will soon earn the patronage of fun-loving parents with their children because it has health facilities a family needs – a separate outdoor pool for children and another one for adults, a jogging path, a fitness center, and in-room spa services.
To cater to one’s culinary cravings, there is the all-day Arima, which serves a wide range of international dishes; DASH, the “grab-and-go” nook on the ground floor; the Lobby Lounge, which is a casual café and juice bar; and the Marapara Plaza, an al fresco venue that specializes in comfort food and cool drinks.
Andre de Jong, vice president of operations, Southeast Asia and Pacific of Radisson Hotel Group is thrilled with this addition to the chain’s portfolio, especially because it is the first internationally branded hotel in Bacolod City, reflecting the brand’s strategy of introducing world-class hospitality to Asia’s up-and-coming cities.
Peggy Angeles, SMHCC executive vice president, banners the company’s noble gesture of using the properties under its wings to provide sources of livelihood for the workforce in the area, especially because the industry has suffered so much with the loss of so many jobs caused by this pandemic.
But those of us in the tourism industry marvel at her and SMHCC’s gutsy optimism and confidence in the future. They continue to expand their brand footprint all over the country in spite of these perilous times when businesses still have to contend with many unknown factors in order to survive and succeed.
But, then again, that’s the fearless SMHCC and the dauntless Peggy Angeles! Isn’t their boldness another reason to smile in The City Of Smiles?
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LAW OF CLOSE ENCOUNTERS – The probability of meeting someone you know increases dramatically when you’re with someone you don’t want to be seen with.
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