By Romeo Braceros, Jr.

Megaworld Corp. plans to open its second in-house hotel development within its 30-hectare Mactan Newtown development in Lapu-Lapu City by the fourth quarter of this year.

The 20-story Belmont Hotel Mactan will be Megaworld Hotels & Resorts' 12th hotel property, making it the country's largest operator of domestic hotel brands.

It will contain 550 guestrooms and suites, including Twin Suites, Queen Suites, Junior Suites, Executive Suites, and Specially-abled Suites, with the majority of apartments offering a panoramic view of the Hilutungan Channel.

The new hotel will be positioned alongside Newtown Blvd., just a few minutes' walk from Mactan Newtown Beach and the soon-to-be-built Mactan Newtown Beach Walk Mall.

It is also a five-minute walk from Mactan Alfresco, a hawker-style dining destination with a variety of eateries serving authentic Cebuano food and other delights.

The Belmont Café, Zabana Bar, and Pool Bar are among the new hotel's food and beverage options.

Megaworld Hotels & Resorts built the township's first hotel facility, the 547-room Savoy Hotel Mactan, in 2019, which recently hosted hundreds of athletes and partners from the just-ended world IRONMAN 70.3 Philippines.

In the midst of the pandemic, the corporation also opened the 529-room Kingsford Hotel Manila in Westside City, Parañaque, last year.

Megaworld Hotels has already opened 11 hotel properties under six homegrown brands, totaling approximately 4,000 hotel keys: Richmonde Hotel (Ortigas, Eastwood City, and Iloilo); Belmont Hotels (Newport City and Boracay); Savoy Hotels (Newport City, Boracay, and Cebu); Twin Lakes Hotel (Tagaytay); Hotel Lucky Chinatown (Binondo, Manila); and Kingsford Hotel (Paranaque City).

During the first half of 2022, the company's hotel revenues increased by 49% yearly, totaling P1.1 billion.