Episode: Marco Polo Plaza Hotel Cebu Blessing

By Bon JP Largo

Cebu City’s skyline will once again become as magnificent as it has been with the opening of the much talked about hotel in the metropolis today – Marco Polo Plaza Cebu. Very soon, Marco Polo Plaza Hotel Cebu will formally open its doors to the world populace.
Last February 22, Marco Polo Plaza Hotel had its blessing highlighting a high mass celebrated by His Eminence Archbishop Jaime Cardinal Vidal together with other bishops.
After the blessing of the 329-room hotel, lunch was served and guests were properly accommodated and were spoiled over excellent and well-presented food in the superb, medium lit second level function room.
This writer had the opportunity to talk to one of the top honchos of the Marco Polo Group, Director of Human Resources for Training and Development, Deanna McGonigal – the amiable Hongkong-based Canadian hotelier who is on top of the training and staff preparation of the hotel.
In between helpings, things about Marco Polo Plaza Hotel Cebu were disclosed.
“This is a brand new hotel and we don’t wanna stick on to the past. We hired some of the best in the region for management positions and we also hired the best for our hotel staff,” McGonigal Disclosed.
Marco Polo hotel properties are international hotels complying with the high international standards said McGonigal but with the expertise on the local flavors distinct in the region or area where a certain property is located. As for Marco Polo Plaza Hotel Cebu, “We can expect a true Cebuano experience.”
She observed that the hotel industry in the Philippines is growing together with international trade and tourism and Marco Polo is looking into establishing properties in major centers like Manila. “We are working with the tourism industry to enhance Cebu and the Philippines for that matter, as a destination,” McGonigal added.
Targeting the leisure and business market, McGonigal shared they are poised to becoming the home for the market if they stay in Cebu.
During the training she conducted with the staff, she observed that Cebuanos “they accepted the education and training we conducted. They are receptive and it’s so delightful.”
True to Marco Polo’s culture, “We are about people, service, commitment, growth and development,” McGonigal concluded.
Deanne McGonigal has been in the hotel industry for more than two decades and has just recently re-joined the Marco Polo Group. She has been touring around the 10 Marco Polo properties around the world and has served several other properties.