Hyatt Regency sold; to reopen as hotel-casino

(The old Hyatt Regency in Pasay City, Manila photo by Filbuild.com)

BUSINESSMAN/singer-songwriter Jose Mari Chan has sold the once-famous Hyatt Regency Hotel in Manila to the Sunwest Group of young Bicolano businessman Elizaldy Co. Sunwest owns the luxury resort Misibis Bay Raintree in Cagraray Island, Albay.

The hotel is scheduled to reopen by April 2010, as Midas Hotel and Casino, to be managed by Genesis Hotels and Resorts, a hotel-management firm headed by Miguel Cerqueda, former general manager of The Manila Hotel. (Click here for the rest.)

Vacation pics

AS I posted earlier, my gang and I went to Misibis Bay Raintree during the weekend of Aug. 21 for a little R&R. It's a gorgeous resort owned by Elizaldy Co, one of the most dynamic businessmen in Bicol and managed by the same group behind Discovery properties of the Tiu family (JTKC Group).

The resort has yet to be formally opened, but is already accepting guests. One thing great about going to Albay is that it is generally sunny down there, when our weather here in Manila is rainy. So it makes an alternative wet season destination for tourists.

Here are some photos I took of the resort:

Current travel package to Misibis starts at P13,000 inclusive of roundtrip airfare, 3D/2N accommodations, breakfast. Click here for more details. Can't wait to return there and try out more activities.

The richest man in Bicol

ELIZALDY CO is probably a name Metro Manilans are not familiar with. But out in Bicol, this is one 'taipanet' that has been making waves in the region's economy, and soon Luzon natives will also be able to benefit from his businesses.

I met Zaldy when I recently went to Legazpi, Albay to cover the inauguration of two new tourism properties – Hotel Venezia in Renaissance Gardens, Legazpi, and Discovery Bay Misibis in Cagraray Island. Both properties are to be managed by HSAI Raintree Inc. (which also oversees the Discovery Hotels and resorts), but unlike the other Discovery-branded establishments, the Bicol properties are owned by Zaldy.


(Zaldy Co, CEO of Sunwest Group of Companies, poses at the lanai of a model unit of Discovery Bay Misibis, a luxury resort in Albay scheduled to open in December.)

Only 38, this guy is so unassuming and humble I can't imagine him as one of the richest men, if not, the richest man in Bicol. He is into almost all businesses — construction, aviation, tourism, renewable energy, and soon, even mining. An ex-seminarian, Zaldy's businesses (under his Sunwest Group of Companies) are aimed at protecting the environment (yes, even the mining although he declined to reveal the details of this rather new venture), giving more jobs to people, and lifting economies.

His renewable energy projects, for example, are powering small islands like Catanduanes, and soon Antique and Iloilo. "It's a good feeling," Zaldy says of his hybrid power projects (geothermal, hydro, wind). "It's acceptable to the people, and good for the environment.... We are just stewards of this earth, e."

Read more about how this taipan-in-the-making is making a difference in Bicol and the Philippine countryside.