Reviving the Manila Grand Opera Hotel

How management is positioning its return to its days of glory

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When Francisco “Isko” Moreno Domogaso was elected Mayor of the City of Manila, he vowed to clean up the country’s capital and do everything he could to regain its lost glory. He spent his first few months in office clearing main roads of all obstructions. He also organized regular stakeholders’ meetings to discuss what could be done to revive the city which progress seemed to have left behind.

Rodney C. Robosa, the General Manager of Manila Grand Opera Hotel, was among those who attended those meetings. To him and his colleagues – businessmen, business owners, and hotel executives – an up-and-close encounter with a sitting mayor was a first. “He wanted us to work together so that the City of Manila would be able to attract more foreign tourists to the country,” he recalls.

One thing that he brought to the Mayor’s attention was his hotel’s own unique challenge: its location at the corner of Doroteo Jose and Rizal Avenue. Not long after, Yorme Isko – as

The hotels main entrance can be a doorway to history.

the Mayor is popularly known – not only cleared and cleaned the vicinity of the hotel, but he also lit it up and increased police visibility in the area. Traffic near the hotel has become more manageable, and snatchers who used to prey on the careless now think twice before engaging in any criminal activities.

Yorme Isko also gave Robosa his own marching orders: “… to prepare reports so that the mayor could closely monitor the number and type of tourists that visit Manila,” Robosa said. “For now, 10 to 15 percent of the hotel’s market are foreigners who are mostly Chinese and Koreans.”

The bulk of the Manila Grand Opera Hotel guests are usually residents from the nearby districts who opt to have staycations instead of traveling to the nearby provinces. Robosa jokes that at one point, it was known as the “Summer Capital of Tondo” where Manileños preferred to do their R and R instead of venturing out to Baguio.

The hotel has also become a favorite venue that holds seminars and training programs with many participants staying for the duration of these activities.

The luxurious rooms are among the hotel’s attractions.

Historical icon

Yorme’s actions, according to Robosa, “will contribute greatly to our desire to promote the Manila Grand Opera Hotel as a hotel of history.”

This icon sits on the former site of the Manila Grand Opera House which, according to a Philippine Graphic article written by historian Jose Victor Z. Torres, served as a premiere entertainment venue during the Spanish and American colonial periods.

When it first opened its doors in 1899, the Opera House was originally built with a cycling racetrack called the National Cycle Track; it was owned by a certain N.T. Hashim who arrived in Manila in 1892. The land he bought for the track was part of the Hacienda de San

Investment in the accommodations to improve them is always ongoing.

Lazaro or the San Lazaro Estate that was being subdivided into lots for sale.

Barely a year later, he converted the place into a theater, the Teatro Nacional, which served as the arena for the Russian Circus Troupe and American theater companies. In 1902, an Italian named Balzofiore entered into a contract with Hashim to renovate and innovate the place for the Italian Opera Company. The heralded outcome was the Manila Grand Opera House.

One significant part that it played in Philippine history was playing host to the opening of the first Philippine Assembly on October 16, 1907. The elections of the Assembly’s 80 members on July 30 of that same year signaled the formation of a body that would represent the 7.6-million-strong

Guests can choose from more than 200 rooms.

Filipino population. It was also instituted under the Cooper Act of 1902, following the publication of a census and the restoration of peace to the country after the Spanish-American war. Prominent politicians, businessmen, labor leaders, educators, writers, and newspapermen made up the Philippine Assembly.

After hosting the first Philippine Assembly, the Opera House became a favorite meeting place for political and civil organizations. In 1910, it hosted a welcome program for then Resident Commissioner Manuel L. Quezon following his successful appearance in the US Congress. Twenty years later, it also became the venue for the First Independence Congress.

The lost years

Unfortunately, the Opera House went into decline after its heyday. By the start of World War II, “it was virtually like a warehouse where its interiors were a cavernous darkness, dark and musty,” Torres wrote. After the war, Toribio Teodoro, a shoemaker by profession, went on a shopping spree and bought the Opera House and other properties around the Sta. Cruz area. He constructed buildings along Rizal Avenue and the era of sinehans or cinemas was born.

Under the management of Teodoro’s son-in-law, Jose Dayrit, and daughter Cecilia, the Opera House returned to its old use as a venue for stage shows; it also featured second-run movies as double features. Among the legendary artists who performed at the Manila Grand Opera House were Katy de la Cruz, Bobby Gonzales, Diomedes Maturan, Sylvia La Torre, Conching Rosal, and the Reycard

Duet. When television and the movies slowly replaced live entertainment, the Opera House gradually lost its luster and was relegated as the venue for taped-as- live TV programs.

Staging a comeback

Things changed for the better in the 1960s. Ambassador Antonio L. Cabangon Chua purchased the lot and structure of the Manila Grand Open House and transformed it into the Manila Grand Opera Hotel.

Presently, the hotel has 205 rooms and has become the place to go to for good food: fine dining at the Circa 1900 Bar and Restaurant, or The New President Sharksfin Seafood Restaurant, or a cup of good coffee at the Mr. Donut Coffee Shop. The hotel also houses the Manila Grand Oriental Casino and the Open Karaoke Bar.

The hotel’s Ambassador Hall ballroom can accommodate up to 800 guests. Smaller groups can be accommodated in the hotel’s meeting rooms and in the business center. The hotel also has a swimming pool, massage services, a jacuzzi spa, a sauna, and a lush garden.

The hotel also offers 14-hour room service as well as concierge and laundry services to cap the experience of luxury that has now become the trademark of the Manila Grand Opera Hotel.

“We are constantly renovating our rooms so that we will not be left behind. Competition is stiff nowadays but you can always count on our staff at the Manila Grand Opera Hotel to give you the best service that you deserve,” says Robosa.

That is a solid first step into restoration and revival.