FOR Widus Hotel and Casino, being the new kid in the block has its superior advantage – a modern piece of real estate property amidst the historical remnants of Clark.
Says Alfred Reyes, general manager of Widus (pronounced “with us”): “Our brand is, we are the newest property in Clark (Freeport Zone) because every time we come here, the fi rst thing that we notice is that that the properties are already old and tired. What they don’t realize is that Widus exists.”
Reyes, at Widus’ helm for over a year now, recalled that “not until recently when we were doing our campaigns of billboards and concerts that came to know of Widus.”
He said even during the Meetings, Incentives, Conventions and Exhibitions/Events (M.I.C.E.) Conference 2014 held here last month, some of the hotel and travel executives were surprised to find out about Widus. “Had we known that you have such property here in Clark, then Widus would have been our choice,” Reyes quoted them as saying.
“So it’s starting to get its glory now with its new and modern facilities here in Clark,” Reyes said.
Expansions
Widus Hotel and Casino started as Hotel Vida, a 119-room destination on a five-hectare property at the Clark Freeport Zone in 2007, owned by South Korean Daesik Han before evolving into its present name beginning in September 2012.
Today, Reyes said, Widus is expanding. “We will be opening the lobby expansion next month and the new casino the following month as soon as we have the go signal from the Clark Development Corp. (which manages the Clark Freeport Zone).”
Reyes said the opening of a new tower in November last year, which has 114 rooms, combines a total of 233 rooms now for Widus. “With these 233 rooms,” Reyes said, “the vision is basically to put these properties into an integrated entertainment center outside Metro Manila by putting one lobby to connect to the casino and to all the hotel’s properties.”
The grand lobby will be opening on August 1 and the new casino will be opened at the earliest by October 1 or Nov. 1. Reyes disclosed that t the expansion of the home-grown hospitality enterprise costs P2-billion in a bid to corner a big slice of the growing visitor arrivals in the country.
“As soon as we open the new casino, the old casino will be closed for renovation. It will become offices because we need to have offices for our partners,” Reyes said.
New casino
The new casino, “which will be four times bigger than the current one,” will showcase a bigger gaming area, both for general and private patrons, including restaurants, a lounge area and a big stage for full entertainment presentations.
“When you enter the grand lobby, on the right side will be the casino and as you go straight you will see the reception which will lead you to either Tower 1 or Tower 2,” Reyes said.
But inside the new casino will be a bigger fine dining restaurant which can seat about 120 persons, he added.
Grand lobby Reyes said the Grand Lobby, which will have waterfalls for its backdrop, will also “have a bigger lounge that can accommodate around 50 to 60 persons where high end coffee and tea will be served so that it will become a destination in itself or a place where you would just like to hang out.”
A steak house will also be opened where it will be the only restaurant in the region serving 21-dayold steaks which, according to Reyes, melts in the mouth. He said the meat is preserved in the freezer for three weeks before being thawed for grilling.
The steak house will have a seating capacity of 80 persons with two meeting rooms for 15 to 20 persons. Love seats for honeymooners will also be available, because Reyes said, “we want our clients to indulge in a lifestyle experience suitable to their moods.
2K-seat convention center, plenary hall
Reyes said by the last quarter of 2015, “we will start the construction of additional 250 rooms which will connect to a new convention center. Right now we are doing the plans so that construction could start sometime in October” 2015.
“So that will be around 500 rooms which will connect to the new convention center which has a seating capacity of around 2,000. It will be right beside the current convention center,” Reyes said. Clients can now have a choice for their conventions from 2,000- or 1,000-seating capacities or the current 650-seating capacity convention center, he said.
The current convention center has five function rooms: Vegas 1, 2 and 3 and Macau 1 and 2. But Reyes said another four function rooms or “what we call break-out rooms in the industry” will be added in the same area which can cater to 30 to 50 persons, hastening to add, “this is what most companies requests.”
A plenary hall that that can accommodate up to 100 persons will be located in the convention center and will have foldable seats with shoulder armrest like airplane seats, a first in any hotel in the country, Reyes said.
Water theme park
A water theme park at the back “will be spreading in the next three years,” Reyes said. “It’s a different kind of theme park which will cater exclusively to members and high-end corporate clients,” he added.
“We are not selfish but privacy will be our selling point,” Reyes explained. The water park will be constructed simultaneously with the additional 250-room structure and the convention center, Reyes said.
Phase 3 expansion
According to Reyes, the growing expansion will eventually lead to Phase 3 where the grand lobby will be linked to a new the five-star category structure. “We are acquiring four more hectares at the back which is now under negotiations with the CDC,” said Reyes.
The St. Joseph the Worker Catholic Church or commonly called Chapel 2 inside the Clark Freeport which is adjacent to Widus will be relocated, said Reyes.
Target market
The target market of Widus is still the MICE market and Korean golfers, said Reyes “even as we are developing new markets such as the European market and the American market which is starting to come back.”
“Retirees are also our target as well as the local market who are our number one patrons when it comes to F&B (food and beverages),” said Reyes. There is also the weekend market since these are the ones coming from the NCR, Tarlac, Nueva Ecija and Pangasinan “who would just like to unwind and relax.”
F&B
Reyes said their clients can now see an improvement in the food courtesy of executive chef Johhny Rodriguez, an American-Mexican who used to work with the upscale Movenpick international hotel chain. “When I came in, people would say, ‘Alfred your food is okay,’ but they don’t come back,” Reyes said with a chuckle. But now they‘re really talking about it, we are now producing international cuisine, he added.
Promos
Widus has promos for Kapampangans – 50 percent off or P2,999 only for a twin sharing room. A Rainy Day Package for only P2,014 per person is also available to non-Kapampangans. Reyes said, Widus currently has about 60 percent occupancy rate.
Concerts
For Reyes, it’s the musical concerts by various international artists and groups that placed Widus on the map. Indeed, Rex Smith, the Platters, Stylistics and Cascades to name a few have made Widus a household name.
“The concerts were able to bring in the name Widus across Pampanga because when you talk of the property, there are a few ways of pronouncing Widus – we doos, why doos – we said its time for us to tell the people that it is pronounced as ‘with us,” Reyes said. He explained that Widus was actually a pun from the phrase “with us.”
Next in the Widus concert scene is the lead singer of Toto, Bobby Kimball, back-to-back with Chicago’s Kenny Cetera. “Expect a lot of things that’s gonna happen towards the last quarter of the year for Widus,” said Reyes. “We will be throwing away a Mini Cooper in the raffle during the grand opening of the casino.”
