The 24-storey Novotel Manila Araneta Center
AccorHotels chief operations officer for Upper Southeast and Northeast Asia Patrick Basset; DTI secretary Adrian Cristobal; His Excellency President Benigno Aquino III, Araneta Group of Companies president Jorge Araneta, and Novotel Manila Araneta Center general manager Bernd Schneider
President Noynoy Aquino at the grand opening of Novotel Manila Araneta Center
Kim Henares, Anthony Huang, and Pablo Calma
Matthew Owen, Edith Dychiao, and Alexandre Coton
Novotel GM Bernd Schneider, Tina Carlos, Vince Carlos, and Panama Amb Rolando Guevara Alvarado
Jose Oscar Salvacion, Joanie Mitchell, and Joey Radovan
Jorge Araneta, Lani Bernardo, Vicente Reyes, and Jose Pardo
American Amb. Philip Goldberg
Lopez Arthur Jr., Rich King, Andrew Tan, and Jorge Araneta
Urs Wuthrich, Robert Crestani, and Adam Laker
Nedy Tantoco and Michael Huang
Peter Jentes
Patrick Basset, and Arch. Sudhakar Thakurdesai
Cristina Grisar, and Betsy Westendorp
Joey Mead
Exec. Chef Michael Schaub
DTI Sec. Adrian S. Cristobal
Janicel Lubina, Rogelie Catacutan, and Christi McGarry
Before Makati, Mall of Asia, and Bonifacio Global City, the ultimate place to be in Metro Manila was Cubao. It was where all the cool things like concerts, plays, beauty pageants, political conventions, cockfighting tournaments, and boxing fights took place. It was the perfect place to watch the latest movies, eat good food, and go shopping.
The Araneta Coliseum has been a witness to Cubao’s growing history—as much as it has been a huge part of it—from the time it was built for the World Junior Lightweight boxing fight between Gabriel “Flash” Elorde and Harold Gomes. It was—and still is—the venue for the annual Binibining Pilipinas, and the 1975 “Thrilla in Manila” boxing match between Muhammad Ali (Hello, Ali Mall!) and Joe Frazier. It was for the longest time, the ultimate court for the Philippine Basketball Association. It was where Manny Pacquiao claimed his WBC International Super Featherweight belt from Oscar Larios; the place where Westlife sang “My Love” to their Filipino fans; and was where Cliff Richard sang his hit-song “Ocean Deep.” It is an icon, a landmark, a symbol of our urban landscape.
On ordinary days are the perfect places where you can shop and just hang out throughout the day such as Gateway Mall, Ali Mall, Farmer’s Plaza, and Rustan’s. Cubao, after all the developments in its surrounding cities, is still the favorite place of many Filipinos because of its accessible establishments located just beside each other. It even has a very interactive museum now, the Art in Island.
In addition to that long list of exciting things Cubao offers—shopping at Ali Mall or Gateway, dining at the al fresco restaurants, or okay, hanging out at the interactive museum Art in Island—is the newest hotel to rise in the district: the Novotel Manila Araneta Center.
Graced by President Benigno S. Aquino III himself, the grand opening of the Novotel Manila Araneta Center by AccorHotels and the Araneta Group of Companies last Tuesday officially puts good, old Cubao firmly back in the map.
The evening’s entertainment began with the G-Force’s energetic dance number, followed by the laser dance of the Buganda dancers. There were also performances by Mark Mabasa, Lilibeth Garcia, JV Decena, and Lucky Robles with their medley of Air Supply songs, Bruno Mars, and Maroon 5. Mystery guest Rex Smith took everybody on a musical journey when he sang “Buttercup,” “Let’s Make a Memory,” “Don’t Give Up on Us Baby,” “Forever,” “Phantom of the Opera,” and more.
“Novotel Manila is literally in an excellent position. Your location in the Araneta Center means you are at the juncture of two of Manila’s major thoroughfares and of our LRT and MRT systems—not to mention the fact that this is a center for business, culture, and entertainment in its own right—one that welcomes over a million visitors daily. It gives me great pleasure to witness the beginning of endeavors like this. It is a concrete manifestation of your confidence in our country; it tells me that, like us, you took a long, hard look at our prospects and decided that the best is yet to come—that the years ahead hold even greater progress for the Philippines,” says President Aquino.
Joining the President during the celebration were Araneta Group of Companies president and chairman Jorge L. Araneta, AccorHotels chief operations officer for Upper Southeast and Northeast Asia Patrick Basset, AccorHotels vice president-operations for Upper Southeast Asia and Northeast Paul Stevens, and Novotel Manila Araneta Center general manager Bernd Schneider.
“Novotel is a 401-room premium hotel with five-star facilities but four-star prices. It is a brand of the AccorHotels, a French hotel group, which is now the world’s leading hotel operator, with over 3,900 hotels globally. On behalf of the Araneta family, we welcome you to Novotel,” says Jorge L. Araneta
The country’s first Novotel is a 24-storey building that houses the city’s largest room inventory to date with 401 rooms and suites, seven meeting spaces, a grand ballroom capable of hosting 1,100 guests, an outdoor events garden, and the Premier Lounge, an executive sky lounge with a 360-degree view of the metropolis. The hotel also has three restaurants: Food Exchange Manila, Gourmet Bar by Novotel, and The 6th Pool-Bar and Lounge.