'Yolanda'-hit Oriental Hotel Leyte to reopen in October

TACLOBAN CITY, Aug. 24 (PNA) –- After it completely shut down in the aftermath of supertyphoon Yolanda, Oriental Hotel Leyte located in the historic town of Palo is targeting to reopen this October, just in time for the 72nd commemoration of the Leyte Gulf Landing.

Leyte Governor Leopoldo Dominico Petilla disclosed that rehabilitation of the devastated hotel is now in full swing, but the October target is only for the partial opening of its facilities.

“It’s not for the full hotel yet as all of its facilities took a big setback after it was lashed with the typhoon and the storm surge in 2013,” Petilla said.

The main building which houses its offices, restaurants and function hall are among the priority for the October dateline for reopening.

Petilla said that it may have taken a while for its owner LKY Resorts and Hotels to rebuild the whole facility; however, its reopening this year is a welcome one which provides a bright hope in the restoring tourism in the locality.

The Oriental Hotel Leyte, formerly the MacArthur Park Hotel, in Palo, totally stopped operation after the Nov. 8, 2013 typhoon as huge waves from a storm surge damaged all of its 110 hotel rooms.

When it shut down, international relief organization Samaritan’s Purse, converted a portion of the hotel complex and function rooms into a warehouse.

Petilla admitted the hotel’s shut down cost the local government unit of Palo and the province in tourism receipts and in turn, economic and livelihood opportunities for the locals nearby.

The Oriental’s convention hall which can accommodate up to 1,000 persons, was already functioning in full and was a venue of national conventions and other gathering before it got totally wasted.

The governor meanwhile added that the province may provide the hotel’s owner and developer a reprieve considering the additional amount they have to put into its rehabilitation.

The hotel is owned by LKY for 25 years under the built-operate transfer scheme. The provincial government, which is the former owner of the property, awarded 25-year contract to LKY in 2009.

The hotel sits on a 5-hectare property and sits next to the historic Macarthur Landing Memorial, a historical landmark in Leyte.

LKY projected the hotel to cost a PHP300 million budget, but another PHP200 million was to be poured in for its total construction before it was struck by the typhoon. (PNA)

JMC/SQM/AHLETTE C. REYES/EGR