The 212-room property will mark the return of the InterContinental flag to the capital after more than 15 years, reviving a name that once defined high-end hospitality in Manila. 

The original hotel, which opened in 1969, operated for over four decades before closing in 2015.

The new development will rise in Bonifacio Global City, a former military base turned financial and lifestyle district that now houses the Philippine Stock Exchange, multinational firms, and some of the city’s most prominent towers. 

In recent years, BGC has become the focal point for international hotel brands betting on Manila’s evolving business and leisure mix.

The project is being developed in partnership with Keyland Corporation, Philippine Realty and Holdings Corporation, and Greenhills Properties Inc.—local players expanding deeper into hospitality as demand for premium accommodation gathers pace.

“The InterContinental brand has a storied history in Manila,” said Vivek Bhalla, managing director for South East Asia and Korea at IHG. Reintroducing it to the city, he said, reflects confidence in Manila’s long-term fundamentals and rising appetite for luxury travel.

The hotel will feature a mix of dining, events, and wellness facilities, including a signature restaurant and bar, a ballroom and meeting spaces, as well as a health club, spa, and outdoor pool—standard fare for global luxury operators competing for high-spending travellers and corporate events.

“Partnering with IHG to bring a globally recognised brand such as InterContinental to Manila is an exciting new chapter,” said Jose Ma. Montinola, president of Keyland Corporation.

This latest signing in Manila builds on IHG Hotels & Resorts’ broader push across Southeast Asia, following earlier moves such as the planned voco Bangkok Siam, which is set to open in 2029. 

In Thailand, IHG has been scaling its premium and lifestyle portfolio through partnerships with local developers, betting on Bangkok’s enduring appeal as a regional tourism and retail hub. 

Globally, the InterContinental brand spans more than 240 properties, with over 100 in the pipeline. 

The Manila signing adds to a small but growing luxury footprint in the Philippines, where international operators are positioning early for what they expect to be sustained growth in upscale travel demand.

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The new opening follows the rebrand of voco Orchard Singapore which was launched at the beginning of the year. IHG said that it aims to introduce guests to a new and refreshed dining and stay experience this 2022 which promises to be “charming, unstuffy, and playful.” 

In January 2022, two activations were located outside ION Orchard and voco Orchard Singapore. The pop-ups brought to life voco’s said charming and unstuffy character and aimed to reinforce its essence of “always staying interesting, but being reliably different.” 

IHG said voco Hotels are meant to be bold, contemporary and inviting, with playful touches throughout. The pop-up introduced highlights of a typical voco Hotel room – which features plush bedding and a cosy nook, encouraging guests to indulge in ‘Me Time’. 

Furthermore, the pop-ups’ experience were augmented with interactive brand and creative-led content to further create buzz and hype at the time of the installation’s viewing. 

“The vibrancy and playfulness of voco Hotels attract guests who are confident to be themselves,” said IHG. 

In line with this philosophy, voco Hotels invited local creatives and brands to spend time inside the hotel room, doing what they do best, and present to be ‘unapologetically themselves’, and use the room to create, unwind, and showcase their passions. 

Participated by Campari brand ambassador David Yeung, movement and mindfulness coach Brandon Chong, local lego artist Jeffrey Kong, as well as sustainable loungewear brand Rawbought, and local design label Peachier Studios; voco Hotels engaged consumers with a range of interactive lifestyle activities such as masterclasses, yoga sessions, and photoshoots, which were all held at the latter part of January.

In example, David Yeung conducted a live cocktail masterclass, walking viewers through the cocktail conceptualisation process of one of voco Orchard Singapore’s Signature Cocktails. Meanwhile, Jeffrey Kong, the founder of Artisan Bricks, which offers Lego sculptures and workshops to clients across Singapore, spent his time in the voco Hotels pop-up room creating an exclusive voco Orchard Singapore Lego sculpture, modelling the architecture of the newly-opened property.

In addition, the pop-up was made an opportunity to introduce for the first time in Singapore, voco Hotels bedding, which makes use of over 150 recycled plastic bottles, turning plastic waste into a sustainable sleep. 

IHG shared that another three hotels under the brand are set to open in the coming months which include voco Bonnington Dubai, voco Johannesburg Rosebank, and voco Seoul Gangnam. 

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The agency had previously worked with IHG Hotels & Resorts by managing the launch of Kimpton Kitalay Samui, the first resort in Thailand under IHG Hotels & Resorts’ luxury boutique brand, Kimpton Hotels & Restaurants.

Tavy Cussinel, managing director of Redhill, said that it is a pleasure to deepen their working relationship with IHG Hotels & Resorts and be part of voco Hotels.

“Redhill are delighted to be working with the voco Orchard Singapore team. The lifestyle-focused property is steadfast in its commitment to offering an unstuffy guest experience, where people feel comfortable to relax, and just get on with relaxing along Singapore’s most loved shopping and dining belt,” Cussinel said.

voco Hotels’ brand proposition is letting guests “celebrate the individual spirit and character of each property.” As such, localized guest touchpoints at voco Orchard Singapore aim to speak to the history of the area.

Mark Winterton, general manager at voco Orchard Singapore, commented “We are looking forward to working with the Redhill team to inject a dose of voco vibrancy into this heritage property. Combining familiar faces and staple restaurants and bars with new experiences, we invite guests to ‘come on in’ to voco Orchard Singapore.”

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The remit entails the agency to plan and execute a full launch strategy. This is the second Kimpton hotel in Thailand following the brand’s debut in October 2020 of Kimpton Maa-Lai Bangkok, which Redhill also managed the launch of.

“We are thrilled to be working with the Kimpton brand once again to further its distinctive hospitality concept in Thailand,” said Tavy Cussinel, managing director of Redhill. 

“Redhill and Kimpton Kitalay Samui have a shared interest in communicating a differentiated stay experience driven by the power of human connection,” added Cussinel. 

The resort’s name is derived from two Thai words, which are ‘kita’, meaning ‘song’ or ‘singing’, and ‘lay’, which translates to ‘sea’ and which tries to encapsulate the spirit of the local community. ‘Kitalay’, thus, is meant to stand for ‘a joyous ode’ by Kimpton celebrating the ‘siren song’ of the sea as well as ‘the warmth’ of human connection and community in an ‘idyllic escape’. This branding, the agency said, is woven into every aspect of the resort. 

The 138-key luxury boutique beachfront property on Choengmon Beach will open later this year. The resort features luxury pool villas with direct access to the beach and guestrooms with private access to the pool or the views over the Gulf of Thailand. 

This luxury boutique resort aims to conjure the romance of a village that is ‘intimately’ connected to the sea through a combination of contemporary design and traditional accents.

Michael Janssen, general manager of Kimpton Kitalay Samui, said, “Kimpton Kitalay Samui will be our take on the return of the Samui way of life, and celebrate adventure as well as a taste of village living through the resort experiences, four restaurants, and bars.”

On the new partnership, Janssen commented, “It was absolutely vital to us that we work with an agency that fully understands our dedication to thoughtful curation and meaningful, unscripted, and ridiculously personal guest experiences.” 

Last June, Redhill entered MARKETECH APAC’s top stories for its new senior appointments. 

In an exclusive interview, the agency’s CEO and Founder Jacob Puthenparambil shared how Redhill has always eyed for the global name despite starting out as a boutique agency. 

“We knew from day one that we didn’t want to be a boutique agency. We’re going to fight the big boys,” said Puthenparambil. 

Established in 2014, the agency is embedded in Southeast Asia, with a reach that extends to Northern Asia, Europe, Australia, UAE, and the US. The agency is currently present in 17 countries.

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