The Sofitel Philippine Plaza in Manila concluded its operations Sunday (June 30) after around half a century of hospitality in the Manila Bay area. 

The Philippine Daily Inquirer reported that the hotel was shuttered over safety concerns, which prompted the need for renovation. 

This also meant that all the hotel workers were made redundant. 

Last Moments at the Sofitel Manila

The hotel's social media post thanked its guests for the memories that "left an indelible mark" on everyone who worked there. 

Other social media posts reviewed by VCPost revealed that the hotel's restaurant, The Spiral, named after its iconic spiral staircase, was flocked by guests with gratitude and empathy to the employees on its last day of operations. 

The Manila Times reported that the Philippine Plaza Hotel was built in 1973 by National Artists Leandro Locsin and Ildefonso Santos Jr. on land owned by the Philippine Government Service Insurance Service (GSIS) as one of 12 hotels built to prepare for the annual meeting of the International Monetary Fund - World Bank (IMF-WB), the monetary arm of the United Nations, which was held in Manila in 1976.

After the meeting, the management of the hotel was contracted to the Stamford-based Starwood Group and was known as the Westin Philippine Plaza until 2005. The following year, the French hotel group Accor SA acquired hotel management and renamed it to its Sofitel brand. 

However, Accor announced in May that the hotel would have to be permanently closed after reporting 24 fire incidents that compromised the property's structural integrity. 

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Hotel Workers Union Slam Sofitel Manila's Closure Process

In the aftermath of the closure, the National Union of Workers in Hotel, Restaurant, and Allied Industries (NUWHRAIN) released a statement Sunday criticizing the closure process. 

The union said that Philippine Plaza Holdings Inc. (PPHI), the hotel's owner, "terminated" over 1,000 jobs in the hotel due to the closure, arguing that this was deceptive as PPHI had plans to renovate the property. 

NUWHRAIN additionally claimed that the hotel management extended its lease with the GSIS until 2041, with a further extension lasting until 2066. The union alleged that the extension was a move to "earn back" at least PHP 3 billion to PHP 4 billion ($51.2 million to $68.2 million) that it would possibly spend on renovations.

The union also claimed that PPHI and Accor violated Philippine labor standards and decided to prevent the already-terminated employees from unionizing and demanding better working conditions and pay packages.

NUWHRAIN has vowed to keep fighting for the terminated workers, stressing that they should be the ones to "cut the ribbon" when the hotel concludes its renovation. 

Filipino lawmakers, specifically progressive senator Risa Hontiveros, have since taken up the labor issue, calling for colleagues to investigate the "labor policy implications" of the hotel's closure.

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