Newport City and the evolution of an entertainment complex

It is no secret that Newport City aims to be a premier entertainment complex that boasts of a strategic location, thanks to its proximity to the Ninoy Aquino International Airport whose Terminal 3 is just right across it. In fact, it has been given a certification by Philippine Economic Zone Authority as a Tourism Economic Zone.

One of the components for this complex are the hotels. At present, 2 hotels are now operational, 1 is currently under construction, and yet another 1 is being planned. The fact that 4 hotels are being envisioned to rise here is a sign of how optimistic the developers/partners Megaworld and Genting Group are with the success of this venture.

 

One of the hotels in operation is the Manila Marriott Hotel, the 2nd hotel of the Marriott Hotel chain in the country, (the first one is in Cebu) and the first in Metro Manila. Their site says it has 8 levels, with 323 rooms and 19 suites.

 

 

Another hotel in operation is the Maxims Hotel, touted as the first deluxe casino hotel in the Philippines with all its 172 rooms of suite accommodation. Despite the name though, it is not owned by the ones behind a known Chinese restaurant in the Philippines; it is actually a hotel brand of Genting itself.

 

 

Both these hotels are linked to one another as well as to what is perhaps the crown jewel of Newport: the Resorts World Manila Casino. It now offers 2 levels of “gaming goodness” with slot machines, roulette and gaming tables, including poker tables as well.

Then there’s the newer part of the equation: the shopping mall with the Newport City Mall. It’s not as big as some of the other malls here, and the choices are not as wide yet. But I have to give props to this mall for exuding some class of its own.

The mall boasts an open space with benches, fountain, bistro-restaurants under transparent roofing, allowing natural light to come in. A popular trend in malls these days.

The mall also boasts of a state-of-the-art cinema which I haven’t been to yet, but perhaps as classy as the cinemas at its “relative” mall Eastwood Mall. In addition, it is also a home of an up-and-coming bar/club courtesy of the owners of the old and infamous Embassy Superclub. I’m not much of a clubber but here’s hoping it won’t fall the same fate as the former.

While there are still some more work needed in the development of this community, so far the prospects for Newport City are promising to say the least. And in the midst of the crises our country’s tourism and economy are facing, the success of Newport City is an encouraging sign that things still look bright in the development of the city and the country as a whole.

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P.S. I just found out that my recent entry on my trip to Malacañang Museum has found its way to Wikipedia as a reference for its entry on Malacañang. While I consider myself more of a roamer than an authority on things like this, it is an honor for a blogger such as myself that a simple entry can be deemed worthy as a reference material that would be helpful to some future research. To that Wikipedia contributor who added my entry, thank you for your appreciation.

© The Urban Roamer