THE Department of Tourism (DOT) yesterday said the City Garden Grand Hotel (CGGH) in Makati City’s certificate of authority to operate will be revoked after it was found accountable for accommodating guests for leisure or staycation.
CGGH’s DOT accreditation will also be suspended for six months and was imposed to pay P10,000 fine.
In a Resolution issued dated 14 January 2021, the DOT said it “finds the CGGH liable for the offense of gross and evident bad faith in dealing with clients/fraudulent solicitation of business or making any false, deceptive, or misleading claims or statements for the purpose of soliciting business from clients under Section 13.2 (c) of DOT Memorandum Circular No. 2018-03.”
The CGGH was a designated quarantine facility for COVID and is not supposed to accommodate guests for leisure or staycation.
A statement released by the DOT said upon investigation, the CGGH was found to have misrepresented itself to the public as being allowed to accommodate guests for leisure or staycation purposes despite being a quarantine facility.
Under DOT Administrative Order No. 2020-002-C, hotels operating as quarantine facilities are prohibited from accepting guests for leisure purposes.
“In the course of the investigation, the DOT National Capital Region (DOT-NCR) considered other evidence which were not limited to the circumstances surrounding the incident on 31 December 2020. The pieces of evidence showed that even prior to the incident and until now, the CGGH is marketing packages to accept leisure guests and never indicated that it is a quarantine hotel,” the statement said.
The CGGH has the right to appeal within the period prescribed by the DOT rules and regulations, the DOT said.
