Gridcrosser: Nobody but Nobu

The first in Asia, the Nobu Hotel at City of Dreams Manila is planned to be a 321-room boutique hotel at Metro Manila’s newest integrated leisure development

Major Hollywood star and Academy Award-winning actor Robert de Niro surprised Asian journalists and businessmen when he appeared at the National Museum of the Philippines on January 27, 2014, to lead the formal announcement of the building of the first Nobu Hotel in Asia here in the Philippines.

The Nobu Hotel Manila will be part of the integrated casino resort City of Dreams Manila along Manila Bay by developer Melco Crown (Philippines) Resorts Corp., a subsidiary of Melco Crown Entertainment Limited, which owns and develops casino gaming and entertainment resort facilities in Asia, in partnership with the SM group Belle Grande of tycoon Henry Sy.

The luxury hotel is said to offer “a fusion of laid-back luxury, high-energy nightlife and exclusive guest room retreats and spa services” and promises to “be the ultimate playground for a Philippines, Asian and international client base, as part of a dynamic array of entertainment, luxury lifestyle and accommodation offerings to be featured at the integrated resort.”

“Being Melco Crown Entertainment’s flagship entertainment resort brand, City of Dreams is committed to enhancing the Philippines’ tourism diversity by offering unique, internationally acclaimed hospitality experiences at its integrated resort. I am delighted that City of Dreams Manila has collaborated with chef Nobu Matsuhisa and Nobu Hospitality partners Mr. Robert de Niro and Mr. Meir Teper, together with the entire Nobu Hospitality executive team to deliver Asia’s first Nobu Hotel to Manila,” Lawrence Ho, co-chairman and chief executive officer of Melco Crown Entertainment said. “The partnership, with one of the world’s foremost luxury lifestyle brands within City of Dreams Manila, is a further step in realizing our overall vision to deliver world-class and diverse innovative lifestyle and entertainment offerings to broaden the appeal of the Philippines as a leading leisure destination in Asia.”

The hotel is inspired by the world-renowned Japanese chef Nobu Matsuhisa, who was also present at the Manila press conference along with De Niro, Ho, Hollywood producer and Nobu Hospitality co-founder Meir Teper, Nobu Hospitality chief executive Trevor Horwell and chief operating officer Struan McKenzie.

Nobu opened his own restaurant Matsuhisa in Beverly Hills in 1987, which quickly gained celebrity following. De Niro remembered dining at Matsuhisa 25 years ago.

“I never ate in a Japanese restaurant like that before,” he said.

Getting Meir involved, he invited Nobu to open a restaurant in New York, which became successful after a year.

“That’s how great Nobu’s food is,” De Niro, who himself co-owns a restaurant, Tribeca Grill, a New York City restaurant offering New American cuisine which opened in 1990, described. “[His food is] creative yet simple…You feel good when you’re eating it. You feel good after you ate it.”

Nobu restaurants also opened in Milan, London, Greece, Dallas, Tokyo, Honolulu, Moscow, Dubai, Budapest and Hong Kong. The restaurant experience was eventually translated into accommodations and residences. There are hotels in Las Vegas, Nevada; and Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, and two more are planned in London and Bahrain.

The Nobu Hotel at City of Dreams Manila is planned to be a 321-room boutique hotel, which will feature a Nobu Restaurant that offers the celebrated cuisine of the chef and an outdoor cabana-style dining terrace situated on an exclusive platform deck with views of Manila Bay. Future guests can expect the signature dishes, sushi and cooked dishes including black cod with miso and lobster with wasabi pepper sauce. They can also enjoy a special in-room menu made by Nobu himself. Additionally, the hotel will also have the Nobu Tea Lounge in the lobby, the Nobu Spa and the Fitness Room at the raised platform deck.

Artist’s rendition of the lobby

Horwell said: “The new Nobu Hotel at City of Dreams Manila will bring a new level of luxury, celebrity culture and sophistication together with outstanding Nobu-inspired cuisine to the Manila leisure destination scene.”

The 6.2-hectare City of Dreams Manila is one of the four developments at the 100-hectare Pagcor Entertainment City, a planned gaming and entertainment complex on the reclamation area of Manila Bay near the SM Mall of Asia. With an investment of US$1.3 billion, City of Dreams will offer numerous leisure and lifestyle experiences including gaming, entertainment, accommodations, dining and shopping.

“The development of City of Dreams Manila is progressing well and is expected to open in 2014,” Clarence Chung, chairman and president of Melco Crown Philippines, said. “I am pleased that City of Dreams Manila has a sound strategic mix of hotel brands—from celebrity-inspired lifestyle for trendsetting leisure and business travelers, a luxurious casino hotel experience for VIPs, to unparalleled services and facilities for MICE and premium business guests. All six hotel towers will meaningfully enhance Manila’s tourism diversity and elevate the hospitality service excellence in the city.”

The envisioned guest room at the Nobu Hotel at City of Dreams

According to Ho, Melco Crown’s investment in Manila was brought about by the city’s “exciting potentials” and mostly specially by the rightness of the partners, who share the same visions.

“Vision is important,” he said. “Everything just fit together.”

“We focus on the fun,” Ho succinctly answered to questions if the friction between China and the Philippines affect their plans.

And part of that fun is the dining. “Food experience is very important,” he said, adding that Nobu’s contribution will be stellar. “It is creative in its simplicity… [That’s why] it lasted for more than 20 years.”

For his part, Nobu declared: “I want to see Manila people smiling, eating my food.”