The new six-story West Plaza Hotel in Lebuu Street is going to have a grand opening on December 12, 2019 after almost four years since it began its construction.
A ribbon-cutting ceremony will be held on the day of the grand opening which will be attended by the Board of Directors and some guests.
The hotel, however, has already opened its doors to customers during its soft opening around the end of October, housing several guests including athletes.
West Plaza Hotel Manager Frank Dermody, in an interview, said that it took a while to finish the construction due to some challenges in logistics and bringing over some staff to work here.
The hotel has 70 rooms and several amenities including a fitness gym, a business center, 1,000-square-foot meeting room, a 2,000-square-foot banquet hall, and an underground parking lot.
It also now serves as the new home to the Red Rooster Café which was formerly situated by the seaside near T-dock, the West Travel Agency, and the West Car Rental.
The West Plaza Hotels Group was inspired to build the hotel during the tourism boom in 2015 and although the tourists numbers dropped significantly in the previous years, Dermody said that it is now seems to start to pick up.
“It’s been rough not just for us but for all the hotels in Palau. But it looks like it’s starting to pick up a little bit,” Dermody said. (Rhealyn C. Pojas)