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CASINO & GAMES
pickleball court. A rival casino operator in northern Metro Manila requesting anonymity laments,“ They’ re killing us.”
In seven months and one week of operations last year, Solaire North garnered PHP8.4 billion in GGR, then PHP4.6 billion in the first quarter of 2025, up 29 % sequentially. First quarter property EBITDA reached PHP1.1 billion, matching its total for the final two quarters of last year. In the first three months of 2025, Solaire North turned its first quarterly operating profit, PHP1.9 billion, 14 % more than that of Solaire Entertainment City, which had more than double the revenue.
FLYING RIGHT
“ We’ re satisfied with the property’ s trajectory,” Solaire North’ s opening day COO Greg Hawkins told iGB in a recent interview.“ Now it’ s about continuing that trajectory.” Bloomberry’ s chairman and CEO, Enrique Razon Jr., forecasts a full ramp-up at Solaire North will take two years.
“ Solaire North should continue to ramp up and stabilise above 50 % of [ Solaire ] Entertainment City EBITDA by 2026-27,” Morgan Stanley Asia Analyst Praveen Choudhary forecasts.
“ The northern Metro Manila market is what drives the property,” Hawkins says, noting that three million people live within 10 kilometres of the IR. Although Solaire North is just 22 kilometres from Solaire Entertainment City, that journey routinely takes more than an hour by road. That’ s a disincentive for people from Quezon City and its vicinity to regularly visit the Manila Bay casino hub. Solaire North is“ uniquely located” within northern Metro Manila, according to Hawkins. The resort fronts on EDSA, Epifanio de los Santos Avenue, the capital region’ s key north-south artery carrying more than 400,000 vehicles daily. Three huge shopping malls lie adjacent: Ayala Land’ s Trinoma( Triangle North of Manila) and Vertis North to serve Ayala’ s Vertis North township development and SM North EDSA, bringing thousands of consumers daily to Solaire North’ s doorstep.
The three malls also provide thousands of parking spaces. Solaire North itself has 1,500 parking spaces that Hawkins says are full on weekends, so the resort has leased an additional 1,000 spaces from its neighbours.
Manila’ s Metro Rapid Transit( MRT) yellow trains run above EDSA, with two stops bracketing Solaire North. Train lines are expanding to serve the capital district’ s 13.5 million inhabitants, with a new line running north from Quezon City beginning service late this year. Longrange plans include a second MRT line and a Manila subway, with Quezon City as a connecting point for those lines and the city’ s light rail.
SOMETHING OLD, SOMETHING NEW...
Solaire North has brought some features from Entertainment City, notably signature restaurants Finestra( Italian), Yakumi( Japanese) and Red Lantern( Chinese), while catering to a market that projects as less international, more mass focused and more family oriented. The food court at Solaire North has been supersized to nearly 600 seats with more choices at competitive prices.
Room product follows the high standards of the Solaire flagship. Entry-level rooms, 85 % of the tower’ s total, measure a generous 42 square metres with luxurious yet comfortable furnishings, separate shower and bathtub plus designer amenities. The resort has more than a dozen suites named for the rungs of Solaire’ s customer rewards ladder, which covers both properties. Top-level suites reserved for VIPs on the highest lodging
Wining hand: Solaire Club’ s gaming floor
floors have three bedrooms, dining rooms seating 10 and, in the premier Diamond Suite, a piano.
The year-old resort has introduced features that could well migrate to Solaire Entertainment City. Philippine restaurant Manyaman presents updated and upgraded specialties from Pampanga, a region famed for its cuisine. You can view the green hills of Pampanga from Solaire North’ s 38th floor Skybar with indoor and outdoor space to see and be seen in person and via selfie. A multi-level Kids Club has proven popular with families.
FRESH PERSPECTIVE
Bloomberry went outside the company to hire Hawkins in November 2023 when Solaire North was barely six months from opening.“ I could bring some different eyes and experience into the group,” Hawkins says. His gaming and hospitality resume includes stints in Australia, New Zealand and, most notably, opening Melco’ s Altira and City of Dreams in Macau.
“ The opening of any multifaceted resort has many moving pieces,” Hawkins, currently serving as acting COO for Bloomberry Resorts, says.“ I am pleased to say that the opening of Solaire North went relatively smoothly
18 • ISSUE 138 • iGB L! VE 2025