The hospitality industry can be a brutal and unforgiving place. The glamorous outer-casing that houses everything the customer sees only serves to disguise the raw, unembellished backed hidden underneath, kept upright solely by the blood, sweat and tears of its diligent staff. Many don’t realize just how much thought and effort goes into the manicured rooms and halls, down to the very shade of beige on the bathroom accessories – and even fewer can say that they’ve seen the nittiest and grittiest of it. One would have reason to believe that it’s those said selected people who make the very best hoteliers.

Ms. Maria Manlulu-Garcia is one such person. She began her career in the United States by being thrown straight into the bowels of housekeeping, arguably the most basal rank in hotel hierarchy. The nature of the role crushed every preconceived notion she had of hotel management and its perceived elegance; it was a trial by fire, and one that her mother, Grace Baldeo Manlulu did not hesitate to put her through despite being the general manager at the hotel she had applied to. In spite of that, the job would soon prove to be the axis in which most of her work ethic would later pivot from. She recalls her mother telling her “If you really want to make it [in the hotel industry], you need to know it from the backend.’’ 

“Novotel Manila Araneta Center is my fourth hotel that I was fortunate to be part of the pre-opening. Opening a hotel is like being pregnant and giving birth … you have to nourish and take care of it.  It takes a lot of time, effort and love to ensure that everything is good and it will be able to survive. Then you need to teach it slowly to crawl, stand and later be able to walk by itself. It’s a greatest feeling to see the outcome of your labor and finally able to say you are part of it. “Four years later, I can finally say its running.”

Despite its feminine underpinnings, she observed that the industry was male-dominated and only very few women especially Asian women. This challenged and inspired me.

But it was that same perceived ceiling that compelled Manlulu-Garcia to shatter it with her larger than life ambitions. She outgrew the imposed limitations, and when she saw that the same thing was happening in her own home country, she elected to go home, meet the demand and hopefully make the difference.

That was twelve years ago, Today, Ms. Maria Manlulu-Garcia has several notches on her belt attributed to the many hotels she’s opened, and the current hotel under her care as Hotel Manager, Novotel Manila Araneta City, is reaping the best of her sensibilities. She now holds one of the highest positions in hospitality rarely attributed to women in the Philippines, sometimes even to Filipinos themselves, as expatriates tend to assume leadership roles in hotels.

Being female has its own edge. Certain traits, such as leading firmly but delicately, with an iron fist and a sympathetic heart, as assets she believes women have naturally and in spades. Perhaps it’s related to motherly instincts.

“Women don’t want to be treated special but equally,” she clarified, citing that representation is key to a more inclusive service. She moved on supplement the matter with an even more pressing perspective: “[but] diversity is not just about women.”

“The fight (for representation) isn’t to simply add more women to the industry,“ Garcia noted, “all people should be represented: young and older people, men, LGBTQIA+, the differently abled…”

Novotel Manila follows this principle. Some business speak of diversity but rarely follow through, so her influence often leads to implementations that promote inclusivity for all people, be it clients or employees. She even encourages her staff to cross train departments in order to build more empathy between them.

Take, for example, Novotel Manila and its “Cradle and Crawl” project, which allows working mothers to leave their children to work and keep them at an accessible day care Center within the hotel premises. In a rapidly advancing work culture and environment, now more than even is it crucial to adapt to the needs of the many manifestations of the employees rather than force the staff to conform to your interpretation of efficiency. It takes a woman in power to cite effectively what a woman would need in a workplace; it follows that the same can be said of other minorities.

Perhaps this is what shines through the satisfied faces of those she worked with.  She explained that luxury hotels are a dime a dozen, but the kind of people who serve are what set them apart; hence, caring about the satisfaction your personnel extends towards caring for your clients. Their smiles define the customer’s experience. This is where the unique touch of Filipino hospitality comes in: We’re naturally convivial, born with an infectious, jovial positivity.

It comes to no surprise then that the most memorable parts of her career that make her feel the proudest were the times she helped her employees grow. Training them, witnessing them achieve their own personal success, these were the things she had to say when asked about her accomplishments.

“To see that growth, to motivate that person, it validates your existence.” For Ms. Manlulu -Garcia, the impact she considers most permanent is the one she makes in her people, who she considers her extended family.

A woman in leadership like that could be any woman, so long as she seizes opportunities in spite of reasonable hesitation. She hopes will become a reality for the hospitality industry. She says that to overcome the almost instinctual uncertainly brought about by her gender, she had to completely redefine her own manner of thinking.

It works if you’re a woman, it works if you’re a minority, it works if you’re a Filipino; something is unique about your perspective, what you have to offer, as a person with unique identifiers. Once you believe in what’s inside of you, the rest of the world will be compelled to.

“If I can make it, anyone can make it.”

Ms. Maria Manlulu-Garcia is the Hotel Manager of Novotel Manila Araneta Center and a part of Accor Management, where her voice offers awareness on diversity and women empowerment. She serves as the chair of Novotel Manila Riise AsOne Program, which focuses on five pillars: Gender, Culture LGBT, Generation, and Disability, in line with Accor Hotels Riise Program.

Through her 27 years of experience, she opened 4 international hotels, rebranded 3 hotels and graciously received the prestigious “Mabuhay Awards” of the Philippine Association of Human Resources for the managerial category in 2008.

Prior to her current position as the Hotel Manager for Novotel Manila Araneta Center, Garcia also worked for other hotels such as West Coast Hotels and Resorts, Intercontinental Hotels, Ramada Hotels, Sofitel Bali Nusa Dua, Pico Sands Hotel/Pico de Loro Country Club and Sofitel Philippines Plaza, among others. She was once noted as the youngest female Hotel Manager in the Philippines for International Brand, and has not stopped breaking boundaries since.