MANILA, Philippines – For the first time in Philippine history, a major Filipino hotel brand opened overseas on Tuesday, March 10 in Madrid, Spain.

DoubleDragon Corporation, led by Mang Inasal founder Edgar Injap Sia II and Jollibee founder Tony Tan Caktiong, announced that travelers can now book a room in Hotel101-Madrid starting Tuesday. (READ: Trees and crises: Mang Inasal founder Injap Sia’s fresh business lessons)

While there are probably hospitality spaces opened by Filipino migrants in partnership with foreigners, they’re not major hotel chains in the scale of Hotel101. 

With 680 rooms, DoubleDragon said Hotel101-Madrid is “one of the top 5 largest hotels in the whole of Spain.” Among the major hotel chains in Madrid are Marriot, Mandarin, and ibis.

One of Sia’s goals in putting up hotels was to put the Philippines on the map of the global hospitality industry as owners and investors.

“We wondered. Isn’t it that Filipinos are naturally world-class in the hospitality industry? Malaysia has produced Shangri-La hotels all over the world. Thailand has Dusit and Banyan Tree. The US has Marriott, Hilton and Holiday Inn, while France has Novotel. Hong Kong has Rosewood Hotels, Japan has Sakura, and Singapore has Ascott hotels, which are all over. The Philippines has produced none yet,” Sia was quoted by the Philippine Star as saying. 

Filipinos are already known around the world, especially in the Middle East, for their services as housekeeping staff, waiters and waitresses, chefs, baristas, and restaurant managers, but not as hotel owners.

Sia also previously said he was “excited” over the project due to the “very long history of cultural relationship” between the Philippines and its former colonizer, adding that Hotel101-Madrid “would bring long-term benefits” to both countries. 

DoubleDragon said Hotel101-Madrid will provide its “first foreign currency recurring revenue from hotel operations overseas,” making the company a “major US dollar inflow generator” to the Philippines. 

On the side of Spain, it generates jobs from the construction to operation phases plus recurring taxes. 

Hotel101-Marid is in the Valdebebas district of Madrid, a relatively new urban development project. It is a three-minute walk to the Valdebebas Train Station. It is also walking distance to the IFEMA convention complex, football club Real Madrid Sports Complex, and around seven minutes to the new Madrid Barajas International Airport.

This DoubleDragon project started in October 2023 after the company fully paid for a 6,593-square-meter land in the then-new urban development project of Madrid. 

Hotel101-Madrid was built by Ferrovial Construcción, one of the largest construction companies in Spain. Construction workers of the hotel were treated to Jollibee Chicken Joy during the topping off ceremony on April 11, 2025.

Hotel101 is a “hybrid condotel business.” This means it pre-sells the units, which translates to less capital expenses. After construction, the investor who buys a unit gets a perpetual individual condominium title, while Hotel 101 shoulders hotel operating expenses, unit repairs and maintenance, as well as cost of unit renovations. The unit owner gets a chance to stay in the hotel, and Hotel 101 earns from it by renting it out when the unit owner doesn’t use it. (READ: Why is Filipino tycoon Injap Sia’s Hotel 101 like a fast-food burger?)

When DoubleDragon conceptualized its first overseas project, it said it was eyeing the “high real estate investment demand in Madrid driven by the Spanish Golden Visa.” (READ: Want to live in Spain? Get a golden visa with DoubleDragon’s promo)

The Spanish investor visa is granted to non-European Union nationals who invest heavily in Spain. For those who want to go into real estate in Spain, they would have to buy an asset worth 500,000 euros or around P34 million at recent exchange rates.

Investing in Hotel101 units can be used by foreign buyers to meet the 500,000 euro investment requirement, equivalent to three Hotel101-Madrid units (worth over P10 million for each unit).

Hotel101 Global CEO Hannah Yulo-Luccini earlier described its Madrid project as having “incredible traction” with an “increasing number of local Spanish investors buying Hotel101 units in Madrid purely because they believe in the potential revenue the project will generate once completed.” 

Hotel101 Global aims to build one million operating hotel rooms by 2050, 50,000 of which would be in the Philipines. It aims to be the largest hotel company in the Philippines and one of the top 5 hotel companies in the world. 

DoubleDragon says Hotel101 Madrid has 4-star amenities. It features its signature “Happy Room” units, each with a kitchenette. The hotel has a swimming pool, function rooms, business center, a full-size gym. Its all-day dining restaurant HBNB Kitchen is operated by Grupo La Sucursal from Valencia. It also has a convenience store, laundry room, over 200 parking spaces, and 24/7 reception. 

Expected to open next is Hotel101-Niseko in Hokkaido Prefecture, Japan, in December 2026. (READ: Don’t want ‘overtourism’ in Japan? Try Hokkaido)

DoubleDragon traces its origins to Sia’s real estate firm, Injap Land Corporation, which started operations in 2010. In June 2012, it became a joint venture between Caktiong’s Honeystar Corporation and Sia’s holding company Injap Investments. It later changed its name to DoubleDragon Properties Corporation.

Here are photos of Hotel101-Madrid provided by DoubleDragon.

– Rappler.com