Category Archives: Hotels

Bloom Hotels has opened its latest property in the heart of Delhi at Janpath with bloomrooms @ Janpath. The rapid execution is part of the group’s growth plan to build 100 hotels by 2020 and also signals the launch of a comprehensive pan India roll-out. With properties in Delhi, Gurugram, Bengaluru and Goa, Bloom Hotels is now expanding across India with 50 hotels to be signed in Tier-II markets over the next few months. Speaking on the occasion at the launch of the hotel, Tom Welbury, Vice President Strategy, Bloom Hotel Group, says, “We are very positive about the success of the hotel. In this location, there isn’t any mid-scale hotel that offers quality. We are offering that to our customers and we will be catering both to the corporates and leisure guests. We have have set a new record by building and launching the entire property in less than 100 days. With this kind of pace and efficiency, I am sure we will meet our target.”

The Indian Hotels Company Limited (IHCL) has announced another Taj-branded hotel in Lucknow, in partnership with Luxus Hospitality. With this addition, IHCL will now have three hotels across two of its brands in the city. Puneet Chhatwal, Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer, IHCL, said, “We are delighted to partner with Luxus Hospitality. This signing is aligned to Aspiration 2022 with its focus on aggressive domestic growth. The company is optimistic about Lucknow as it is an important centre for governance, business, culture and tourism.” The Taj-branded hotel will be located at Vibhuti Khand, New Gomti Nagar Centre with close proximity to key corporate parks, institutions and recreational facilities. It will comprise 185 spacious guest rooms, an all-day diner, a specialty restaurant, a bar, a wellness area and banqueting facilities. Amit Singh, Director, Luxus Hospitality, said, “We are proud to partner with The Indian Hotels Company Limited for its iconic Taj brand and bring their famed hospitality to Lucknow.”

Set to redefine the luxury hospitality scenario, ‘The Postcard Hotel’ has been launched by its Founder and CEO, Kapil Chopra, at a press conference held in Delhi. The Postcard Hotel is a brand of unique, intimate luxury hotels in India and the world. Transformative experiences and local community are at the heart of The Postcard Hotel’s offering. “What I wanted to do with The Postcard Hotel, is make luxury hotels for the modern audience but bring back the romance and charm of holidays. We wanted it to be rich in its experience but also wanted it to be simple. We believe guests want to stay in a place where the hotel does the thinking for them, where they get the simple things right, yet offer fantastic spaces for them to relax, meet like-minded people and experience local culture. This is why, we handpick our locations and our hotels, so that guests have a different experience whether they are in Goa or overlooking the snow-clad Himalayas,” stated Chopra. In an unprecedented move, The Postcard Hotel has announced the opening of three luxury hotels on the opening day, ready to receive guests that are spread across unique neighbourhoods in Goa – The Postcard Moira, nestled in one of the four heritage villages of Goal; The Postcard Velha, surrounded by 300 acres of virgin coconut plantations in old Goa; and further south, The Postcard Cuelim, that houses a 350-year-old chapel. The brand is committed to building and operating 50 hotels in the next five years. In the next 12 to 18 months, the brand will be present in Uttarakhand, Karnataka, Dhauladhar Mountain Range, Sikkim, Darjeeling, Sundarbans and Kanha.  

The number of premium rooms across 12 key cities is likely to go up from 82,800 in FY2018 to 98,900 as on FY2023, with ICRA research tracking about 16,100 premium rooms under construction and to be launched over the next five years. The Indian hotel industry witnessed its highest ever 10-year occupancy in FY2018 and its revenue per available room (RevPAR) was higher by 17 per cent compared to the 10-year low, witnessed in FY2014. Similarly, the pan-India average room rate (ARR) which stood at Rs 5,800 in FY2018, was also the highest since FY2014, according to a recent research by ICRA. Foreign Tourist Arrivals (FTAs) into India slowed down from April 2018 onwards due to the Nipah virus scare and diversion of traffic to other global events such as the soccer world cup in Russia. While the FTAs growth picked up in Aug 2018, the Kerala floods impacted it in Sep and Oct 2018. Kerala witnessed decline in FTAs in Q2 (-4.6 per cent) and Q3 CY2018 (-13.6 per cent). In addition, there was general weakness in the global ITAs during Q3 CY2018. As for the domestic demand momentum, it has remained strong; the domestic revenue passenger kilometre (RPKM), a proxy for domestic travel grew by a robust 20.3 per cent year on year (YOY) in YTD October CY2018 at ~ 10.5 million passengers. Domestic demand in FY2019 will continue to be driven by increased air connectivity and higher appetite for domestic leisure travel. On the supply side, the supply of room is likely to lag demand over the medium term and grow at a subdued CAGR of 3.6 per cent over the next five years (FY19-23).

Ginger has opened its first prototype hotel with a complete new brand identity at Panjim, Goa, after an intensive repositioning exercise. The current portfolio of the other 45 plus hotels will be repositioned reflecting the new brand identity and brand promise. Ginger will introduce the lean luxe segment, the first of its kind in India. The new identity presents a co-existence of contrasts through re-imagined spaces blurring the lines of work and play, bringing about a fusion of global and local and create experiences that are vibrant, quirky, intuitive and smart. The redesigned spaces will bring together attractive public areas as well as spots designed for solitude, allowing the smooth transition from one to the other. They come alive with vivacious high energy glocal music and unique artwork installations. The all-day diner Café Et Cetera offers comfort food and doubles up as a personal workstation. The service style is designed around the on-the-go lifestyle of the target audience enabling them to do more whether it is on-the-go breakfast, express laundry service or quick munch snack bars.

Keeping its growth plans in mind for 2019 in the Indian as well as overseas market, Sarovar Hotels and Resorts will launch 15 new properties next year. Ajay Bakaya, Managing Director, Sarovar Hotels and Resorts, says, “Sarovar will be launching close to 15 properties in 2019. Some of the locations chosen for the openings are – Gorakhpur, Katra, Dehradun, Dahisar, Jammu, Palolem Goa, Morbi, Dalhousie, Jalandhar etc. Also, 2018 overall was a good year. We predicted 5 per cent increase and did better than that. We opened sebven hotels in 2018 across the country and overseas. We hope 2019 to be on the same lines, but slightly better.” The international locations where the hotels will be launched include Dar Es Salaam and Auxum, Ethiopia.

A new batch of hotels in Moscow and Saint Petersburg became ‘India Friendly’ in 2018 to encourage more Indians to visit the destination. The ‘India Friendly’ programme has been conceived and operationalised by Russian Information Centre (RIC) that identified the need for creating the correct environment in Russia to welcome Indian tourists. The hotels include Azimut Hotel Olympic Moscow, Radisson Royal St Petersburg and Alfa Izmailovo, Moscow. Katrina Belyakova, Partner, Russia Information Center, says, “The trainers are experts in tourism and restaurant business from India and Russia having proven experience of managing needs of Indian tourists in multiple environments. The training programme covers topics of ancient and modern culture of India, the uniqueness of Indian thinking, the individual religious beliefs and how it affects their needs and food, communication styles of Indian tourists. It educates the hotels on the other small but important needs of Indian tourists like tea kettles, hot/cold water, besides others.” The programme was officially launched in September 2016 in Russia by signing of an agreement to co-operate in developing Russian-Indian relations in the field of tourism and hospitality. The signatories to the agreement are Russian Information Centre (RIC, Mumbai), National Tourism Marketing Agency of Russian Federation “Visit Russia” and Department of Hotel and Restaurant Business, Saint Petersburg State University of Economics. The programme aims to create a conducive environment for development of outbound tourism from India to Russia.

Hilton has announced signing of a management agreement with Kalyani Hospitality to develop DoubleTree by Hilton in Bengaluru. Scheduled to open in Q1 2021, the property will be located at the commercial micro-market of the city – Whitefield. The hotel, currently under construction, will have 183 rooms and suites to cater to the needs of both business and leisure travellers, including multiple meeting and banquet spaces, fitness amenities, outdoor swimming pool, restaurant, a bar and a roof-top lounge. Commenting on this signing, Navjit Ahluwalia, Senior Vice President and Country Head, Hilton India, said,“Our partnership with Kalyani Group reinforces our promise to expand our portfolio in India and offer Hilton guests more opportunities to experience the warmth of Hilton hospitality across multiple locations.” Announcing the project, A Mohan Raju, Chairman and Managing Director, Kalyani Group, said, “We are delighted to partner with Hilton to provide world-renowned hospitality within a business‐friendly environment. Owing to its location within the fastest-growing commercial micro market in Bengaluru, the hotel will become a preferred choice of travellers with diverse requirements. We have strong plans to replicate our success in the commercial office segment into the hospitality sector.”

Further expanding its presence in South India, Sarovar Hotels has announced the signing of Shravanthi Sarovar Portico in Bengaluru. The mid-scale hotel, located in JP Nagar, offers 80 newly renovated guest rooms, an all-day dining restaurant, club bar, fitness centre and conferencing facilities. The newly redecorated lobby is spacious and comprises a coffee lounge, just the perfect setting for relaxation or business networking. The total inventory of Sarovar in the city will cross 700 rooms and this will be Sarovar’s sixth hotel after La Marvella Sarovar Premiere, Davanam Sarovar Portico Suites, RBD Sarovar Portico, Radha Hometel and Radisson Blu. Shravanthi Sarovar Portico is special by way of decorative themes that run through each of the four floors of the property. From Scandinavian to Spanish country to Manhattan to the Royal highness, the hotel’s theme floors and rooms leave the traveller with a signature experience akin to none. Commenting on the development, Anil Madhok, Executive Chairman, Sarovar Hotels says, “After covering the IT and commercial hubs of Koramangala, ORR, Whitefield and Jayanagar, we are delighted to sign our next hotel in the heart of JP Nagar. The Shravanthi Sarovar Portico is centrally located and will appeal to the business as well as leisure traveller.”

In response to grievances expressed by its members, the Federation of Hotel & Restaurant Associations of India (FHRAI) has put Online Travel Aggregators (OTA), MakeMyTrip and Goibibo on notice. A number of its members had brought to the association’s notice that the OTAs’ business practices which were exploitative, unethical and divisive led to predatory pricing and other market distortions that had the potential to harm both hoteliers and consumers in the long term. FHRAI has written a letter to the OTAs outlining the most critical concerns of the hotel industry which includes the issue of distortion of market price, demand for exorbitant commissions and hosting of illegal and unlicensed bed and breakfast accommodations. “One of the biggest concerns is that after securing discounted rates from a hotel, the OTAs further discount it on their online platforms without the hotel’s consent. This damages the hotel’s reputation, and also simultaneously distorts the market scenario. Ironically, the OTAs have a clause in their agreement that forbids hotels from discounting their own rates but are themselves free to do so. This disparity is not just unfair but is clearly intentional and is done with the objective of market cannibalisation,” says Gurbaxish Singh Kohli, Vice President – FHRAI & President – Hotel and Restaurant Association of Western India (HRAWI). Hotels have alleged that the OTAs charge commission that range anywhere between 18 and 40 per cent. The exorbitant commissions have been adversely impacting revenues, business and the livelihood of hoteliers. The Federation has written to MMT and Goibibo in the hope that they will understand the ground level situation of hotels. However, based on the previous experience of hoteliers whose attempts at negotiations were neglected …