Category Archives: Hotels

Best Western Hotels & Resorts has launched its new SureStay Plus Hotel Brand in India with the opening of a first SureStay Plus hotel in Indore, Madhya Pradesh. Each of the 57 rooms spread across three categories and 8 suites of the hotel offers boutique-style charm with every modern comfort, complemented by excellent views of the city. “We are delighted to unveil SureStay Plus Hotel by Best Western Indore, an exciting midscale brand that will redefine the hotel landscape in Indore.,” said Atul Jain, Best Western’s Chief Operating Officer for India, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka. “By combining the ease and affordability of midscale hotels with the international standards of a global chain, SureStay Hotel Group is sure to appeal to business and leisure travelers alike”.

Mandeep Lamba, President, HVS ANAROCK-South Asia, in an exclusive interview with Tourism Breaking News, said, “Going forward we are headed towards interesting times in the hospitality space. In fact, our recent study shows, 2020 could be the year of the highest occupancy ever witnessed in the Indian hospitality industry. The industry is finally accepting the fact that we are on a start of the upside. We are observing a trend we were long waiting for. We have seen industry go through troubled seven years on a downturn. Finally, everyone is relieved that we are finally going to see an upturn.

In the hotel industry, leisure properties in India continued to outperform their urban counterparts largely as a result of steady demand and higher average rates, as per a latest research by Hotelivate. The RevPAR of Rs 9,235 clocked in 2017-18 by the leisure sub-set was 1.6 times that of the urban sample and 2.4 times the national average. The strong year-on-year performance of the former clearly points towards a healthy demand for such hotels in the country, making investment in leisure properties perceivably more viable than previously thought. The peaks and troughs in demand in leisure locations is smoothening with creative promotions, social events, corporate off-sites, MiCE and group travel serving as fillers. Moreover, the low reliance of leisure hotels on RFPs from corporates that are relatively more sensitive to economic and trade conditions, make them less vulnerable to price wars.

More than 50 per cent of Indian travellers budgeted USD75-150 per room per night for leisure travel, reports a study by CAPA India and Expedia titled ‘The Inflection Point for Indian Outbound Travel’. Hotels have been the standard option for the Indian traveller in the past, however, travellers are now exploring other accommodation options, with 38% of survey respondents having rented a villa or apartment while travelling overseas. This has been made more accessible by online platforms such as Airbnb and others, which offer homestays. Traditionally at short-haul destinations, Indian travellers spend one-third of their holiday budget on accommodation. Indians visiting Singapore spent around 35% of their trip cost on accommodation, compared to Chinese and Indonesians who spent only about 18% in 2015. For medium to long-haul destinations, the spend on accommodation can increase to up to half of the total trip budget. Indians visiting Mauritius in 2016, spent around 56% of expenses on accommodation while those visiting Switzerland spent around 48% of their budget on accommodation. International leisure travellers from India are drawn mostly from high and upper-middle income economic segments. They are used to a certain standard of living and expect similar conditions and conveniences when travelling. Given the high quality of hotels in India, there is an assumption that equivalent levels of luxury and service will be available overseas, which is not always the case. Leading hotel chains have shared that they find it difficult to replicate their customer proposition at overseas destinations because of the much higher cost of labour and different service cultures. This can result in expectations being disappointed.

Hard Rock International continues intensifying its India presence with the announcement of Hard Rock Hotel Bangalore, slated to open in Fall 2020. Joining Hard Rock Hotel Goa, the second Hard Rock Hotel in India will be located in the city of Bangalore. “The city of Bangalore is full of culture and beauty and is the perfect location for our second property in India,” said Todd Hricko, senior vice president and head of global hotel development for Hard Rock International. “We are pleased to work with Convention Hotels India Private Limited who share in our vision, integrity and dedication to quality.”

According to a recent report by HVS ANAROCK, the significant jump in 2018 and 2017 hotel openings over 2016 is partly a result of rebranding, the most notable being the migration of a 14 hotel portfolio with almost 2000 keys owned by SAMHI hotels in key locations, to Holiday Inn Express rebranded openings accounted for 24% of the openings in 2018. The year 2019 is expected to outpace 2018 with a total of 105 new branded hotel openings with a total key count of 8,574 keys. The effort to open new hotels, big or small, requires hotel operators to coordinate large amounts of preopening effort. So, while domestic operators opened 65 hotels of the total 134 openings in 2018, which represents nearly half of all the openings, in terms of key counts, domestic operators represented only 32% of the total 7,215 keys.

Four Seasons Hotel Bengaluru at Embassy ONE is now confirming reservations beginning May 1, 2019, with introductory offers tailor-made for those who want to be among the first to experience the second Four Seasons hotel in India. The hotel is part of the new Embassy ONE development, encompassing the 230-room Four Seasons Hotel Bengaluru, 105 Four Seasons Private Residences, and commercial space. The estate is conveniently located at about a 30-minute drive from the airport and well connected to the central business district. Within the Hotel, local guests and international travellers will find a warm and inviting all day dining restaurant, CUR8, featuring a showpiece grill and a custom-built, supersize pizza oven with interactive live counters; The Lounge & Terrace, which could be the perfect place for a relaxed afternoon tea; and a curated selection of whiskies from around the world at The Collection. The outdoor pool in the lushly landscaped private gardens will lend a resort-like feel to the place leading guests to Infuse Spa, an uplifting hideaway for modern and holistic wellness solutions. “An extraordinary journey is about to begin as Four Seasons Hotel Bengaluru opens its doors. Experience an amazing culinary journey with us or visit the tranquil setting at the outdoor pool area – a spectacular and rejuvenating oasis for relaxation. Our teams are all geared up and excitedly look forward to welcoming guests as the curtains rise. The magic is about to unfold,” says General Manager Fredrik Blomqvist. Four Seasons Hotel Bengaluru is located in the city’s northern corridor, close to Kempegowda International Airport, key business districts and landmarks including Bangalore Palace and Cubbon Park. It will be the second Four Seasons in India, joining …

Hong Kong’s largest hotel group, Harbour Plaza Hotels & Resorts recently concluded its roadshow in India.  During the roadshow, from April 8 -12, the sales representatives met with more than 200 customers from corporations, professional conference organisers and travel agencies in Mumbai and Delhi. The delegates were from- Harbour Grand Kowloon, Harbour Plaza Metropolis, Kowloon Harbour Front, Harbour Plaza 8 Degrees and Harbour Plaza Resort City. “India is a key market for our hotels in Hong Kong. We like to bring to our business partner the latest updates and development of our group which include the recently renovated Harbour Grand Kowloon lobby with the ‘Prisms of light’ – a chandelier of 150,000 pieces Swarovski crystals. In the third quarter of this year, a new tower extension of the hotel with 360 brand new guest rooms and suites, all with a panoramic view of either the city or the harbour, will be opened. This will bring the total room inventory to close to 1,000, becoming one of the biggest 5 star hotels in Hong Kong”, said Priyanka, Director of Nijhawan Group, GSA for Harbour Plaza Hotels & Resorts in India. “We’re opening this fall a brand new hotel, which will bring the group’s total room inventory in the city to more than 9300 rooms. Hotel Alexandra, with 840 guest rooms, is well located at the North Point harbour front. The hotel is designed exquisitely melding sophisticated French neoclassicism with contemporary elements, a combination of timeless affluent elegance and modern concepts delighting even the most discerning travelers. The lobby is adorned with rich red and gold colour, accented on numerous grand chandeliers with a judicious use of mirrors, flower engraved golden doors, …

Accor has recently announced the advent of its Raffles brand in the Indian market. Speaking more on the expansion, Jean-Michel Cassé, COO– India and South Asia, Accor, says, “Today we have 51 properties in India and one in Colombo, 52 in the region. In total, Accor has the presence of 9,500 rooms and we are present in 22 cities. What we have in the pipeline today is 25 per cent of our current inventory that will come in the next 3-5 years. Hopefully, we will also see new brands in this pipeline.”

The year 2019 is expected to outpace 2018 with a total of 105 new branded hotel openings with a total key count of 8,574 keys, according to a ‘India Hospitality Industry Review’ report by HVS ANAROCK. The effort to open new hotels, big or small, requires hotel operators to coordinate large amounts of pre-opening effort. So, while domestic operators opened 65 hotels of the total 134 openings in 2018, which represents nearly half of all the openings in terms of key counts, domestic operators represented only 32 per cent of the total 7,215 keys. Bengaluru witnessed the largest number of new openings by a large margin, in part due to the opening of the Sheraton Grand Bengaluru Whitefield Hotel & Convention Centre with 360 keys.