Category Archives: Hotels

InterContinental Hotels Group (IHG) has signed a management agreement with Bhumika Enterprises for Holiday Inn Udaipur Urban Square. The 195-room hotel will be the first Holiday Inn hotel in the city and is expected to be operational by 2022. Boasting of an excellent location, Holiday Inn Udaipur Urban Square will be an integral part of the upcoming ‘Urban Square’, an integrated hospitality, retail and family entertainment destination spread over 1.8 million square feet. Sudeep Jain, Vice President—Development, South West Asia, IHG said, “We are delighted to partner with Bhumika Group to mark IHG’s debut in Udaipur, under the Holiday Inn banner. Urban Square is set to develop as a landmark destination for hospitality, retail and family entertainment in Udaipur and we are pleased to be a part of this prestigious development. The Holiday Inn brand family is our growth driver in the midscale hotel segment in India, and we have accelerated our expansion this year with a number of signings across the country.” Uddhav Poddar, Managing Director, Bhumika Group, said, “IHG is a leading hospitality player, globally and we are very pleased to partner with the company to launch Holiday Inn Udaipur Urban Square. We are confident that the Holiday Inn brand will further enhance the bouquet of services that the Urban Square has to offer to travellers.’’  

Hyatt Hotels Corporation has announced an agreement to acquire Two Roads Hospitality. In India, Alila Diwa Goa and Alila Fort Bishangarh are the two properties that belong to Two Roads Hospitality. Through the addition of Two Roads, its established lifestyle brands and the management agreements for the majority of its 85 properties in eight countries, Hyatt will expand its brand presence into 23 new markets while enhancing its offerings in lifestyle hotel experiences and well-being. With Two Roads and its collection of lifestyle hotels, resorts and vacation residences, Hyatt will offer an expanded and more powerful portfolio of brands with best-in-class offerings to deliver compelling experiences and benefits for guests and World of Hyatt members, expand its relationship with valued hotel owners, and drive growth for shareholders. “Hyatt and Two Roads are dedicated to learning from each other and taking the best of both organisations forward,” said Mark Hoplamazian, President and CEO, Hyatt Hotels Corporation. “Two Roads’ passionate team members, strong brands, global footprint and robust development pipeline will expand our lifestyle offerings and grow Hyatt’s brand presence in more places where our guests and World of Hyatt members want to travel.” After the close of the transaction, which is expected later this year, Hyatt will create a dedicated lifestyle division as a catalyst to bring together the operations of Two Roads’ and Hyatt’s lifestyle brands. “Hyatt’s unique position in the marketplace brings with it the powerful benefit of global scale while maintaining meaningful personal relationships with team members, guests and owners,” said Jamie Sabatier, CEO, Two Roads Hospitality.

According to a report titled ‘Hospitality insights from the Indian CEO’s desk’ by CII and PWC, the biggest driver in the growth of domestic travel in India is high disposable income. With the buoyant growth in the Indian economy, the Indian middle class has higher disposable income. This has been identified, by about 94 per cent of the respondents as a key factor for the increased domestic travel across the country. Over 40 per cent of the respondents believed that the increased demand would come from new locations largely due to better access and improved infrastructure. Therefore, a significant supply is being developed and likely to develop at such locations. Higher disposable income is driving domestic tourism. In terms of promotion, all the options available today can be seen online and it is very convenient for customers to access the available options. This has made a huge difference to the industry. Growth in the domestic travel has also accentuated the demand for different categories of hotels. Affordability and quality of experience are key factors in defining this shift away from five star to more budget category hotels. Although travellers value loyalty programmes and promotional schemes, the survey participants do not see it as a key determinant in selecting their accommodation. Other factors that are contributing to the growth in domestic tourism include access to online travel and hotel bookings.

Sarovar Hotels and Resorts has announced its plans to open a hotel in Hargeisa, the capital city of Somaliland, which is a growing economy in East Africa. Ajay K Bakaya, Managing Director, Sarovar Hotels Pvt. Ltd. says, “In order to maximize further growth opportunities in Africa, we are delighted to announce another milestone in Sarovar’s expansion plan. This hotel is located in one of the prime locations of Somaliland close to the getaway port of Berbera and has good connectivity from Hargeisa Egal international airport as well for travellers to the country. Having successfully operated hotels in other countries of Africa, we now look forward to provide our signature hospitality in this growing country as well”. The hotel is very near to Somaliland’s Port of Berbera. There are plans for the port to be upgraded, the country’s commercial hub. Owned by Upper Hill Hotel, Sarovar Premiere Hargeisa, upon completion in 2020 will have a total of 123 rooms and suites; conferencing & meeting, an all-day dining restaurant and a swimming pool.

Tata group’s Indian Hotels Company Limited (IHCL) has retained the iconic Taj Mansingh Hotel after an auction conducted by New Delhi Municipal Corporation (NDMC). “The lease for the property will be granted to the group for 33 years at double the license fees. IHCL will pay a license fee of Rs 7.03 crore per month including GST. Earlier, they were paying Rs 3.94 crore per month as license fee,” a senior NDMC official said. The other bidder in the auction held on September 28 was the ITC group of hotels . The Taj Mansingh was given to the IHCL in 1978 on a lease for 33 years, which ended in 2011. The company has been since given nine temporary extensions. Source: PTI

Revenues from business travellers will grow significantly over the next few years, according to a CII-PwC report. Although MiCE has not been a significant contributor to the Indian hospitality sector so far, this trend is likely to change with better planning as well as improved infrastructure. On the other hand, few CEOs believe that leisure travel will keep pace with growth seen in business travel and MiCE. A large section of leisure travellers continue to perceive hotels as a luxury.

The Indian Hotels Company Limited (IHCL) has announced the signing of a new Vivanta hotel in Kathmandu, marking the entry of the brand in the city. This will be IHCL’s second hotel in Nepal after Meghauli Serai in Chitwan National Park, a UNESCO World Heritage site. Commenting on the signing of this agreement, Puneet Chhatwal, Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer, IHCL said, “We are honoured to partner with R&R Hotels and Resorts for this new hotel. Kathmandu is an extremely popular destination and this hotel will help us complete a tourist circuit with Meghauli Serai, our Taj Safari Lodge in Chitwan National Park.” The hotel will have approximately 111 spacious rooms and suites with a selection of rooms offering panoramic views of the city. The hotel will also include all-day dining and specialty restaurants, a bar, banqueting facilities and a spa. Commenting on the partnership, Rahul Chaudhary, Director, R&R Hotels and Resorts, said, “We have had a long standing association with IHCL for a range of hotels in multiple destinations. We are extremely proud to carry this relationship forward with the new Vivanta in Kathmandu.” Kathmandu has been at the centre of Nepal’s history, art, culture and economy. Some of the most popular attractions include the sacred and famous temple Pashupatinath, one of the biggest stupas in the world Boudhanath Stupa and Narayanhiti Palace Museum amongst others.  

VITS Luxury Hotels has launched VITS Upper Thane, a luxury corporate hotel located in the fastest growing city of Kalyan. Located 35 minutes from Thane Railway Station, VITS Upper Thane is targeted at both corporate and leisure segments. Announcing the opening, Chandrakant Shetty, CEO, VITS Hotels says, “We are delighted to announce the opening of VITS Upper Thane, our seventh property in Maharashtra. It is a proud moment for us as we expand the brand’s footprint in this business district of Kalyan and Bhiwandi. We believe VITS Upper Thane – Bhiwandi with its stunning array of facilities and host of hospitality will appeal to both leisure and business tourists. VITS is positioned as a moderately priced full service luxury business hotel and enjoys high occupancy rate at all our properties nationality. We have a strong sales network across pan India and loyal customer base. As part of its domestic expansion plans VITS Hotels will unveil the VITS hospitality experience in Mumbai (Colaba), Porbunder and Mangalore shortly.”

The Fern Hotels & Resorts has added another hotel to its portfolio with The Fern Residency Miramar, Goa. Earlier known as Mystique Heights Beacon, the property has now been refurbished and rebranded as The Fern Residency Miramar, Goa. This takes the tally of hotels under the company’s management to 54 hotels. Commenting on the opening, hotel COO Suhail Kannampilly said, “This is the first hotel under the Fern Residency brand which we have opened in Goa. We look forward to opening many more such properties in future.” The Fern Residency Miramar, a 26-room boutique hotel, offers two different categories of rooms. The hotel provides medical assistance, 24-hour front desk, laundry/dry cleaning, concierge, spa, recreation activities, Wi-Fi and secretarial services on request. The dining options comprise Flamingo restaurant. Other options are Outer Deck where one can enjoy live barbecue in the open and Fame bar. The hotel is located 30 km away from Dabolim Airport, 18 km from Karmali Railway Station and 4 km from Panjim Bus Stand. The Miramar beach is few minutes away from the hotel.  

The Park Hotels brought its year-long Golden Jubilee celebrations to The Park New Delhi on September 22. The event was presided over by Priya Paul, Chairperson, Apeejay Surrendra Park Hotels and Vijay Dewan, Managing Director, The Park Hotels. Speaking on the occasion, Paul said, “50 years is an important milestone and I am grateful to everyone who has been a part of The Park Hotels’ incredible journey. Our remarkable success is due to our solid foundation and values. Our vision of ‘Leadership Through Differentiation’ is manifested by each of our 15 hotels across India. My outstanding team and I look forward to creating unique experiences for customers and more value for our stakeholders.” The Park Hotels’ 50-year celebrations continue across India and will culminate at The Park Vishakhapatnam which also turns 50 in 2018. About 50 years ago, Late Jit Paul and Late Surrendra Paul took the hospitality industry a notch higher when Apeejay Surrendra Group’s first hotel The Park Kolkata, a contemporary luxury property was opened on November 1, 1967. Since then, The Park Hotels has taken the path of creating a unique collection of luxury boutique hotels. Tapping into the ever-shifting pulse of society, the edgy design and imaginative spaces have brought together the pioneers of creativity to engage with each other and with the hotels.