Category Archives: Hotels

After extensive renovations, The Oberoi, New Delhi, will reopen on January 1, 2018. The hotel has commenced reservation on its website or on phone. The Rs. 500 crore-revamp project which was slated to reopen in April next year will be completed ahead of schedule. Built in 1965, the Oberoi New Delhi was closed two years ago for renovation, will have 218 rooms. It will become the first hotel in India to have an air purifier to address growing concerns over the air quality in the national capital.

The GST Council has recommended slash in GST rate for AC restaurants to 12 per cent from previous 18 per cent. This recommendation was made during the Council’s 22nd meeting held on October 6 in Delhi under chairmanship of the Union Minister of Finance and Corporate Affairs, Arun Jaitley. The federal tax body has set up a five-member panel of state ministers to make the quarterly tax filing and payment scheme for small businesses more attractive and to rework the tax rate on restaurants.

AccorHotels has signed an agreement to acquire Gekko, a major player in the business travel hotel reservation segment. The transaction, which values Gekko at €100 million, will have an accretive effect on AccorHotels’ financial performance from 2018. The transaction is subject to approval of competition authorities and has already been approved by AccorHotels’ employee representative bodies. This transaction is in line with the strategy aimed at strengthening AccorHotels’ leadership across the entire customer experience by enhancing the range of services offered to business travellers, the Group’s key customer segment. Stephane de Laforcade and Olivier Delouis will remain at the head of Gekko and will continue to run the group independently. Gekko offers search and reservation solutions via an interface connected to more than 500,000 hotels worldwide, ranging from budget to luxury. Its turnkey management tools allow business travellers to manage their online payments, offering them the option of tracking and optimizing their costs. Gekko serves more than 300 corporate customers and 14,000 travel agencies through its subsidiaries: HCorpo (key accounts), Teldar Travel (leisure travel agencies), Teldar Travel Biz (SME-focused travel agencies), Miles Attack (loyalty program) and Infinite Hotel (wholesaler serving independent French hotels). Gekko operates in France, Belgium, Spain and Portugal, and has been posting very strong year-on-year growth for many years. Founded in 2010, Gekko is managed by Olivier Delouis and Stéphane de Laforcade. They introduced HLD, a European investment fund, as their reference shareholder in 2015. Thibault Viort, Chief Disruption & Growth Officer, stated, “We are very pleased to have Gekko’s team join our Group. AccorHotels’ extensive global footprint, together with Gekko’s technological leadership, today paves the way for the creation of a global leader in B-to-B hotel …

India Tourism Development Corporation (ITDC), conducted its 52nd Annual General Meeting at The Ashok, New Delhi. Chairing the meeting, Ravneet Kaur, IAS, Chairperson & Managing Director, ITDC, announced that corporation closed the year with a turnover of Rs. 495.14 crore during 2016-17. The net profit before tax has been recorded to Rs.17.52 crore during 2016-17. Also, the board declared and approved a dividend of 13.30 per cent amounting to Rs.11.41 crore approximately in the meeting held on May 30, 2017. Other Board of Directors present during the meeting included Piyush Tiwari, Director (Commercial & Marketing), Pradip Kumar Das, Director (Finance), government nominee directors and independent directors. The CMD announced that ITDC has shown a significant improvement in the operational efficiency. Overall occupancy during 2016-17 was 58 per cent as against 52 per cent during 2015-16 with flagship Hotel ‘The Ashok’ recording highest turnover of Rs. 152.91 cr during 2016-17. The board said that a big push is being given to connect ITDC with new customers especially with younger generation through print and social media. Steps are being taken to make ITDC website more attractive and user friendly.

Sarovar Hotels has announced the signing of its latest hotel in Bengaluru, La Marvella Sarovar Premiere. The takeover is expected to be completed by the first week of November. La Marvella Sarovar Premiere, Bengaluru – Jayanagar, is Sarovar’s fifth hotel in the city after Davanam Sarovar Portico Suites, RBD Sarovar Portico, Park Plaza and Radha Hometel. La Marvella Sarovar Premiere is promoted by SVG Exports offering all facilities and services of an upscale five-star business hotel located in Jayanagar. With 102 rooms, a multi cuisine restaurant and a lounge bar, the hotel ensures guests a great stay. An Italian specialty restaurant will soon be introduced to bring a unique culinary experience to guests. Commenting on the development, Ajay K. Bakaya, Managing Director, Sarovar Hotels, says, “We are delighted to be signing a deal for yet another hotel in Bengaluru. La Marvella Sarovar Premiere located at a prime destination in the city is ideal for business as well as lesiure travellers. With Bengaluru emerging as one of our key markets, we look forward to further growth and increased traffic contribution from our hotels here. We will continue to focus on our expansion and also strengthen our position as we look to spread farther across South India.”  

Berggruen Hotels announced the launch of two new properties – Keys Hotel Aqua Green in Port Blair with 48 rooms and suites and Keys Prima Aamari Resort in Ramgarh with 22 executive rooms and three executive suites. The room tariff for the property in Port Blair and Ramgarh starts from Rs 6500 per night and from Rs. 6000 per night respectively. Anshu Sarin, Chief Executive Officer, Berggruen Hotels, elaborates on the company’s aggressive expansion plans and says, “We are really grateful to our hotel partners who have shown faith in us to manage their properties. With the launch of ‘Your Happy Stays’, Keys as a brand is set to differentiate and offer enhanced experience to the ever evolving customers. With this new brand promise we reiterate our commitment to our guests and importantly to ourselves.” Commenting on the growth plans, Kabir Kewalramani, Managing Director, Berggruen Holdings, says, “We have deepened our investments in the brand in order to expand the portfolio and make Keys a dominant brand across its product offerings. We are optimistic about the business and feel it is a right time to focus on growing scale in the Indian market.”

Mid-market hospitality chain, Lords Hotels & Resorts has announced the launch of its 27th hotel property in Bengaluru. Located on Mysuru Road, the 53-room property is branded under Lords Eco Inn and is Lords Hotels & Resorts’ second property in the metropolis. The hotel is scheduled to commence operations shortly. The launch of this property brings the hotel chain’s target of expanding to 40 properties by 2020. The hotel chain has announced its ambition to increase presence in the Southern states of India and has hinted at upcoming projects in Kerala, Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh besides Karnataka. “Lords Eco Inn Mysuru Road will be our second hotel in Bengaluru and the third in the southern region. Over the years we have steadily broadened our product portfolio in terms of the segments in which the properties operate and also through the destinations at which they are present. Today we cover a gamut of hospitality products and services. We are pleased to announce the launch of Lords Eco Inn Mysuru Road and are positive that tourists will appreciate the availability of budget friendly accommodations in one of India’s busiest cities,” says P.R. Bansal, Managing Director, Lords Hotels & Resorts. Lords Eco Inn Mysuru Road, formerly Metro View Inn, is located at a distance of just 500 meters from the Mysuru Road metro station and is 5 km away from the City railway station. “This is an exciting opportunity for us and we are confident about the kinds of value add which Lords Hotels & Resorts can bring in. Lords Eco Inn Mysuru Road is only the beginning and we look forward to taking this partnership ahead with a few of our …

Sarovar Hotels & Resorts has recently signed a new hotel in Jhansi. Sarovar is one of the fastest growing hotel chains in India with over 75 operating hotels across 50 destinations in India and Africa. Some of the expected openings this year include hotels in Amritsar, Raipur, Mahipalpur, Somnath and Jaisalmer.

India Sales Associates, which has been representing Banyan Tree Hotels & Resorts for many years in India, organised a showcase for the travel trade at The Park, New Delhi, for all the brands they are representing now, including Far East Hospitality Group; Panacea Koh Samui; Oasia Suites, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia and Nusa Dua Hotel & Spa, Bali. Representatives from two properties of Banyan Tree Hotels & Resorts—Banyan Tree Seychelles and Banyan Tree Ungasan were also present at the showcase. Manas Sinha, Director, India Sales Associates, shared that they organised the event because their partners do get business from India, but not enough in terms of the potential that India has. “Our partners want to do some product knowledge with our travel partners. Hence, we have organised a closed door, by-invitation-only B2B product training as well as networking sessions. Our partners are looking to expand their base to our network as a GSA in India and further increase their market share from India,” said Sinha at the event.

With over 75 operating hotels across 50 destinations in India and Africa, Sarovar Hotels & Resorts has signed an agreement for a 72-room hotel, Nataraj Sarovar Portico Jhansi. Owned by Nataraj Sai Hotels, Nataraj Sarovar Portico is expected to open in January 2018. With a prime location, the hotel under development has 72 rooms with all-day dining, bar, banquet halls, conference & meeting facilities, swimming pool, gymnasium, salon and rooftop open air banquet space. It is located in the center of city about 2 km from Railway Station. Commenting on the development, Ajay K. Bakaya, Managing Director, Sarovar Hotels & Resorts, said, “We are happy to open a Sarovar Portico hotel in this historic city of Uttar Pradesh. With its significant development and rich antiquity, Jhansi is an important destination with rising number of visitors from across the country. It is an important location for us and a significant addition to our portfolio. This will the best hotel in the city and will cater to the needs of Corporate, Groups, Leisure and MICE.” Some of the expected openings this year include hotels in Amritsar, Raipur, Mahipalpur, Somnath and Jaisalmer.