Category Archives: Hotels

Nestled in the verdant hills of Coorg & Chikmanglur, Plantation Trails by Tata Coffee announced the launch of its new corporate brand identity and website. The new brand identity signifies the ongoing evolution of the Plantation Trail estate to perfection. Characterized by elements of ‘Plantation Trails by Tata Coffee’ varied offerings like heritage bungalows, picturesque coffee and tea estates and unique guided trails of these estates, the logo retains the icons that signify each of these experiences. The base design graphically demonstrates the icon of a ‘trail’ merging with the ‘coffee bean’ icon, while the ‘tea leaf’ and ‘coffee leaf’ flank are placed at the sides. The ‘trail’ passes through the centre of the ‘coffee bean’ and finally make its way ‘home’. Plantation Trails by Tata Coffee has embarked upon this transformational journey with a clear vision to reach out to patrons effectively and maintain a visual identity powerful enough to have a lasting effect. The redesigned website is user-friendly and provides ease-of-navigation, giving patrons a look and feel of the Plantation Trail by Tata Coffee Bungalows in a visually stunning format. The contemporary layout also has embedded social media buttons for faster and improved communications, thereby enabling guests to connect via multiple platforms, as per their convenience. Commenting on the re-branding exercise Gautam Prakash, Head- Plantation Trails by Tata Coffee Limited said, “Our new brand identity is in line with the growth and transformation that Plantation Trails by Tata Coffee has witnessed over the past years. With a brand new website in place, we are aiming at a digital integration that will enable us to narrate our store in a content rich format, which also ensures effective communication with …

The Fern Hotels & Resorts has announced the opening of The Fern Goregaon, an upscale business hotel located approximately 0.9 km from Bombay Exhibition & Convention Centre off western express highway. The hotel is designed on the theme of Mumbai and its culture. The hotel’s proximity to Western Express highway, important business and entertainment hub, exhibition centre makes it an ideal location for business traveller. The hotel offers 89 rooms, an all day dining restaurant cum coffee shop and range of facilities such as banquet hall, roof top swimming pool, fitness centre and many more. Located strategically off western express highway in Goregaon East; just 0.9 kms away from Bombay Exhibition and Convention centre, 7 kms from international airport, 7.5 kms from domestic airport. The unit is owned and promoted by IJB Hotels. The hotel is managed by Concept Hospitality.

Spreading its wings to Uttarakhand, RARE Destination & Experiences has added Soulitude’s two properties to its portfolio — Soulitude by the Riverside, Chanfi and Soulitude in the Himalayas, Gagar. Soulitude by the Riverside, Chanfi is a small seven suite boutique getaway set amidst an organic farm and carefully planted vegetation of flowering and fruiting trees. The property is just under an hour’s drive from the railhead in Kathgodam. Soulitude in the Himalayas, Gagar, on the other hand is over an hour from the Riverside including the walk up to the ancient bridge in Chanfi Village. The ten rooms and suites of Soulitude in the Himalayas are distributed in two similar looking blocks with sloping roofs, decks and brief terraces, that seem quiet in sync with the hills around, scooped into steps for farming.

Golden Tulip Hospitality group, South Asia, has announced the opening of Royal Tulip Kufri-Shimla. This will be the group’s first luxury property in the Himalayas. Located at 8,600 ft above sea level in Kufri, Royal Tulip Kufri offers views of the Himalayas spread over acres of Cedar forest range, Royal Tulip Kufri is a luxury resort that embodies the charm of a small hill station, overlooking the valley. Royal Tulip Kufri is a family holiday destination and also has a Club Kufri, a hub for children with various fun activities such as – billiards, games center etc. Royal Tulip offers banquet venues that can accommodate over 800 guests, ideal for destination weddings, events, corporate off sites and get togethers. There is also a spa and an indoor pool area. Those who are more adventurous can enjoy several outdoor and indoor recreational activities such as trekking, golf at Naldhera and skiing during season.

Deutsche Hospitality is very ambitious about the brand’s growth in the India market. In a recent interview, Puneet Chhatwal, CEO, Steigenberger Hotels AG, says, “We are very ambitious concerning our growth in the Indian market. In fact, we are already present there as partner in the joint venture ‘MBD Steigenberger,’ which is currently in process of being registered under Indian company law. Together with our Indian partner MBD group, India’s largest education and leading hospitality company, we are planning to open at least 20 hotels in India over the next 15 years. The first hotel will be in Bangalore.”

Sarovar Hotels has signed an agreement for a 60-room hotel, Presidium Sarovar Portico, in Dalhousie, Himachal Pradesh and it is expected to be operational by the end of 2018. Presidium Sarovar Portico Dalhousie is Sarovar Groups’s third hotel in the state of Himachal Pradesh. The other two hotels are located in Mashobra and Palampur. The hotel will offer all modern facilities including an all-day dining restaurant, bar, gym, swimming pool, spa and banquet facilities. Commenting on the development, Ajay K. Bakaya, Executive Director, Sarovar Hotels, said, “We are happy to open a Sarovar Portico hotel in this charming town of Himachal Pradesh. With its unparalleled scenic beauty, Dalhousie is an important tourism 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 hotel equipped with all amenities required by a modern day traveller is set to be the finest in the region.” The property is owned by Vikram Seth of Holy Heart Presidency School Amritsar.

Hilton Worldwide Holdings, HNA Group and Blackstone has announced that HNA will acquire an approximate 25 per cent equity interest in Hilton from affiliates of Blackstone, establishing a long-term strategic investment in Hilton and Hilton’s planned spin-offs of Park Hotels & Resorts (Park) and Hilton Grand Vacations (HGV). The transaction is valued at approximately $6.5 billion, or $26.25 per share in cash, reducing Blackstone’s interest in Hilton to approximately 21 per cent. The transaction is expected to close in the first quarter of 2017. Following Hilton’s previously announced spin-offs of Park and HGV, which are expected to occur on or about the end of the year, HNA will own approximately 25 per cent of all three companies.

After strategic tie-ups with four state tourism departments across India for joint promotion of homestays, Stayzilla the largest homestay aggregator now gets on board with Chhattisgarh Tourism Board (CTB) to promote and launch more homestays in the region. The MoU was signed and exchanged in the presence of Chief Minister of Chhattisgarh, Dr. Raman Singh, M.T. Nandi – IFS – Managing Director – Chhattisgarh Tourism Board, Shreerang Pathak – Deputy General Manager – Chhattisgarh Tourism Board, Dilip Acharya – Head Operations Section – Chhattisgarh Tourism Board and Ankit Rastogi, VP Marketplace, Stayzilla.com. Under this agreement, Stayzilla will support verification procedures, jointly boost homestays in cities & places of interest within Chhattisgarh. All homestays registered within the state will receive technical support in the form of inventory management and software applications to ensure seamless booking procedures. Stayzilla & Chhattisgarh Tourism Board (CTB) will also jointly conduct educational and training sessions for Chhattisgarh registered homestays on best practices such as online usage, content management, operations and expense management.

Hotelbeds has announced a strategic partnership with AccorHotels that aims to double sales for the hotel through the bedbank over the next two years. Carlos Muñoz, managing director Hotelbeds – Bedbank, said, “We are very excited and pleased to confirm that we have taken our longstanding relationship with AccorHotels to the next level with this strategic partnership. This summer´s trial resulted in the best ever booking results we´ve seen for the hotel. Based upon this we are already working together on a plan to double the amount of bookings that AccorHotels receives through Hotelbeds within the next two years.” As a result of this new agreement – reached earlier in the year and trialed over the summer months – Hotelbeds has recently registered its best ever bookings results from the hotel chain. Hotelbeds is a long-standing B2B partner of AccorHotels that embraces its dynamic rates through outstanding XML connectivity.

General Hotel Management (GHM) has joined hands with Rajesh LifeSpaces, Mumbai-based real estate company, to bring The Chedi brand to the hospitality market in India. Hans R. Jenni, Director and President, GHM, expressed his optimism for the project, “We have always wanted to plant a GHM flag in India and being able to establish The Chedi brand in the thriving city of Mumbai is an honour as well as a challenging opportunity my team and I are eager to face.” The Chedi Mumbai is situated in close proximity to the Powai region, an area where infrastructure developments, connectivity and social groundwork have laid the foundation for the growth of a diverse expatriate community. It is also an increasingly favoured residential precinct among the locals and the burgeoning district is becoming an enclave for the who’s who in society. The strategic location of this iconic hotel is also not far from Bandra Kurla Complex: this ambitious development is set to be an emerging hub for work and leisure outside of South Mumbai and will house a new convention and exhibition centre, an art auditorium, cultural plaza, residences and offices. These, coupled with the fact that The Chedi Mumbai is close to both the domestic and international airports, and is supported by a comprehensive network of highways and roads, assure travellers of the ease of commuting and roadway connectivity between the northern and southern parts of the city. When viewed from these various perspectives, The Chedi Mumbai is truly a testament to the owner’s vision for it to become a destination in and of itself, the epicentre of this metropolitan city.