Category Archives: Hotels

Global hotel employee travel program, hotelemployeerate.com, has appointed IndiJo Consulting as its representative in India. IndiJo activities will include market outreach through sales, marketing, and PR initiatives on behalf of hotelemployeerate.com. The programme which offers exclusive hotel employee rates for hoteliers, their friends, and families. With an ever-expanding collection of hotel companies, branded properties and independent hotels around the world joining the Hotel Employee Rate Travel Program, hotels in India signing up can now offer their teams the unique benefit of employee travel rate. Hoteliers in the programme can add up to 10 friends and family. Additionally, hotels benefit with commission-free incremental bookings over low demand periods from its global base of leisure travellers booking through the hotelemployeerate.com travel programme. Joseph Fernandes, CEO, IndiJo Consulting, said, “We are excited to represent Hotel Employee Rate which we believe has the potential to do exceedingly well in India, by offering hotels dual benefit of providing their employee with an additional perk, and at the same time opening up a new platform of attracting leisure guest.” Lara Sidhu, Director Business Development -APAC, Hotel Employee Rate said, “While India is a new market for us, we see immense potential and we’re eager to showcase India’s beautiful hotels and locations on our global platform. As we see travel resume, hotelemployeerate.com will help mitigate the current issues in hotel employee satisfaction and retention rates.”

RARE India has added 18 new hotels, of which seven are based in North and West India, five in South and Western Ghats while six hotels are located in the North Hills, Terai, East India and the Himalayas. With these additions, RARE India now has 86 hospitality and destination brands across 18 states in the Indian subcontinent, all of which offer experiential stays and immersions that place a great emphasis on community engagement and strive to preserve and protect the planet. The new hotels and experiences in the RARE India Community include: North & West:Khem Villas in Ranthambhore (Rajasthan); Premkunj in Udaipur (Rajasthan); Dera Amer near Jaipur (Rajasthan); Killa Bhawan in Jaisalmer (Rajasthan); Mihir Garh near Jodhpur (Rajasthan); Rohet Garh near Jodhpur (Rajasthan); The Rohet House in Jodhpur (Rajasthan) South & Western Ghats:Gratitude Heritage, Kariappa House and Grand Hotel D’Europe in Puducherry; Dhole’s Den in Bandipur (Karnataka); Cabo Serai in Cabo de Rama (Goa) North Hills, Terai, East & Himalayas: Karan Mahal in Srinagar (Jammu & Kashmir); The Apricot Tree Hotel in Nurla (Ladakh); Atali Ganga in Rishikesh (Uttarakhand); The Mandala House in Devprayag (Uttarakhand); Neeralaya in Manali (Himachal Pradesh); Ging Tea House in Darjeeling (West Bengal) Shoba Mohan, Founder, RARE India, said, “We worked away through the pandemic lockdowns, creating value and awareness for the RARE India Community hoping that when the world opens up for travel, our community of hotels, carefully chosen for their experiences and attitude towards sustainable luxury and community engagement, will be known globally and will be on the travel-list of Indian travellers discovering their own country and the subcontinent. This not only meant stepping up our marketing strategy to improve sales but also create better distribution of our hotels and …

Following its successful transition from BHMA to Cross Hotels & Resorts, the Thailand-based hospitality group will now change the name of its X2 brand to Cross and X2 Vibe to Cross Vibe. This name change is part of the group’s strategy targeted to emphasise the strength of its capabilities, growth, and commitment to identify product position in the marketplace. All X2 and X2 Vibe hotels in Thailand, Indonesia and Vietnam will be progressively relaunched to further enhance quality and drive consistency across the brand portfolio. All references associated with X2 and X2 Vibe brand name and logo shall reflect the new identity. Cross Hotels & Resorts will continue to drive excellence in comprehensive hospitality solutions as it crosses the globe with new and existing brands, and business proven practice to ensure all its partnerships are a successful collaboration. The group recently signed another hotel in Vietnam and a seven-hotel deal in Japan as well. X2 and X2 Vibe hotels that will be rebranded are: EXISTING NAME & EMAIL ADDRESS NEW NAME & EMAIL ADDRESS THAILAND X2 Kui Buri Cross Kui Buri book.kb@X2resorts.com stay@crosskuiburi.com X2 Koh Samui – A Spa Retreat Cross Koh Samui – A Spa Retreat book.ks@X2resorts.com stay@crosskohsamui.com X2 River Kwai Cross River Kwai book.rk@X2resorts.com stay@crossriverkwai.com X2 Chiang Mai Riverside Cross Chiang Mai Riverside book.cmr@X2resorts.com stay@crosschiangmairiverside.com X2 Pattaya Oceanphere Cross Pattaya Oceanphere book.por@X2residences.com stay@crosspattayaoceanphere.com X2 Hua Hin Le Bayburi Pranburi Villa Cross Hua Hin Le Bayburi Pranburi Villa book.bvh@X2villas.com stay@crosshuahinlebayburi.com X2 Chiang Mai North Gate Villa Cross Chiang Mai North Gate Villa book.ng@X2villas.com stay@crosschiangmainorthgate.com X2 Chiang Mai South Gate Villa Cross Chiang Mai South Gate Villa book.sg@X2villas.com stay@crosschiangmaisouthgate.com X2 Chiang Mai Nimman Villa Cross Chiang Mai Nimman Villa book.nm@X2villas.com …

Hyatt  has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire Apple Leisure Group (ALG), a leading luxury resort-management services, travel and hospitality group, from affiliates of each of KKR and KSL Capital Partners, LLC for $2.7 billion in cash. The transaction is anticipated to close in the fourth quarter of 2021, subject to customary closing conditions.  Mark Hoplamazian, President and Chief Executive Officer, Hyatt, said, “The addition of ALG’s properties will immediately double Hyatt’s global resorts footprint.”

Abinash Manghani, CEO, WelcomHeritage, has said that hotels which are more adaptive to the customer will do far better at the end of this phase. Speaking at DDP Digital Conclave titled ‘The Post Pandemic Reset’, he said, “I think the branded ones are doing it first and subsequently, others will follow. Since customers are not sure of what they expect, there is a clear shift towards branded hotels,” he added.

Commenting on how bringing tourism under the Concurrent List will help the industry, Gurbaxish Singh Kohli, VP, FHRAI says, “We had been asking the government for this since decades. What happens now is that we have one minister dedicated to this sector. There are certain laws and policies that will be formulated by the Centre and those will have to be liable on all the states. This means things will be regulated and everything will get streamlined. A sector such as tourism which has been a state matter until now will now be brought under the Centre.”

DDP Digital Conclave brings you an opportunity to learn from some of the brightest, most experienced minds in the hospitality sector strategies that will truly help bring business back. Speakers at the hour-long session titled ‘The Post Pandemic Reset’ are Abinash Manghani (WelcomHeritage), Alok Sharma (Shycocan Corporation) and Vineet Wadhwa (Fio Restaurants). To register, write to jaspreet.kaur@ddppl.com or call +91 9650196532.

DDP Digital Conclave brings you an opportunity to learn from some of the brightest, most experienced minds in the hospitality sector strategies that will truly help bring business back. Speakers at the hour-long session titled ‘The Post Pandemic Reset’ are Abinash Manghani (WelcomHeritage), Alok Sharma (Shycocan Corporation) and Vineet Wadhwa (Fio Restaurants). To register, write to jaspreet.kaur@ddppl.com or call +91 9650196532.

ibis India has announced a new offering perfect for pet parents in need of a getaway. The hotel brand’s latest pet-friendly policy will help pet parents to enjoy their stay at ibis hotels, with their pets. To make these stays hassle-free, a number of welcome amenities such as food bowls, puppy pads, and plenty of treats are available on request. A pet-friendly in-room menu is also available.

Commenting on the latest communication from the Government for the restaurant industry, Pradeep Shetty, Sr. VP, Hotel & Restaurant Association of Western India (HRAWI), says, “We neither have permission to conduct business nor are we being compensated. We need a clear roadmap about what is to be expected from the Government for us to make informed decisions for our businesses.”