Category Archives: Hotels

StayWell Holdings Announces First Leisure Inn in Kochi

StayWell Holdings has announced the expansion of its Leisure Inn portfolio in South India with the opening of Leisure Inn VKL Kochi scheduled to launch in the last quarter of 2018. The 53-room hotel will mark the group’s second property in Southern India, following the recent opening of Park Regis Aveda in Kumarakom and the first Leisure Inn to open post the acquisition of StayWellHoldings by Prince Hotels. Simon Wan, President & Director, StayWell Holdings, said “We are looking forward to widening our reach in the Southern market. The hotel will offer a unique experience to tourists and business travellers in the region. We are pleased to extend our partnership with the hotel owner, Dr Varghese Kurian, with the opening of Park Regis Lotus Hotel Bahrain early this year and now Leisure Inn VKL Kochi in India. We are committed to offering our guests a range of options when it comes to business and leisure stays at our hotels, and we will continue to look for opportunities to expand our brands, both in India and internationally,” he further added. Rohit Vig, Managing Director, StayWell Hospitality Group India said, “From unbreakable connectivity, through to the design of hotels, today’s guests look for an unmatched hospitality experience when booking their stay, with aspects like comfort and convenience a minimum expectation nowadays. At Leisure Inn VKL Kochi, we understand our guest’s needs and aim to deliver on this. It’s a great addition to the StayWell portfolio.”  

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The Registry Collection expands presence in Rajasthan & Maharashtra

The Registry Collection, the world’s largest luxury exchange programme, announced its affiliation with two new properties, Ramada Kumbhalgarh in Rajasthan and 1 Khandala Valley in Maharashtra. Both these resorts make for a perfect weekend getaway for travellers. Ramada Kumbhalgarh is located in the westerly range of the Aravali Hills of the Rajasthan district, about 82 km from Udaipur. The latter is nested on the Western Ghats and is a private, secure, gated community that sprawls over 37 acres. Commenting on the affiliation, Sabina Chopra, Managing Director, RCI India said, “Ramada Kumbhalgarh and 1 Khandala Valley are great additions to our growing affiliate network. Our affiliation with Ramada and Khandala Valley will add to our members’ choices of high-quality properties in premium holiday destinations, allowing us to provide amazing vacation experiences to our members and create memories that will last a lifetime.” The Registry Collection, part of  RCI, is an exclusive programme with 200 affiliated properties in more than 40 countries and approximately 50,000 members. It provides members with access to an elite global network of the finest vacation properties at some of the world’s premier destinations.

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Occupancy for all branded hotels in India remains 65.6 % in 2016-17: HVS

The nationwide occupancy for all branded hotels was 65.6 per cent in 2016-17 and the hotels that have existed since 2012/13 achieved 68.4% occupancy last year, according to a report by HVS Global Hospitality Services. Similarly, hotels that have been operating since 2013/14 clocked 67.9% occupancy in 2016/17. On the average rate front, while India’s ARR was `5,658 in 2016/17, for hotels in existence since 2012/13, the ARR last year was more than `6,000.

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The Fern goes overseas with first hotel in Kathmandu

Spreading its wings in Nepal, The Fern Hotels & Resorts has opened its first overseas property under The Fern Residency brand in Kathmandu. With this opening, the tally of the hotels managed by the group under The Fern Residency brand goes up to 23 hotels. The Fern Residency, Kathmandu is located in the heart of the city and offers a total of 58 well-appointed rooms – 46 Winter Green Rooms, 10 Fern Club Rooms and 02 Hazel Suites. The hotel facilities include a finely designed multi-cuisine restaurant, a coffee shop, two conference rooms, health club with spa and a mini-casino. The hotel has easy access to the major sightseeing attractions in town and to public transport as well. The COO of the company Suhail Kannampilly said, “We are delighted to offer guests visiting Nepal The Fern experience in Kathmandu and enjoy the advantages of our environmentally sensitive brand. It is no mean achievement to take an Indian brand overseas and we want to further consolidate our position in India as well as internationally, to get to our target of 100 hotels by 2020.”

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Sterling Holiday Resorts to open its 34th resort in Jaipur

Sterling Holiday Resorts is set to launch its latest resort in Jaipur. With this launch, Sterling now has increased its holiday network to 34 resorts across the country. This is Sterling’s second property in Rajasthan, underlining the importance it gives to expansion in India’s foremost tourist destination. Sterling Holiday Resorts has signed a management agreement with Atharva Hotels and Resorts for Sterling Jaipur. Located on the Jaipur-Ajmer NH-8, Sterling Jaipur is spread across 6 acres of land and is divided into two wings: the Palace and Cottage wings. The architecture is inspired by the world-famous Rajasthani art and architecture. There are 45 luxurious rooms in the resort. Speaking on this occasion, Ramesh Ramanathan, Managing Director, Sterling Holiday Resorts stated, “Rajasthan is at the heart of cultural experiences and attracts tourists from different parts of the world. This resort will further bolster “Brand Sterling” in providing experiential and immersive holidays to its guests.” Commenting on this partnership, NBS Raathore, Partner, Atharva Hotel & Resorts said, “We are delighted to work with Sterling and we believe “Brand Sterling” brings immense leisure hospitality expertise, and with this launch we look forward to establishing Sterling Jaipur as a premier resort.” The resort offers extensive recreational and meeting facilities, which include a conference hall, three spacious lawns for banquet and weddings facilities, spa and swimming pool, two restaurants and a rooftop resto-bar.

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Mumbai leads in terms of hotel occupancy in India: HVS

Mumbai is leading in terms of hotel occupancy (74.2%) as per a report by HVS Global Hospitality Services. According to the report as expected in the second year of the up-cycle, all major markets tracked  witnessed an increase in Revenue per available room (RevPAR) except for Agra. Interesting to note, Noida saw the highest year-on-year growth in RevPAR (16.0 %), followed by Hyderabad (11.4%) and Ahmedabad (10.7%). Noida displayed the lowest occupancy (56.9%) and Ahmedabad, the lowest average rate (3,840), the study said. All 13 hotel markets depicted an increase in occupancy leaving Pune (-0.7%), even as some markets saw a lower growth (Bengaluru and Mumbai at 0.4% and 0.6%, respectively) compared to others (Ahmedabad and Noida at 12.0% and 11.7%, respectively). In 2016/17, only two cities showed a decline in average rates – Agra, which witnessed a steep decline of 8.9% over 2015/16 and, Ahmedabad, which witnessed a minor decline of 1.1%. Goa registered the highest yearon-year increase of 7.3% in average rate, followed by Pune (5.7%).

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New opened hotels in India averaged 45.9% occupancy: Report

Hotels that opened in 2015-16 in India  averaged 42.7 per cent and, new openings of 2016-17 averaged  45.9 per cent occupancy in their very first year, according to a report by HVS Global Hospitality Services. Similarly, while  first year ARRs were successively lower than their  preceding years from 2012-13 to 2014-15, the ARR for  hotels that opened in 2015-16 and 2016-17 have seen  an increase in comparison to their preceding year, the report said. Both these figures, coupled with the demand-supply  outlook for the next sixty-months, further corroborate our view that most  markets in India are at a point where both occupancy and ARRs can substantially improve. The question is whether the sector’s stakeholders will truly manage to capitalise  on the evident opportunity, or do we still need to live by  the adage, the report said.

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OYO acquires wedding banquet company

OYO Hotels has announced the acquisition of wedding banquet company Weddingz.in to expand its playfield to real estate sector. Globally, the wedding industry has grown to become a $500 billion market and OYO’s sharp focus on global expansion will support its debut in disrupting these markets. Commenting on the development, Maninder Gulati, Chief Strategy Officer – OYO, said, “What this partnership facilitates is combining OYO’s capabilities of asset management and technology with the scale Weddingz.in offers in India’s fragmented $40bn weddings industry. The company has a healthy scale of managing 1,500-plus wedding events per quarter, with an inventory size of over 40 banquets spread across Mumbai and Delhi.’’ With more than 10 million marriages in India held annually, the segment holds immense potential for innovation, improvement and standardization of processes. “Weddingz.in is India’s largest banquet management company specialising in weddings led by an extremely ambitious founder Sandeep Lodha and his talented team and the value proposition they bring to the table via skills in managing weddings is clearly visible in their dominance and popularity.’’ added Maninder. Sandeep Lodha, Founder, Weddingz.in, commented, ‘’This alliance will work towards simplifying wedding planning for Indians while tapping the enormous opportunities this space offers.”    

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IHG signs deal for four Holiday Inn hotels to develop Buddhist Circuit

InterContinental Hotels Group (IHG) has signed a management agreement with Lotus Trans Travel to establish a four hotel portfolio under the Holiday Inn banner. Slated to open between 2020 and 2023, Holiday Inn Bodhgaya, Holiday Inn Kushinagar, Holiday Inn Gorakhpur and Holiday Inn Shravasti together will add over 450 rooms to IHG’s system and establish the company’s presence at the Buddhist tourism circuit. As a part of the agreement, Holiday Inn hotels in Bodhgaya, Kushinagar and Shravasti will be refurbished and upgraded to ensure the portfolio is fully representative of the Holiday Inn brand globally. Holiday Inn Gorakhpur will be will be a new build hotel. Bodhgaya in Bihar, Gorakhpur, Shravasti and Kushinagar in Uttar Pradesh are some of the main pilgrimage centres for Buddhism in India and together form a part of ‘The Buddhist Circuit’ in the country that drives a great deal of religious visitors and international travellers to these states. Sudeep Jain, Vice President—Development, South West Asia, IHG said, “We are excited to be collaborating with Lotus Trans Travel, who have a strong presence and a deep market understanding of Buddhist destinations in India. This signing adds to the rapidly growing presence of our well-recognised Holiday Inn brand across the country.” Karan Rai, Director, Lotus Trans Travel, added, “We feel there is a need for quality branded accommodation in cities with immense travel potential such as Bodhgaya, Kushinagar, Gorakhpur and Shravasti, and are delighted to be partnering with IHG for our business in these markets.”

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OYO enjoys robust business growth in China while continuing dominance in India

Expanding its presence in China in November 2017, OYO has grown its presence in the country by 50,000 exclusive rooms with a strong presence in cities including Hangzhou, Xian, Nanjing, Guangzhou, Chengdu, Shenzhen, Xiamen and Kunming among others. It recently launched its exclusive hotels in Hulunbeier City, Sanya City and Hainan Province. Commenting on the business performance, Ritesh Agarwal, Founder & CEO, OYO said, “We are thrilled with the response OYO Hotels has received in China. It is well-established that there is a great demand for good-quality accommodation among the 400 MM middle income people in the country. July was a milestone month where we added 25,000 rooms to our chain and look forward to achieving a similar feat in the coming months. It’s been a truly exciting journey for us and we believe that the innovation and R&D being offered in China will assist us and the mission globally.” With its unique business model, OYO works in close proximity with its hotel partners while ensuring a quality living experience to guests, promising benefits to both. In India, OYO has a 100,000-exclusive-rooms strong chain with a presence in over 160 cities with Malaysia and Nepal as the other two international destinations where the chain is present.

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