Category Archives: Hotels

Amatra Hotels and Resorts has launched two properties in Haridwar and Mussoorie, Uttarakhand. The company is also looking to have 3,000 rooms and inventory of over 45 hotels in the next 3 years across strategic locations in India. In India, the company is looking to acquire properties in Goa, Rajasthan, Kerala, Delhi, Himachal Pradesh and few other leisure locations across the country. In 2019, it plans to add five hotels to increase its total tally to 7 hotels. “We are launching these two properties in India with a clear focus to provide unmatched and distinct luxury in India, which is affordable for the masses. As we create a different league of identity for us in luxury hospitality, travellers will witness many firsts in this segment. We are also looking to acquire properties in other regions across India and will launch few more properties this year,” Sabry Salahudeen, Chief Growth Officer, Amatra Hotels said. The resort chain offers value for money offerings in the leisure category with handpicked properties in key destinations across the leisure landscape of India.

The Hotel Monitor 2020 by American Express Global Business Travel (GBT), predicts that hotel prices in most key cities will experience only modest rises in 2020. Bengaluru is one of the top business destinations in India. Demand from business travellers will lead to rise in room rates by 5% in 2020, even as supply grows at double-digit rates. Ashish Kishore, Managing Director at American Express Global Business Travel India, said “India is leading the way in global technology advancements, which we’re seeing through the increase of business travel opportunities to Bangalore.” Joakim Johansson, Vice President, Global Business Consulting at GBT, said: “Despite signs that the global economy is facing challenges, the number of people travelling for business and leisure continues to grow. But, in most cities, a full hotel development pipeline means this sustained level of demand will not feed into big rate rises.”

A total of 11,097 keys for midscale hotels were signed in 2018, as compared to 9052 keys in 2017 and 9284 keys in 2016, revealed a report by HVS ANAROCK. The report stated that the value-driven volume customer, seeking a full- service hotel continues to drive the growth in midscale space, leaving far behind the branded economy segment, which is yet to fully find its footing in the Indian market. To add further fuel to fire, the relatively new-kids-on-the-block and considered to be outliers, such as Oyo, Treebo and Fabhotels have very quickly come to dominate the economy segment, setting the goal post a further drift for the mainstream brands.

ISA TOURISM (India Sales Associates, ISA)has been appointed as the India Sales representative for Small Luxury Hotels of The World (SLH), with immediate effect. ISA is a boutique Sales and Marketing Representation company for the hospitality and tourism industries based in Delhi.   With this partnership, the ISA team will focus on building SLH brand awareness with the travel trade and driving reservations from the luxury outbound travel market. Additionally, they will generate leads for corporate meetings and leisure groups including family travel and small wedding groups. Manas Sinha, Director of ISA said: “We are very proud to be associated with Small Luxury Hotels of the World and to be given the opportunity to promote their global footprint of luxury independent hotels. Their portfolio significantly enhances the range of luxury products and experiences that we are able to offer to our key travel partners and corporate clients across India. We look forward to introducing more Indian guests to the SLH brand and stay at their member hotels.”   “With the growing number of outbound luxury travellers from many Indian cities, it is important for us to enhance our local sales presence and provide better customer service to our travel partners. We believe that the dedicated ISA sales professionals will be able to engage relevant luxury travel bookers for us and offer local market support as part of our extended Global Sales team,” said Mark Wong, Vice President Asia Pacific of SLH.   Additionally, Mr. Sinha has been also appointed as the Brand Ambassador for SLH India. He has been tasked to raise the SLH brand profile and grow their member hotel network in the Indian market including the referral of …

Palladium Hotel Group – Spanish hotel chain – has signed up Global Destinations as their Sales, Marketing and Communication representation office in India effective July 1, 2019. Pranav Kapadia, Founder, Global Destinations, comments “We are delighted to add Palladium Hotel Group to our portfolio and diversify strongly to include hotel sales and marketing to our current product offerings. Palladium Hotel Group is looking at steadily increasing their footprint in India and we aim to achieve this for them by building a strong brand presence as well as taking their sales to greater heights. We look forward to promoting their chain of hotels across segments of FITs, honeymooners, wedding and MICE groups from India.”

Goldstone Hotels has opened a new property in the Holy City of Vrindavan with 190 rooms. Located on NH-2 and in close proximity to the renowned temples of the city, the hotel is an ideal destination for weddings, corporate meets, spiritual sessions, Art of Living sessions and would also serve as a highway stopover destination. The hotel houses game zone, multi-cuisine restaurant, fitness centre, swimming pool, spa and huge banqueting facilities both indoor and outdoor. Speaking on this new addition, CEO, Rajesh Chandel said, “We are privileged to be in this Holy City and the hotel would well contribute towards the growth of quality tourism in the region.”

Around 39 per cent of branded hotel signings in 2018 were seen in Tier III cities, which was higher than that of Tier I cities (29 per cent) and Tier II cities (32 per cent), according to a recent HVS ANAROCK report. The report stated that rapid urbanisation in the country, is increasingly making Tier 3 markets more relevant in the eyes of the hotel brands, who are witnessing nearly a third of their new hotel signings emerge from them, despite hotels being much smaller than those located in Tier 1 markets. This is also happening on account of newer Hotel Management companies setting shop as also the smaller ones looking to grow rapidly through franchise or management agreement of smaller standalone hotels in Tier II and III cities.

Regenta & Royal Orchid Hotels has recently announced signing up of three new properties; in North Goa, Noida (Uttar Pradesh) and Belagavi (Karnataka). All three properties are scheduled to open within the next 2 months. Of the three new openings, two properties (in Goa and Noida) will be positioned under the Regenta Central brand while the one in Belagavi will be positioned as a Regenta Resort. The new hotel in Goa marks the groups foray in the tourist-intensive and high-demand area of North Goa, and further strengthens the group’s presence in the destination, where two resort properties are currently operating, in the south. The Regenta Central Noida will be situated within the city-centre area, close to the Delhi Metro line and will feed a strong demand pipeline originating from industrial companies and IT parks which are in close proximity. Located on the old Belagavi- Goa route, Regenta Resort Belagavi will feature contemporary rooms and cottages and will serve business as well as leisure guests, while also providing contemporary banquet and open spaces for weddings and events. Chander K. Baljee, Managing Director, Regenta & Royal Orchid Hotels said, “Our new openings are exactly in sync with our growth plan to reach 100 hotels. Through these launches, we’ll be strengthening our portfolio both in terms of geographical reach and diversified offerings. These hotels will help us play-out our well-defined Regenta brand architecture and offer best-in-class accommodation and services for business as well as leisure guests. The properties are being beautifully designed and feature contemporary amenities which guests will love. All our hotels will offer our distinctly warm Indian hospitality, these will be hotels with a soul”.

With one boutique hotel in Phaltan, Maharashtra which is dedicated to sustainable hospitality, Jakson Hospitality has now opened its second property called ‘The Tiger Groove in Jim Corbett’ and expect to put the same values into its new offering so that it grows up to influence all its stakeholder similarly. Sandeep Talaulicar, Managing Director, Jakson Hospitality, says, “We look forward to repositioning the Tiger Groove into a wilderness resort that creates memories for everyone that sleeps and eats in its arms. This is the dream on which we plan to build this hotel.” Located in the Kyari forest of Jim Corbett, ‘The Tiger Groove Corbett’ is positioned as a Jakson Resort and categorised under the mid-market segment. It is located 8km from Ramnagar and set almost 6km into the forest which makes one feel completely connected with nature. Built on three acres, the hotel has 50 rooms across five variants including luxury cottages that sleep four per cottage. The resort has a coffee shop, a swimming pool, a games area, a party hub, lawns that can host 500 pax, a banquet hall measuring 4,500sq feet and a host of adventure activities ranging from safaris to treks, biking, nature walks, para motor gliding, rock-climbing, rappelling, river crossing, etc.  

In a bid to expand its footprint in India, Sarovar Hotels & Resorts has plans to come up with 16 new properties by the end of 2019. With this move, it will be adding approximately 970 rooms to its current portfolio. As of now, the company has 6,000 rooms and manages three properties overseas and has a total of 73 hotels in the country. The upcoming hotels will be categorised under three brands— Sarovar Premiere, Sarovar Portico and Hometel Suites. These hotels will be located in multiple destinations which include Goa, Dehradun, Ahmedabad, Bengaluru, Udaipur, Junagadh, Dahisar, Dibrugarh, Morbi, Jammu, Bodh Gaya, and Dindi, among others. Amongst the 16 hotels, the majority will be under the Sarovar Portico brand, the hotel at Dahisar will be Hometel Suites brand while the property at Bodh Gaya will be under the Sarovar Premiere brand.