hotels

Starwood Hotels & Resorts to Operate 50 Hotels in India by 2012

by Paul Joseph June 16, 2011

New York Stock Exchange-listed Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide, Inc expects to operate 50 hotels in India by the end of 2012 and the country is second only to China in its plans for future growth. The ambitious expansion plan will result in the company’s presence in the country doubling within the space of just two years. As part of the strategy to grow its business in India, Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide on Wednesday announced the opening of the Starwood India Customer Contact Centre (CCC) in Gurgaon. This would be Starwood’s ninth global CCC and the fourth in the Asia-Pacific, it said in a statement. “Starwood Hotels & Resorts continue to remain bullish on the long-term growth opportunities in the region. Already our fourth largest market, India is second only to China in terms of our future global growth. There is tremendous potential for us in both domestic and international travel,” said Starwood Hotels & Resorts senior director, Customer Contact Centres, Asia-Pacific, Patricia Neo in a statement. “The Starwood India CCC will offer an enhanced level of service to Starwood’s fast-growing customer base in the South Asia region,” the statement said. Focused on opening the “right properties in the right places with the right partners”, Starwood Hotels & Resorts remains on track with plans to open three additional hotels in 2011, growing its total portfolio in India to 35 hotels by the end of the year, according to the statement. The key openings in 2011 include the recently opened Sheraton Bangalore Hotel at Brigade Gateway and the soon to open Le Meridien, Coimbatore. Starwood Asia Pacific Hotels and Resorts Managing Director, India and Regional Vice-President, South Asia, Dilip Puri said, “This ‘India for India’ contact centre will enable us to better connect with customers in the region, appreciate unique customer preferences and behaviours and provide a level of service that will drive long-term customer loyalty to Starwood brands.” Starwood is looking at having this centre operate 24

Tagged as: asia, brigade-gateway, director, hotels, hyderabad, pacific-hotels, property prices, pune, real estate trends, statement

0 comments Read the full article →

Hotel Industry increasing its Presence in Tier-II and Tier-III cities

by Paul Joseph June 15, 2011

With rising real estate prices, hotel companies in India are increasing presence in tier-II and tier-III cities through midmarket and budget segments. Low-cost hotels in smaller cities will see a growth of about 50% in the next four years, consulting and research firm HVS said in a report. The average per key cost of budget and mid-market hotels are about Rs 30-50 lakh compared with Rs 85 lakh to Rs 1 crore for first class and luxury hotels. Budget hotels break-even and turn profitable faster than their peers in the luxury space. Such an arrangement works better not only in terms of investment, but also in terms of returns. The return on capital employed (RoCE) of mid-sized hotels was more than 15% in the past five fiscals while larger peers such as Indian Hotels, EIH , and Hotel Leela Venture had RoCE of below 15%. To tap the growth opportunity in the budget hotels space in smaller cities, several foreign players have tied up with local hotels to increase presence in India. Intercontinental Hotel Group recently signed a joint venture with India’s Duet Hotels to launch the Holiday Inn brand. It would develop 19 properties in the initial phase. On the domestic front, segment leader Indian Hotels would have an inventory of about 48% in the mid-market and the budget hotels segment in the next 2-3 years. Mid-segment hotels companies such as Royal Orchid Hotels , Kamat Hotels , and Taj GVK Hotels & Resorts are also expanding presence in tier-II and tier-III cities. High occupancy rates and revenue per room and low debt will drive growth of mid-sized hotels in the coming years. Mid-sized hotels have an average occupancy rate of 68% and revenue per room of Rs 4,624. Most of these companies are operating at low debt helped by a new business model and restructuring exercises. Also, the rise in foreign tourist arrival in India will boost revenues for budget hotels in smaller towns. Foreign tourist arrivals in May were up 7% from the previous month, government data showed.

Tagged as: budget-hotels, foreign-tourist, hotel, hotels, indian-hotels, real estate developers, real estate india, royal-orchid, such-as-indian

0 comments Read the full article →

Starwood to Open 100 Hotels in India by 2015

by Paul Joseph May 23, 2011 Uncategorized

Starwood Hotels and Resorts Worldwide, which owns brands like Sheraton, Westin, Le Meridien, W Hotels and Luxury Collection, signs up on average a property a week. Last year, it beat its record by signing up 72. In India, Starwood has an ambitious target of 100 hotels by 2015. Hoyt Harper, senior VP-brand management in Sheraton Hotels and Resorts, talks to TOI about Starwood’s roadmap for India. You have brands across categories. How do you plan to introduce them in India? We have 9 distinct brands. The beauty of what we offer is different brands for each travel occasion at different price points. Sheraton is usually our trailblazing brand if I can make a comparison to what we are able to accomplish in China. We started with Sheraton and grew our footprint because of the brand. As we had a strong foothold in the market , we were able to bring in Westin, Four Points by Sheraton and W. When I look at India, Sheraton will help us build a base and create opportunities to grow Four Points by Sheraton and Aloft brands. We are getting ready to open W in India by 2013. We have 34 properties as we speak and we are on target to achieve 50 properties by 2012. We have planned to have 100 hotels , either under development, in operation or contracted by 2015. How does India compare with China for Starwood? India and China are the fastest growing markets in Asia. The only thing common between the two countries is their population . We don’t compare the two in terms of numbers. You may say that Starwood has a robust pipeline with 150 hotels in China and why does India only have 50? Being in the kind of business we are in, we see challenges in the cost of land, real estate and lifestyle . That’s why it is difficult to compare the pace of growth in India with China. But the biggest advantage in India is its English speaking population. For some eight years, it was a challenge to find the right kind of talent in China, but it’s rapidly changing now. Going forward, we will be in a better position to attract more talent to the hospitality industry. Do you think being asset light gives you better leverage compared to hospitality brands that own hotels? We continue to go asset light as we are putting more money on our brands. We make distinctions by categories. We may consider the ownership model if we find right partners with the right capabilities . We don’t franchise W or Westin, but we had two Meridiens franchised. Except for Four Points and Aloft, we don’t franchise any other brand. Going forward , we are going to manage all the upper upscale five-star brands. Unlike our competitors, we don’t have to carry the baggage of any brand into another brand’s positioning. The beauty is they can be positioned independently without getting diluted by any other brand.

Tagged as: compare-the-two, hotel industry in india, hotels, points, real estate, real estate india, starwood-hotels, westin

0 comments Read the full article →

Deneb & Pollux Plan Restaurants in Delhi and Mumbai

by Paul Joseph April 30, 2011 Uncategorized

Delhi-based travel services provider Deneb & Pollux on Thursday said it is in talks with private equity firms for raising money to part-fund its entry into the hotels segment with a planned investment of Rs 200 crore. The company, which recently set up a fine dining restaurant — 21 Gun Salute — in Gurgaon as a part of its diversification strategy, will put up two more restaurants in Delhi and Mumbai. “We have an investment plan of Rs 200 crore to set up hotels. Half of it would be funded by promoters and bank loans and for the remaining, we are currently in talks with Singapore-based private equity players,” Deneb & Pollux co-founder and managing director Madan Mohan said without divulging names. He said the firm is likely to finalise deals with two PE firms by the end of this year and would dilute 25 per cent of the promoters’ equity. For the entry into the hotel segment, the company has already bought two sites in Rajasthan. “We have bought a 400-yearold fort at Jhunjhunu in Rajasthan and another land site near Jaipur to build a new hotel in fortstyle,” Mohan said. He said while the hotel at Jhunjhunu would be managed by the company itself, for the other, it would consider a management contract with a foreign hospitality brand. “The two properties in the pipeline are likely to be operational by 2015,” he added. Commenting on the expansion of the restaurant brand, he said: “The total investment planned on three restaurants is Rs 25 crore. The first one has been set up in Gurgaon and the remaining will be in Delhi and Mumbai.” According to Mohan, Deneb & Pollux last year registered a turnover of Rs 100 crore.

Tagged as: banking and finance, hotel, hotels, jhunjhunu, madan-mohan, real estate developers, real estate india, remaining, restaurant, said-the-firm, travel-services

0 comments Read the full article →

Louvre Hotels Plans to Expand Operations in India

by Paul Joseph April 29, 2011

Louvre Hotels, owned by US investment group Starwood Capital, said on Wednesday it planned to open 80 new hotels in 2011, mostly in Europe and Asia. Louvre Hotels, the world’s eighth-largest hotelier, also said in a statement it would raise funds to finance its expansion in India over the next five years but did not provide further details. “India is the Louvre Hotels Group’s priority country in 2011,” the statement said. Louvre Hotels already operates six hotels in the fast-growing Indian market and has plans to open about 15 new hotels per year in the country over the next 5 years. In July 2009, Starwood, already the owner of Louvre Hotels, bought 240 hotels owned by Dutch operator Golden Tulip. The acquisition raised Louvre Hotels’ profile with more upmarket brands than its existing Premiere Classe, Campanile and Kyriad hotels. It also gave it access to several new countries, notably emerging markets. Louvre Hotels, which is also Europe’s second-largest hotel group after Accor, operates over 1,000 hotels in 40 countries. It has already opened 20 new hotels since the start of 2011, including seven in France, four in India and three in Brazil. Beyond 2011, Louvre Hotels, which wants to be among the top five hoteliers in emerging markets, expects to open about 100 hotels per year over the next 5 years.

Tagged as: among-the-top, europe, hotels, india, louvre, louvre-hotels, real estate, real estate india, since-the-start, statement

0 comments Read the full article →

Sayaji Hotels Ltd to Invest Rs100 Crores in Pune; Plans to Expand Operations

by Paul Joseph April 28, 2011

On completion of two years in Pune, Sayaji Hotels Ltd is planning to invest Rs 100 crore in Pune. The group is planning to expand its operations with a sports and cultural club, restaurant, mall, convention and conference facilities and serviced apartments. “This expansion will be completed by September 2012 with a total investment of Rs 100 crore,” Sajid Dhanani, MD, Sayaji Hotels Ltd, told DNA. “The demand for hotels and restaurants is increasing at a good rate in Pune. My estimate would be at 22 per cent as far as hotel business is concerned. Though supply of rooms in the last two-three years has increased considerably, the restaurant business is growing far more rapidly,” said Dhanani. Besides, it also has plans to expand Barbeque Nation brand from current 18 units in the country to around 33 units by the end of the year. The new Barbeque Nation restaurants will be opened in seven cities such as Mumbai, Delhi NCR, Chennai, Bangalore, Hyderabad, Kolkata and Pune. Sayaji Hotels further plans to leverage the brand image it has created in Pune by expanding in other locations like Bangalore, Chennai and Gurgaon wherein majority of its customers are come from auto, IT and engineering industries. The group’s turnover was roughly around Rs 190 crore for the financial year 2010-11.

Tagged as: bangalore, country, dna, hotels, other-locations, plans, real estate, real estate companies

0 comments Read the full article →

Sayaji Hotels Ltd to Invest Rs100 Crores in Pune; Plans to Expand Operations

by Paul Joseph April 28, 2011

On completion of two years in Pune, Sayaji Hotels Ltd is planning to invest Rs 100 crore in Pune. The group is planning to expand its operations with a sports and cultural club, restaurant, mall, convention and conference facilities and serviced apartments. “This expansion will be completed by September 2012 with a total investment of Rs 100 crore,” Sajid Dhanani, MD, Sayaji Hotels Ltd, told DNA. “The demand for hotels and restaurants is increasing at a good rate in Pune. My estimate would be at 22 per cent as far as hotel business is concerned. Though supply of rooms in the last two-three years has increased considerably, the restaurant business is growing far more rapidly,” said Dhanani. Besides, it also has plans to expand Barbeque Nation brand from current 18 units in the country to around 33 units by the end of the year. The new Barbeque Nation restaurants will be opened in seven cities such as Mumbai, Delhi NCR, Chennai, Bangalore, Hyderabad, Kolkata and Pune. Sayaji Hotels further plans to leverage the brand image it has created in Pune by expanding in other locations like Bangalore, Chennai and Gurgaon wherein majority of its customers are come from auto, IT and engineering industries. The group’s turnover was roughly around Rs 190 crore for the financial year 2010-11.

Tagged as: bangalore, barbeque-nation, dna, expansion, hotels, locations, plans, pune, real estate, real estate companies, real estate india, real estate trends, such-as-mumbai, two-three-years

0 comments Read the full article →

Delhi Based Hotel Chain ‘Lemon Tree’ to Open 20 Hotels in the Next 2 Years

by Paul Joseph April 21, 2011 Uncategorized

Lemon Tree Hotels, a Delhi-based upscale hotel chain, plans to have at least 20 hotels of the four-star category operational in two years, as part of its strategy to tap the potential in cities in the north, west and south of the country. The company, which operates four-star Lemon Tree and economy-class Red Fox hotels, today opened its 14th Lemon Tree property, and the first in Hyderabad in the IT hub of Hitec City. The 267-room hotel has been built at an investment of Rs 205 crore and also houses its sister brand Red Fox Hotel. Lemon Tree presently has hotels with 1,500 rooms across 11 cities, including Delhi, Gurgaon, Chandigarh, Mumbai, Ahmedabad, Aurangabad, Bangalore and Kumarakom. It plans to take its capacity to 2,800 rooms in 20 hotels in 15 cities in the next two years. “Till 2016, we will saturate the cities in the north, west and south, which are expected to grow at 12 per cent, and will move to those in the east from 2017, when growth is expected to pick up,” said Patu Keswani, chairman and managing director, Lemon Tree Hotels. He said, the hotel industry was now in a situation similar to the one being faced by the airline sector before low-cost carriers entered the market.

Tagged as: airline, aurangabad, chennai, cities, country, gurgaon, hotels, hyderabad, real estate india, sector-before

0 comments Read the full article →

US- Based 3 Palms Hotels and Resorts to Open Hotels in India

by Paul Joseph April 15, 2011

US-based 3 Palms Hotels and Resorts is set to enter India, with its first two hotels slated to open in August. The hotel chain is developing three properties initially, two in Rajasthan and one in the Delhi-NCR region. “The size of the hotels would range from 50-60 units. We will market ourselves as a five-star luxury resort. We are a boutique hotel chain because no two 3 Palms’ properties will be the same,” Saumya Sharma, chief development officer, 3 Palms Hotels and Resorts, told Business Line. The hotel has also tied up with SRM Spa and Resorts in India. The company’s first phase of expansion plans entails opening of 15 properties across India in the next five years. “We are looking at non-metro locations primarily. This is because it would offer us a unique and niche location and enough space to build a resort. The hotel sizes would range from 30 to 100 units. We are looking at outside of the city locations,” said Sharma. The hotel chain will also engage in a major marketing initiative before the launch of the hotels. “Our marketing campaign will start five months prior to the launch on various streams of media,” said Sharma.

Tagged as: boutique-hotel, business, chain-because, hotels, india, launch, looking-at-non, major-marketing, niche-location, palms, palms-hotels, resorts, saumya-sharma

0 comments Read the full article →

InterContinental Hotel Group, Marriott partner funds to invest in India Hospitality Market

by Paul Joseph April 7, 2011 Uncategorized

International hotel chains that have been mostly managing hotels in India are finally betting their own money on the Indian hospitality market. They are taking equity positions in upcoming mid-market business hotels, if the recently concluded two deals are any indication. InterContinental Hotels Group (IHG), the world’s largest hotel group by number of rooms, has signed a joint venture agreement with Duet India, a hotel investment fund, to set up 19 Holiday Inn Express hotels across India. Similarly, Marriott International, America’s largest hotel chain, has formed a joint venture with a newly formed hotel fund — Samhi Hotels Pvt Ltd — to build a chain of 15 Fairfield branded hotels in the country, reports DNA. Interestingly, this is for the first time that international hotel companies are investing in hotels rather than doing pure-play management contracts. Paul Logan, vice president, development, IHG Asia Australia, said, his company will hold a 24 per cent stake by investing $30 million in the venture formed with Duet India. “The decision to invest was motivated by the fact that Duet very well understood the hospitality space, the team has vast experience in developing hotels in the country and most importantly, it has demonstrated capability by opening two hotels,” said Logan. Navneet Bali, chief investment officer, Duet India, said a new JV entity — Duet Smart Hotels (India) Ltd — has been instituted with a corpus of $150 million. “We have already identified a few sites in cities like Ahmedabad, Hyderabad, and Chennai for developing the first few Holiday Inn Express hotels. The Ahmedabad property is scheduled to open mid next year. We are already looking at a host of sites across Tier I, II and a select few Tier III markets and hope to close the transactions post the final due diligence. All 19 hotels with a total of approximately 3,300 guestrooms will be operational in three to five years from now,” he said. Bali said his fund is open to more such partnerships with other hotel chains. Marriott will take 30 per cent stake in its joint venture with Samhi, according to a report in the Wall Street Journal, which will decrease to 10 per cent over time. The venture is expected to operate around 15 mid-tier hotels in India by 2015.

Tagged as: australia, chennai, country, holiday, hotels, hyderabad, real estate, real estate india, smart, street-journal, transactions

0 comments Read the full article →