Category Archives: Hotels

The 4-star premium apartment hotel Eastin Residences Vadodara opened its doors for regular, business and leisure travellers. Special launch rates start from Rs 4,000++ per room per night inclusive of the signature Eastin buffet breakfast, broadband internet, airport pick up with provisions of early check in from 9.00 am and late check out till 4.00 pm. Room configurations include studio and one bedroom well-appointed apartments, with contemporary design and stylish décor. The attached kitchenette provides a distinctive edge to the functionality and convenience of every apartment. All studio apartments are furnished with twin/king beds, which comprises of a sofa-cum-bed in the sitting area, walk-in wardrobe, kitchenette with microwave, refrigerator and heating facility, etc.

India Tourism Development Corporation (ITDC) opened its new Duty Free Shop at Kakinada Deep Water Seaport, Andhra Pradesh. The shop was inaugurated by Piyush Tiwari, Director (Commercial and Marketing), ITDC in the presence of S. Narasimha Reddy, Jt. Commissioner, Customs, Lt. General. (Retd.) Dr A S Rao, CEO, Kakinada Seaport, senior port authorities and other officials of Govt. of Andhra Pradesh. With the opening of this Duty Free Shop, ITDC has established its presence at Coimbatore Airport and 9 Seaports in the country. Strategically located inside the Port at Kakinada, the latest duty free shop has been aligned with ITDC’s aim of providing shoppers with an incredible shopping experience. Talking about the launch and ITDC’s duty free business, Tiwari said, “Kakinada Deep Water Seaport is an important port as it is the major port of Andhra Pradesh. ITDC launching its 9th Duty Free shop at this port is a major step undertaken by the corporation in its business of Seaport Duty Free Shops.  Moving forward, our aim is to further expand our seaport business, covering all major ports in the country in coming years.”

Taj Hotels Resorts and Palaces has launched its latest property in Rajasthan — The Gateway Resort Pushkar Bypass Ajmer. The 81-room and suite resort hotel is built in the Rajasthani royal style for leisure and business travellers in the heart of the Aravalli Mountains to the north of the city. The room rates start from Rs. 4,000 and goes on to Rs. 30,000. “Ajmer and Pushkar are two secret jewels in the beautiful state of Rajasthan; they are cities with a rich history stretching back to the Rajputs, Mughals and Marathas and which blends Hindu and Sufi tradition. The 81 rooms and suites at the resort are inspired by this heritage and offer guests the best of Rajasthan whether here for leisure, business or to celebrate special occasions in a stunning destination.” said Nagendra Hada, General Manager, The Gateway Resort Pushkar Bypass Ajmer The hotel’s architecture and design is inspired by the culture and history of Rajasthan; its regal design in typical Rajasthani pink sandstone features private balconies with sit outs and jhoolas (swings) in every room. Inside, Bani Thani art—the local style that has its origins in nearby Kishangarh—provides a window into the area’s cultural past while live performances of Langa folk singers bring Rajasthan to life for guests. From the inviting cool waters of the swimming pool, sunk into the expansive courtyard, guests can drink in the stunning views to the mountains beyond or de-stress in the calming Spa with massage therapies. In-room yoga facilities mean that guests can keep on top of their fitness regime whether on business or leisure. The Gateway Resort Pushkar Bypass Ajmer is 15km from Ajmer railway station and 140km from Jaipur airport. …

Keys Hotels, a brand by Berggruen hotels funded by Berggruen Holdings, a New York-headquartered proprietary fund, has announced its foray into Manali with Keys Lite Apple Nest. This is Keys’ first hotel in Himachal Pradesh and remains noteworthy due to its enchanting and scenic location in the well-known hill station of Manali – a popular destination loved by both Indian and International visitors. The property is nestled amongst refreshing apple orchards. Aptly named Keys Lite Apple Nest, the hotel is situated on the national highway at the entrance of Manali town. Located at a distance of merely 50 kms from Kullu Manali Airport, this hotel is centrally located for most destinations en-route. Speaking about the newly launched hotel, Mr Anurag Mishra, Head-Marketing, Berggruen Hotels Pvt. Ltd. said, “The government has, in recent years launched its famed ‘Incredible India’ campaign to entice more visitors to India. We have always believed that India is indeed incredible and consistently endeavoured to showcase local culture and heritage through our properties nationwide. With the same unflinching spirit, our presence in Manali is an earnest attempt to showcase India to the world. We are confident that our esteemed guests will experience the culture through our special array of localised food and bespoke services.”

Lords Hotels & Resorts launched one of its most premium resorts in Kerala, recently. Located at Cheruthuruthy, the boutique Lords Resorts, Thrissur, was inaugurated by A.C. Moitheen, Minister for Co-operation and Tourism, making this luxury resort its 26th hotel in India and its first in Kerala. Spread over 20 acres of varied landscapes and located at a distance of 30 km from Thrissur town, the 57-room luxury resort is set on the banks of Bharathapuzha River. “Lords Resorts – Thrissur is in many ways an epitome of Kerala’s rich and varied landscape which within its premises houses a natural waterfall, a pond, butterfly farms and nature trails, all set against a backdrop of large expanse of rubber plantations. The lodgings are interspersed across the terrains and have been seamlessly merged with their environment. We are positive that a stay at our resort will make for one of the most memorable experiences for our guests,” says P.R. Bansal, Chairman & Managing Director, Lords Hotels & Resorts. The property formerly known as the Cheruthuruthy Eco Gardens owned by Pepco Group of Companies is now branded Lords Resorts – Thrissur and, will be managed and run by Lords Hotels & Resorts. The resort offers themed accommodations including tree-houses, honeymoon cottages by the pond, villas – single and duplex, and bungalows in addition to the royal and executive suites and rooms.

The resorts team from Cinnamon Hotels & Resorts, a chain of 14 distinct hotels and resorts in Sri Lanka, visited Ahmedabad recently to acquaint themselves with travel agents. The visiting team comprised of the Sector Head of the resort properties – Sunimal Senanayake, Senior Vice President Sales, Romesh Walpola, Marketing Communications Manager and Sales executive of the resort properties. Senanayake, Sector Head of Cinnamon’s resort properties in Sri Lanka & Maldives was pleased to meet with the travel agents and understand the perspective and interests of the traveller from Gujarat. He also shared the brand values and various offerings Cinnamon has with the agents. The Cinnamon Hotels & Resorts team will visit India to meet agents in many more Indian cities in the coming months.  

Sheraton Hyderabad Hotel, Gachibowli, recently unveiled 56 fully furnished apartments, adding to the hotel’s existing 216 rooms. Starting from Studio with variants of one bedroom and two bedroom options, they are perfectly suited to guests staying in Hyderabad for an extended duration of a week upwards. Located in the financial district of Gachibowli, the Sheraton Apartments are conveniently located just 20 minutes from the Hi-Tech City and close to 25 minutes from the Rajiv Gandhi International Airport. The Apartments have been specially designed to offer a ‘home away from home’ experience to guests in the city for extended periods, fitted with a well-equipped kitchenette, spacious living and dining rooms and an exclusive landscaped patio, guests can choose from a Studio, Deluxe, Superior and Executive Apartments. As an additional benefit, guests can order groceries from the Retail Menu, which will be delivered to them at the end of the day. While staying at the apartments, guests also have complete access to all the amenities available at Sheraton Hyderabad, that includes ‘Feast’, the all-day dining venue, ‘inAzia’, which serves unique and extravagant Pan-Asian specialties, ’Link@Sheraton’- the lobby lounge bar & patisserie and ‘Chime’, the high energy lounge and bar with an Asian décor. Commenting on the launch, Shibil Malik, General Manager, Sheraton Hyderabad Hotel said, “The addition of Sheraton Serviced Apartments to our portfolio reflects our commitment to making our guests stay effortless, by providing home like comforts with an array of convenient hotel services to choose from. The launch is perfectly timed coinciding with the growing demand for quality, branded accommodation, especially for extended stays in one of India’s favorite hub for investors.”

Homestays aggregator Stayzilla has revamped its mobile application to ensure that hosts and guests are connected 24/7 in locations with poor connectivity. The App has been designed to overcome data connectivity challenges in the farthest corners that often house the most beautiful homestays in the country. Most of these homestays are located in regions where there is no internet connectivity. When a guest books a stay in such remote areas, the booking often gets no response and is lost due to poor connectivity from the home owner or host’s end. Says Pankaj Gupta, Chief Product and Technology Officer, Stayzilla, “Stayzilla has hosts and homestays spanning the breadth and depth of India. This app release ensures that bookings can be realized end to end irrespective of the underlying data connectivity. We continue to work on exciting technical and product solutions to serve our mission of connecting travelers with hosts on Stayzilla.” Stayzilla’s offline feature will now connect the home owner with the guest by sending notifications on the app via SMS when the host is in data offline mode. The home owner simply needs to have a phone with cellular connectivity (even without 2G/ 3G) to receive the booking confirmation on his/ her mobile phone. Additionally, Stayzilla also ensures connectivity with the host through automated IVR, wherein he/ she is able to confirm bookings. The cognitive feature of the app predicts whether the host’s phone has internet connectivity or not and determines intuitively to reach out either via SMS or app notifications accordingly.

Come September 9, the iconic property from the Bird Group will change its branding, and will be called Roseate Hotel. The brand has been refreshed to create a new identity. The Bird Group also has another property D2 at the Aerocity, which has still not opened, and would come under the same brand. The Bird Group will officially announce the change of branding on September 9, without any interruption in services.

InterContinental Hotels Group (IHG) has signed a global partnership with Alipay, China’s third-party online payment solutions company, making IHG the first global hotel company to give Chinese guests the ability to pay via Alipay through all of IHG’s online and mobile channels, as well as across its full estate of hotels globally. The global rollout of Alipay will begin in 2017. The new partnership, which has been agreed with Alipay’s parent company Ant Financial, will initially apply to IHG’s existing estate of more than 270 hotels in Greater China, as well as a number of hotels around the world that participate in IHG’s China Ready Programme, which offers a range of tailored services to Chinese travellers.