Leela comes close to Taj

The Leela Group, in collaboration with Qatar’s Al Faisal Group, is planning to build a five-star hotel near Taj Mahal in Agra with an FDI of about Rs 500 crore. The 250-room hotel, spread over seven acres, is to be built in 30 months, will entail an FDI of about Rs 500 crore.

 The hotel will be built under the brand name ‘Aiana’ and will be the sixth such hotel in India. The new hotel, named Aiana Agra, will be developed as two complexes with a total of 250 rooms. There will 100-room Leela Palace and 150 room-Aiana on top of a shared podium.

Apart from Agra, Leela Group is developing a hotel in Jaipur and a 1,000-acre property in Chandigarh -  a 27-hole Golf course and villas and a 150-room hotel.  Leela is also planning to sign an agreement in Dubai with the royal family there for a 250-room hotel facing the Burj Khalifa.

Pune gets its first Crowne

InterContinental Hotels Group (IHG) opens the first Crowne Plaza hotel in Pune - Crowne Plaza at Pune City Centre. The 173-room hotel will operate under a management agreement with 'Advantage Raheja Group' and has been rebranded from an existing property.

Crowne Plaza Pune City Centre lies in the Koregaon Park district which is just a 20 minute drive away from the airport. The refurbishment is anticipated to be completed by early 2017 and the hotel will remain fully operational during this time.

IHG has 27 hotels open across four brands in India including-InterContinental, Crowne Plaza, Holiday Inn and Holiday Inn Express with 41 hotels in the development pipeline. 

Dream expansion of $200 mn in India

Dream Hotel Group announces US$ 200 million in properties in Goa and Jaipur. The India development is expected to begin in 2016 itself and the Group is planning to come up with the properties by 2019-2020.

Dream Hotel Group LLC has signed its first hotel in the Middle East with Qatar-based Al Alfia Holding to develop a Dream Hotel in Doha. Dream Doha will be a 325-room property, featuring nine dining and nightlife venues. Joining Dream Phuket Hotel & Spa and Dream Bangkok in Thailand, Dream Doha marks the third international property for the group. The Group is on track to have five hotels operating in the US by early 2019. Dream has set aside US$ 1.5 billion for developments including the Doha project. Five more projects are also in the pipeline. 

Steigenberger is coming to India

Soon a German hospitality presence is going to be seen in the Indian soil for the first time. German luxury hospitality company, Steigenberger, which operates 95 hotels across many countries, is entering to India by partnering with MBD Group. The two companies have formed a joint venture company that will operate, manage and franchise hotels in India under the MBD Steigenberger brand.

The new company plans to open at least 20 luxury hotels in India over the next 15 years. MBD currently owns and operates two hotels through a franchise model with Carlson Rezidor's Radisson. MBD will hold 51% stake in the new JV company while the rest will be owned by Steigenberger.

Of the 20 hotels that the Company is planning, at least 4-5 will be owned by MBD.MBD is already setting up a 184 room luxury hotel in Bangalore that will be managed and operated by the JV. The Bangalore property, expected to be operational by 2019, will have 118 service apartments priced Rs 2 crore onwards.