Mumbai, Aug. 10: Four Seasons – the Canadian luxury hotel chain – is eyeing a slew of projects in India, including hotels, resorts, service apartments and residencies.

Three months after opening the doors of its first hotel in India at Mumbai, the company has finalised plans for a hotel in Gurgaon in partnership with real estate major DLF. It is currently in the process of modifying the project to add a Four Seasons-branded residential condominium.

In Hyderabad, the company has tied up with Emaar-MGF to develop another Four Seasons property.

The Gurgaon and Hyderabad projects will entail investments of around $120-150 million each, excluding land prices, officials said.

In Bangalore, Four Seasons will open in partnership with Goldman Sachs through a joint venture with ETA, a Dubai developer. The project is estimated at around $150 million, with Goldman Sachs holding a majority stake of 76 per cent.

The hotel will come up on a 16,187-square-metre plot owned by ETA and lying adjacent to Mekhri Circle in the heart of the city. The Bangalore hotel will also have a Four Seasons-branded residential complex.

“The Gurgaon, Hyderabad and Bangalore projects are expected to come up by 2011,” said Armando Kraenzlin, regional vice-president and general manager of Four Seasons in India.

The Mumbai launch is Four Seasons’ fourth attempt to enter the Indian market in 10 years.

The Canadian hotel giant is looking to strike management contracts with an average tenure of 50 years with the developers. It will charge a royalty as well as a management fee calculated as a percentage of revenue and profits.

Commenting on their decision to pick different partners across the country, Kraenzlin said, “We usually like to work with different developers for different projects and have found that developers who are not hotel operators are more keen to talk to us.”

The luxury chain has also finalised a resort in Kerala in collaboration with realty firm Emaar.

With 100 to 150 luxurious villas in the middle of a lake in the backwaters south of Cochin, the Kerala resort will also have Four Seasons-branded residential villas up for sale at an adjacent plot.

The Canadian hotel chain is also scouting for sites in Goa, Rajasthan and the Himalayas to build resorts.

“We have famous signature resorts in Bali, Maldives, Thailand and Hawaii. We are looking to set up resorts in Goa and Rajasthan as well,” Kraenzlin said.

Three months after its soft launch in Mumbai, Four Seasons is now adding 40 service apartments on a 3-acre plot adjacent to the existing $100-million property at Worli.

Although a late entrant in the Indian hospitality circuit, the 48-year-old brand has created a niche with its innovative offerings and reputation for building personalised relationships with customers.

Founded by Isadore Sharp in 1960, Four Seasons has gone on to refine an idea that was considered revolutionary back then: personalised service for the global business traveller round the clock.

“Around one-third of our clientele are Indians, mostly NRIs or expats who are familiar with our brand abroad and empathise with our service and quality,” says a spokesperson.

Kraenzlin said the company wasn’t expecting to be hurt by the economic downturn that had roiled the fortunes of the hospitality sector.

“This is the traditional monsoon slump, but business should pick up from September and October. While we’re optimistic about the final quarter of this year, it’s true that the days of a 30 per cent hike in rack rates are finally over,” Kraenzlin said.