The new Swissotel Kolkata Neotia Vista offers a taste of Swiss hospitality in India. (Below) The rooftop lounge and pool at the Swissotel will be a star attraction Pix: Rashbehari Das

Would you like a taste of legendary Swiss hospitality? Well, if you’re visiting Calcutta by the month-end, you could check in at the city’s — and the country’s — first hotel from the leading Swissotel Hotels & Resorts chain at New Town.

Or if you prefer a high-energy, high-tech trendy hotel, why don’t you check out hospitality major Starwood Hotels’ new Aloft hotels that are opening in Bangalore and Chennai in June. The Aloft hotels operate on the same principles as the chain’s iconic W hotels but offer “style at a steal”. Alternatively, perhaps, you’d prefer a spot of French elegance. Well, by November, you can get just that at Accor’s new luxury hotel, the Mumbai Sofitel.

The new Swissotel, Aloft and Sofitel hotels are part of the massive expansions taking place across the Indian hospitality sector. Back-of-the-envelope estimates suggest that over 25 branded luxury and business hotels will open this year alone and over 175 are scheduled by 2013. This, despite the reality — and realty — check served by the global economic meltdown.

“We all see the huge potential of India,” says Don Elliot, regional vice-president for India, Bangladesh & the Maldives, Starwood Asia Pacific Hotels & Resorts.

Global chains like Starwood and Accor are introducing new hotel brands while others like Marriott are scaling up. Marriott will open 14 Courtyard by Marriott business hotels by 2013. And Hilton International, which launched the Hilton New Delhi recently, is bringing brands like Conrad Hilton to Bangalore.

The Indian hotel majors are expanding too. They’re also raising the bar on luxury with properties like the renovated Oberoi Mumbai, ITC Royal Gardenia, Bangalore, or the new Hotel Leela Palace Kempinski that’s opening in Delhi by October. Indian Hotels is even launching a new Vivanta by Taj brand of upscale hotels.

Cross-country check-in

The upcoming Lutyens-style Hotel Leela Palace Kempinski in Delhi will raise the bar on luxury

The expansions are not limited to any one city. While the Commonwealth Games will see new hotels like the Leela, Oberoi, Westin and Pullman open in the National Capital Region, there’s enough action elsewhere too.

Take Bangalore. At least four upscale hotels like the Aloft, JW Marriott, Sheraton and Novotel are opening here this year. And there’s a Renaissance coming next year and the first Ritz Carlton by 2012. Chennai too will see a JW Marriott, Leela and ITC Luxury hotel by 2011, apart from an Aloft and Hyatt Regency this year.

In Calcutta, the Swissotel Kolkata Neotia Vista at City Centre mall is the first five-star in New Town. The Hublot clock in the lobby and the contemporary Swiss design are the most obvious signs of its heritage. But it’s the legendary Swiss hospitality that Swissotel and developer Ambuja Realty wish to serve.

Says Meinhard Huck, president, Swissotel Hotels & Resorts: “With increased economic growth, Indians have become more discerning. Travel is on the rise, and so are expectations.” Adds Harshavardhan Neotia, chairman, Ambuja Realty: “The Swiss are known for their exacting standards. We hope we can repeat that here.” Yes, you can savour Swiss delicacies at its Swiss Café, or watch planes land while taking a swim on the rooftop lounge.

It’s clear why the hotel majors are expanding. “The principal driver is the country’s economic growth. Domestic leisure travel has also increased,” says Uttam Dave, head of development, Accor Hotels India.

Starwood Hotels will woo trendy business travellers with its new Aloft hotels with bold design and ‘energetic’ interiors

India faces a shortfall of 100,000 hotel rooms, according to the tourism ministry. “Only 5,000 rooms were added in the last five years, so there’s a humongous task ahead,” says Vivek Nair, vice-chairman and managing director, Hotel Leela Kempinski, and honorary secretary, Federation of Hotel and Restaurant Associations of India. But the players believe they’re up to it.

Booked up

Take Starwood Hotels & Resorts, which has 26 hotels in India. It will open 15 new hotels — that’s four new Sheratons, two Le Meridiens, three Westins and six Alofts — by 2012. Five of these will open in 2010 alone. “This is just the beginning,” says Elliot.

After launching its Four Points by Sheraton “simple and uncomplicated” mid-scale business hotels last year, Starwood is now targeting trendy business travellers with an upscale brand, Aloft. “The Aloft is smaller in size than a W but it has the same feel and energy. It will go very well with tech-savvy and younger Indians,” says Elliot.

The first Aloft will open in Bangalore in June followed by the Aloft Chennai. You can expect a bold design and tech-savvy spaces here. The rooms have a plug--play docking station, where guests can charge all their gadgets. And in the re:mix lounge or lobby, the lighting, music and content changes from day to night. Elliot believes both these new brands “will appeal to the mid-range, tech-savvy business traveller looking for something distinctive at a good price”. A third Aloft will open in Coimbatore by year-end.

That’s not all. Starwood’s new The Westin New Delhi is opening at Gurgaon in July while a Sheraton’s opening in Bangalore. And Elliot’s hoping to bring in the St. Regis and W hotels to India eventually too.

The European touch

The Accor hotel chain will open its new upscale business hotel, the Pullman, in Gurgaon by October

Meanwhile, Accor, which is opening six new hotels this year — and 50 hotels by 2013 — is unveiling its Sofitel and Pullman brands. The 302-room Sofitel Mumbai will open by November. “Sofitel will offer the finest hospitality in the European tradition. We believe this is a distinct positioning since most other luxury brands present in India have a US lineage,” says Dave. You can expect a contemporary hotel with French styling and vibrant interiors, and yes, a French-style café too.

Before that in October, Accor will open its first Pullman upscale business hotel in Gurgaon. “The brand presents itself as the new attitude hotel for the urban nomad,” says Dave.

Accor will open two more Sofitels and three Pullmans by 2013. But it’s looking beyond these segments too. “We see large opportunities in the economy segment (with our Ibis brand), upper midscale space (with Novotel) and in the budget space,” says Dave.

The group has three Novotels in India, and will open 14 more by 2013, including one in Bangalore this year. Besides, it will add 15 Ibis hotels (it has two currently) by 2013. And Dave’s hoping to open the Ibis in Delhi this year.

On a growth court

For Marriott International too, “India remains a decade-long growth story”, says Rajeev Menon, its area vice-president for India, Malaysia, Maldives and Pakistan. Marriott, which operates 11 hotels in India, will open 29 new hotels by 2013, including a Ritz Carlton. Of these, five will open this year. It’s looking beyond the metros too.

There are a Courtyard by Marriott and a large Marriott Hotel and Convention Centre opening in Pune, and another Marriott Hotel in Jaipur. Then, there’s a JW Marriott opening in Chandigarh by November and one in Bangalore by December.

“There’s no big hotel in the luxury category of JW Marriott in Chandigarh. It’s going to be the hotel there,” says Menon. The Bangalore JW Marriott should also enhance the city’s luxury hotel offering. The hotel faces a huge green vista and “the focus is on bringing the outdoors inside”, says Menon. It will have a 19-metre-high lobby and interesting features in the restaurants. The Italian restaurant, for instance, will have a terrace that extends under a canopy of trees.

By next year, Menon will launch a J W Marriott in Chennai. Moreover, he’s eyeing the “robust growth” in the four-star segment with the Courtyard by Marriott full-service business hotels. “Courtyard remains our number one growth brand in India,” he says. From just one Courtyard a year ago, the company has six today. And by 2013, it will add another 14.

The Fortune Inn Haveli at Gandhinagar is part of ITC Fortune Park Hotels’ expansion spree across the country

Brand recall

As international business travel to India picks up, the hotel chains are also looking to tap into their loyalty customers. Players like Swissotel and Fairmont — they’re part of Fairmont Raffles Hotels International — are expecting their brands to resonate with well-travelled Indians too.

Fairmont Hotels & Resorts, which owns hotels like the Savoy in London, is opening the Fairmont Jaipur and Fairmont Hyderabad hotels by 2011. Says Stephen Blyth, executive director, sales and marketing for Asia Pacific: “We’re coming in with an international brand with hotels around the world that Indians can relate to. Our brand resonates with Indians.”

Both the Fairmont hotels will target the meetings market. The Fairmont Jaipur, which “will take on the characteristics of an old fort”, will have over 500-sq-ft rooms and Fairmont’s signature Willow Stream Spa.

Meanwhile, Feisal Jaffer, executive director, strategy & development, Fairmont Raffles Hotels International, wants to have a Raffles hotel in Mumbai and Delhi, provided he gets the right location. Till then, he’s pushing the Swissotel brand. “Swissotel is our biggest opportunity here. I expect to have 18-20 Swissotels in 10 years,” he says.

Raising the bar

Indian Hotels’ Vivanta by Taj hotel in Bangalore is aimed at upscale business travellers

The domestic hospitality majors are expanding too and they’re raising standards. Take the upcoming Leela Kempinski in Delhi.

With its Chankyapuri plot near the Diplomatic Enclave costing Rs 610 crore-plus, Hotel Leela’s Nair knew the hotel had to “be superlative to command a premium over other properties”. So he has set out a grand vision for the 260-room hotel, which is designed in the Lutyens style with colonnades and domes. He’s also incorporating “international standards” with the smallest room being over 538sq ft, and a “superb array” of lounges and restaurants too. The all-day dining restaurant, for instance, resembles a glass cube.

Nair’s also opening a 357-room sea-facing Hotel Leela in Chennai by April 2011. And in keeping with its “aim to have a pan-India presence”, the company will build hotels in Agra, Hyderabad and Pune over the next few years.

Oberoi Hotels & Resorts too is opening a new Oberoi hotel in Gurgaon this year, while it will have an Oberoi in Hyderabad by 2013, reveals its president Liam Lambert. And three Trident hotels too will open by 2013.

Moreover, the group has raised the bar at the renovated Mumbai Oberoi, where the accent is on “contemporary luxury”. “The Oberoi, Mumbai has been completely transformed,” says its general manager Steven Kalczynski. So the room are larger, there are more suites and new restaurants too like Ziya by the Michelin-starred chef Vineet Bhatia.

The other hotel majors too are redefining luxury. Indian Hotels, which will open 47 hotels in two years, will launch its Taj Falaknama Palace hotel in Hyderabad this year. And ITC Hotels, which will open 40 hotels by 2012, is adding to its Luxury Collection (under its tie-up with Starwood) after opening the ITC Royal Gardenia in Bangalore.

Its new Luxury Collection hotel in Chennai will open by mid-2011 while the Calcutta one will take three years. Plus, there are 13 new WelcomHeritage Hotels. “Certainly in five years, if not three, we should be able to reap the rewards of any efforts that we put into our chain,” says Dipak Haksar, COO, ITC’s hotel division.

Marriott International, which opened a Courtyard by Marriott hotel in Mumbai recently, says this business hotel brand will be its number one growth vehicle in India Pix: Gajanan Dudhalkar

Both Taj and ITC are also eyeing the mid-scale to upscale segment. ITC’s Fortune Park Hotels is expanding from 34 hotels today to 59 by 2012. Of these, five will open in 2010-11 including a Fortune Select on Park Street, Calcutta. “Fortune Hotels is the leader in the first class hotel segment and we will maintain this position,” says Suresh Kumar, president, Fortune Park Hotels.

Meanwhile, the Taj group is expanding its Ginger hotels from 21 to 30 by December. And it will formally launch its new “stylishly spirited” upscale Vivanta by Taj brand. Two Vivanta hotels are already running in Goa and Bangalore, and eight more are expected this year.

The plans are huge and the hotel chains know there are challenges ahead. But one thing is clear. The country’s hospitality landscape is set to change. And travellers may soon be spoilt for choice. As Accor’s Dave says: “The consumer will be king.”