Abrahamson (left) at the site. Picture by Eastern Projections

Guwahati, June 21: The fast- changing Guwahati skyline is set to get a four-star address with an international tag.

Chicago-based Hyatt Hotels Corporation today identified a prime location on GS Road for a project in partnership with a local promoter.

Senior vice-president (acquisitions and development) Jim Abrahamson told The Telegraph that the conglomerate planned to set up a hotel that would bear the distinctive Hyatt stamp of hospitality. “We will lend our brand name and expertise but the investment will be by the local promoter,” he said.

Abrahamson and two other representatives of the group surveyed a 10-bigha site near ABC for the hotel.

The senior vice-president said he and his colleagues were impressed by the location and would sit for another round of discussions with the local promoter before finalising the joint venture.

Officials in the state tourism department were upbeat about the development, saying that Guwahati could do with an international hotel brand. “We see the project turning into reality. Otherwise, they (the Hyatt delegation) would not have come so far,” an official said.

Abrahamson said the collaborative project was in line with a new mid-scale hotel concept created by Hyatt Hotels Corporation with a new brand name, Hyatt Place. The company plans to set up 50 such four-star hotels in India.

At present, the group operates 214 upscale and luxury hotels and resorts (over 90,000 rooms) in 44 countries under the Hyatt, Hyatt Regency, Grand Hyatt and Park Hyatt brands. The Guwahati project is a 200-bed hotel.

The promoter confirmed the development, but did not wish to be named just yet.

He said a Canada-based firm had been hired to design a “city centre”, one that will house the hotel, a shopping mall, multiplex and service apartments. The mall will be managed by another reputed brand, Pantaloons.