Berggruen Hotels, which launched their brand of boutique budget hotels “Keys” in India in January of this year, has acquired ten new sites in the country and is actively pursuing twenty more. Berggruen Hotels is backed by Berggruen Holdings Inc. with an equity capital of US $ 100 million and will build a minimum of 38 hotels in the next five years.

The holiday paradise of Goa will be the first to enjoy the Keys experience. Keys Resort will launch in Goa in September, 2007 with a 150-room resort and will be located in Candolim in North Goa where travellers can enjoy the facilities of an Ayurveda spa centre, swimming pool and an entertainment area. A spacious conferencing area will cater to the growing MICE segment in the region. Pondicherry is another location that will enjoy a Keys Resort where a a seven-and-a-half acres beach front property is being acquired, which will be developed into a 100 room resort.

Commenting on Berggruen’s growing acquisitions in Kerala, Sanjay Sethi, Managing Director and CEO, Berggruen Hotels said, “A presence in Kerala offers Keys an opportunity to provide travellers the chance to experience the beauty of God’s own country, at a reasonable price. With Thiruvananthapuram growing as an industrial and IT centre as well as a hub for medical tourism in recent years, we have already begun construction on a 100 room hotel in this burgeoning city and have acquired two additional sites in Kovalam and Kochi during the last one month.”

The 120 room hotel in Kochi is located next to a flowing river close to MG Road while the Kovalam property is near the pristine beaches of Chowara.

Keys is also expanding its presence in Bangalore, one India’s fastest growing cities which houses several headquarters of vast conglomerate companies. Partha Chatterjee, Director on Board and Chief Marketing Officer says, “The rapid pace of development in the city has not kept up with the infrastructure and there is a severe dearth of reasonably-priced accommodation and hotels for business travellers. In order to cater to the wide demand in the city for quality budget hotels, Keys Hotels will be launching three projects - a 180-room hotel located at Hosur Road, and a 150-room hotel plus a 75 serviced-apartments’ complex, both of which are located at Whitefield. All these three projects are expected to be completed in 18 months.”

In Gujarat, Keys will mark its foray into the state by constructing a 100 room hotel in Vadodara while in Maharashtra, a site has been acquired near Pimpri in Pune. In Ludhiana, Keys will build a hotel overlooking the City Center project, providing guests with easy access to the heart of the city.

Keys is actively pursuing twenty other sites in the country which include Kolkata, Chennai, Hyderabad, Delhi/NCR, Surat, Ahmedabad Mumbai, Nashik, Nagpur, Aurangabad and Jaipur amongst others.

International Plans

Keys Hotels is one of the first brands with private equity funding from United States and local expertise on the way to developing a chain of hotels in India while simultaneously expanding the chain internationally. An International Division of Berggruen Hotels has been set up which is looking at three emerging markets to expand the brand immediately.

“China and Southeast Asia are a few of our key markets. So the first international hotel will probably be in China. But it would take anywhere between a year or more to set up our first hotel overseas.” Sanjay Sethi said, while adding that Berggruen Hotels was already in an advanced stage of talks with a few firms and may be signing a deal in the near future to set up three-four star category hotels with 100-500 rooms depending on the region.

The Keys Hotels will be contemporary business hotels and facilities in the rooms will include air-conditioning, a tea/coffee maker, minibar, iron and iron   board, ISD dialling, LCD TV and a work table with an ergonomic chair. The rooms will be WIFI enabled.

“All Keys resorts will have a touch of local ethnic flavour and the services will also include an Ayurvedic Spa and massage centre as well as a swimming pool, entertainment area and conference spaces while Keys Apartments will be designed as long stay – home style areas that will make the guest feel the comfort of home living with the advantages of a hotel,” Partha Chatterjee added.

Sourced From: Corporate Voice|Weber Shandwick