ITC Mughal’s Kaya Kalp —The Royal Spa has won the Best City Spa Award at the Conde Nast Traveller Award ceremony held recently in Mumbai.

Located in Agra, the city of the Taj Mahal, Kaya Kalp —The Royal Spa has been the recipient of numerous awards for its unique theme, décor and therapies, since it opened two years ago. Designed to recreate the fabled splendour of the Mughal dynasty, the spa is spread across an area of 99,000 sq feet, making it the largest in Asia. A ‘spa’ is said to denote ‘healing through or by water’ and this may be experienced well at Kaya Kalp —The Royal Spa. However, in the eight exquisitely designed suites of the spa, Ayurveda, indigenous local treatments, and other international therapies can also be experienced. It deserves here a mention that just four months after its opening, Kaya Kalp —The Royal Spa was listed as the World’s Best City Spa by the UK’s Tatler Magazine in 2008.

Royal Orchid Hotels Limited, a leading hospitality chain in India, announced the launch of Royal Orchid Central Grazia- Navi Mumbai. Keeping in mind the convenience of the guests, Royal Orchid Central Grazia is well connected to the business hubs in south and north Mumbai and is strategically located just 25 kms from Chhatrapati Shivaji International Airport and 28 kms from the domestic airport. The hotel has been created to cater to the modern, discerning business travellers coming to Mumbai. On the launch of the new property, Keshav Baljee, President & Co-Promoter of Royal Orchid Hotels Limited said, “Royal Orchid Central Grazia in Navi Mumbai will offer a completely new experience in redefining the services available to the business travellers at affordable costs. We are proud to have partnered with the Comesum group to develop this landmark hotel in Vashi. “ With over 1100 rooms in 7 cities, spread across thirteen hotels, Royal Orchid Hotels Limited has three major brands. Among them, Royal Orchid Central is the fastest growing brand in its portfolio – with over five hotels in Bangalore, Pune, Jaipur, Ahmedabad and now in Navi Mumbai. All Royal Orchid Central hotels are young, modern and vibrant, and offer good facilities for the discerning business travellers.

MICROS Systems, Inc., a leading provider of information technology solutions for the hospitality and retail industries, has been selected for the 2010 Harrah’s Excellence in Innovation Award, for its MICROS Simphony, a premier point-of-service enterprise solution.

“We are honoured to be recognised by the Harrah Hospitality Research Center at UNLV with the 2010 Excellence in Innovation Award,” stated Jonathan Seigle, Vice President, Casino & Resort Division, MICROS Systems, Inc. He further added, “In our 20 years here in Las Vegas, MICROS has established an unparalleled track record of developing innovative hospitality management solutions for the gaming business. Simphony builds on this legacy as the industry’s first point-of-service product, built using a service oriented architecture.”
The Harrah Hospitality Research Center is dedicated to the advancement of research and practices in the hospitality industry and Harrah’s Excellence in Innovation Award is given annually to honour a company for an innovative breakthrough in the hospitality industry or for a continued commitment to pursuing innovative approaches to solving hospitality-related issues and problems. The award recognises and celebrates the organisation whose outstanding innovative approaches have contributed significantly to business excellence. The recipient must exemplify industry impact, creativity, originality, usefulness, credibility, ease of replication, and scope.

MICROS Systems, Inc. provides enterprise applications for the hospitality and retail industries worldwide. In addition, MICROS provides property management systems, central reservation and customer information solutions under the brand MICROS-Fidelio, as well as point-of-sale, loss prevention, and cross-channel functionality through its MICROS-Retail division.

It deserves here a mention that MICROS Systems, Inc. has recently been selected by the Preferred Hotel Group™ as its exclusive recommended Property Management System (PMS) technology partner, for its more than 750 distinctive properties in over 65 countries. The Preferred Hotel Group is a multi-brand organisation that delivers cutting-edge sales, marketing, and reservation service solutions to independent hotels and resorts around the world, through its five brands—Preferred Hotels® & Resorts, Preferred Boutique™, Summit Hotels & Resorts™, Sterling Hotels™ and Historic Hotels of America®.

Sarovar Hotels & Resorts, a leading hotel management company based in India, has launched Hometel Chandigarh. Located at the heart of Chandigarh’s industrial area, within 10 minutes from the railway station and airport, Hometel Chandigarh enjoys close proximity to the shopping and entertainment hubs of the city.

The 114-room hotel, owned and managed by Sarovar Hotels & Resorts, is the 45th hotel in the company’s portfolio. This is also the city’s first branded economy hotel, and Sarovar’s fourth Hometel property in the country. The Hometel brand of hotels targets the budget conscious travellers who refuse to compromise on quality.

Announcing the launch of the new property, Ajay K. Bakaya, Executive Director, Sarovar Hotels & Resorts, said, “Hometel aims to provide superior hospitality at competitive pricing. Hometel Chandigarh will not only meet the escalating demand for quality accommodation for visitors to the city but will also offer huge banquet space, spread over an area of 8200 sq. ft. The hotel will be an ideal venue for business conferences, elaborate parties, and lavish weddings for the people of Chandigarh and surrounding towns like Mohali and Panchkula.”

Referring to the banquet facility, which promises to fulfill a long-standing demand of the city, Anil Madhok, Managing Director, Sarovar Hotels & Resorts, said, “Imperial Rooms will address the shortage of quality banqueting venues in the cities of Chandigarh, Mohali and Panchkula. With an increased inflow of MICE segment to the city and the culture of extravagant celebrations in this region, the demand for such a facility, which can cater to a range of events, from conferences to large weddings, was much required.”

Sarovar Hotels and Resorts manages and franchises 45 hotels and resorts across 38 cities in India and overseas, under Sarovar Premiere, Sarovar Portico, Hometel, Park Plaza and Park Inn brands.

In the recently concluded MP Tourism Award ceremony, Fortune Landmark, Indore, has earned the ‘Best Business Hotel’ award for its contribution in attracting the business travellers to the state. Kamal Galani, Chairman, and Sudhir Jena, GM, Fortune Landmark, Indore received the award. The awards function was presided over by the Chief Minister of Madhya Pradesh, Shivraj Singh Chouhan. Other properties that were awarded at the function were Taj Banjaar Tola (Mukki)at Kanha National Park, and Radisson Jass Hotel, Khajuraho.

Set up in 1978, MP Tourism has come a long way. The Madhya Pradesh State Tourism Development Corporation celebrated ‘Tourism Day’ on May 24, 2010.

The modern architecture of Fortune Landmark, Indore, has made it a landmark in the city. Located at a distance of 17 km from the international airport, and just seven km from the railway station, the hotel has been a major attraction to the business travellers of the city.

Best Western India, in association with Noida-based developer Aashiyana Infrastructure Development Pvt. Ltd, is all set to open a new property named ‘Oasia Mall & Multiplex’ in the city of Ajmer, Rajasthan.

Currently under construction, the 60 room hotel is scheduled to be operational by the end of 2010. The hotel, believed to be the first with international brand at Ajmer, will be located on a joint development plot with a mall and multiplex.

Referring to the new property at Ajmer, Sudhir Sinha, President and COO of Best Western India, said, “Best Western with its mature understanding of the domestic and international markets, will stand out to cater to the specific needs of travellers by providing them with elegant, contemporary, hygienic and comfortable settings.”

The hotel at Ajmer is slated to provide its guests with an entire range of services, that is expected of a contemporary five -star business hotel. Salient among the services are in-house laundry, car rental, air ticketing, 24 hour room service, business center facilities, currency exchange, and rooms equipped to serve physically challenged, extensive banqueting, and conference space.

Speaking about the tie-up with Best Western India, Amit Dhawan, Director Marketing, Aashiyana Infrastructure Development Pvt. Ltd., stated, “Apart from the real estate sector, we are diversifying ourselves into the hospitality industry as well. For this, we have already joined hands with Best Western for our Ajmer project. With Best Western India, we are looking forward to expand our footprint in other cities as well.”

Lakhani Builders & Developers (LBD), a Navi Mumbai-based builder, has announced plans to develop a five-star hotel at Vashi, Navi Mumbai. LBD plans to build the hotel above the Palm Beach Galleria in Vashi. To be developed over a period of four years, the hotel will have 290 rooms in a 26 storied building. The project is expected to require an investment of Rs. 150 crore. Lakhani Builders & Developers has twenty years of experience in the real estate sector.