The Hindu Business Line : Never mind the cost… It’s party time

New Delhi, Dec. 21 Feel like doing something special this Christmas and New Year’s eve? Then, head for the Orient Express at the Taj Palace in Delhi, which is hosting a seven-course dinner menu with a bottle of Dom Perignon Champagne — at Rs 16,000 for a couple.

If this is beyond your budget, do not despair. You can always enjoy a Christmas buffet dinner with a glass of mulled wine at the Oberoi Grand in Kolkata for Rs 1,500 per person.

And, if your budget falls somewhere in between, then try the Rs 3,000 pre-Christmas lunch at the Oberoi Mumbai. The actual cost for the partying could be bit higher as some of the prices are before taxes, which will add another 12.5-20 per cent to your bill. Children can enjoy festivity for less.

The Grand in Delhi is offering a Christmas eve dinner at the Grand Café for Rs 1,000 plus taxes, half of what parents would be paying.

Despite the cost of Christmas and New Year partying at various five-star hotels across the country going up anywhere between 8 and 30 per cent more than last year, it has failed to dampen the festive spirits.

“The increase in pricing vis-À-vis the previous year is between 8 and 10 per cent. We were sold out last year and it has been noticed that every year the increase in footfalls during New Year increases by 15-20 per cent. This year too, we expect to see a good crowd as the economy is doing better,” Mr Dhananjay Kumar, Food and Beverages Director, The Claridges, told Business Line.

Good turnout

The Executive Vice-President, South Asia, Carlson Hotels Worldwide, Mr K.B. Kachru, added that the chain was expecting an equally good turnout as last year at both Christmas and New Year celebrations.

The Carlson property in Delhi as well as the Grand are looking at an 8-10 per cent increase in pricing for Christmas and New Year festivities.

According to the Director of Sales and Marketing, Grand, New Delhi, Ms Pariva Rustagi, on New Year eve day most restaurants see a “three-fold increase” in footfalls that they would on a normal busy working day.

“We do not say no to any customer who may walk in. Instead, we try and offer them other options in the same property. Now, it has become a sort of culture to go out especially on New Year’s eve,” Ms Rustagi added.

And, it is this culture of going out on festive eve that hotels are hoping will make their cash registers ring louder this year.

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