Hilton Worldwide to add 800 rooms by 2017

Global hospitality chain Hilton Worldwide, which operates 13 hotels and resorts in India under four brands, is all set to add 800 rooms over the next three years.

While the hospitality major already has two of its upscale brands, Hilton Hotels & Resorts and Double Tree by Hilton in India along with two of its mid-market brands, Hilton Garden Inn and Hampton by Hilton, plans are on to launch two more of its 11 global brands in the country.

“While we haven’t really gone all out in the India market with the brands that we have in our portfolio, India is a very strategic market for us where we have grown with a multi-brand and multi-partner strategy” Daniel Welk, Vice-President, Operations – India, Hilton Worldwide told BusinessLine in an exclusive interaction.

“Of our 11 global brands, we already have 4 in India and are currently in talks with multiple partners to introduce some of our other brands into the country. We are opening Double Tree by Hilton in Agra very soon and excited about launching Conrad Hotels & Resorts, our upscale brand in a resort setting, in Pune next year.

“Together, both the hotels will add 400 rooms to the 2,000 rooms that we now operate across the country in New Delhi, Gurgaon, Mumbai, Pune, Shillim (Western Ghats), Chennai, Bangalore, Vadodara, Jaipur and Goa,” added Welk.

Two more hotels (mid-market and upscale) are being planned in North Bangalore, which will be developed by the Embassy Group and are scheduled to be launched over the next three years, contributing an additional 400 rooms to the Hilton portfolio.

The company is scouting for partners to introduce its luxury brand, the Waldorf Astoria Hotels & Resorts.

On being asked whether there are plans to offer discounted rooms to its guests, especially after Hyatt Hotels announced a monsoon sale, offering a flat 50 per cent discount on rooms for bookings made in the first two weeks of August, Welk said: “We have announced a ‘Be a Weekender’ campaign on August 1, as there are a lot of long weekends (Friday–Sunday) coming up, beginning next weekend.

“The campaign aims to provide leisure travellers with an aspirational experience at our hotels where they get 20 per cent off on room rates for advance bookings, 50 per cent off on dining and free internet,” said Welk.

Hilton formally launched the Hilton Bangalore Embassy GolfLinks, jointly developed by Kelachandra and the Embassy Group on Thursday.

“The hotel has 247 studios and suites of which over 70 per cent are over 500 sq ft, among the largest in the city. The hotel cost ₹350 crore to develop, and each room cost ₹1,20,00,000 to build,” said Jitu Virwani, Chairman and Managing Director of Embassy Group.

This is the Group’s first foray into hospitality.

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