Marriott Hotels India is on a journey to have 25 operating hotels across Tier I and Tier II cities by the end of 2012.

Announcing the company's two new high-end properties – JW Marriott in Chandigarh and Marriott in Jaipur – last week, Mr Rajeev Menon, Area Vice-President (India, Maldives, Malaysia and Australia), Marriott International Inc, said though India and China are the two key markets in the Asia Pacific region, India gets the utmost importance as this is the fastest growing market for Marriott.

The company opened its first property in India – Goa Marriott Resort – in 1999. And 12 years later, now it has a total of 14 properties in the country. However, it has 11 more properties to come up across tier I and tier II cities in the next eighteen months.

“We opened eight hotels in the last two years. Before the end of this year, we are opening a Courtyard by Marriott in Pune and JW Marriott in Bangalore. Starting next year, we would pretty much be opening one hotel a month. Going by this trend, we are growing fastest in this market,” he said.

Elaborating on its two recent properties, Mr Menon said JW Marriott in Chandigarh is a 165-key hotel, owned by Lok Priya Buildwell Pvt Ltd (the hospitality wing of Synergy Telecommunications), is the company's second luxury hotel in the country – the first JW Marriott being in Mumbai. According to Mr Harpal Singh, Chairman, Synergy Telecommunications, the company has spent a little over Rs 2 crore a room, including the land cost.

The other hotel – Marriott, Jaipur – with 365 rooms and 43,000 sq ft of flexible meeting space, happens to be the largest hotel in the entire State. This property is owned by Dangayach Group, a local company with business interests in hospitality, real estate and jewellery.

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