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Thirty-year-old Rajesh Santhanam, a practicing dentist and die-hard cricket fan, wants to make the most of this weekend. Though his plan is not to watch the game live at the stadium, he is looking forward to hitting the bar with his friends for an evening of fun, food and of course, unlimited beer, as they cheer the men in yellow. Santhanam has a fairly wide choice of hotels — across categories — to check in for the evening.
With the IPL fever thick in the air, hotels are going all out to cash in. Besides converting bars and some restaurants almost into a gallery with giant TV screens, hotels in the city have come out with some special package offers.
“If watching the match live at the stadium is one kind of fun, watching the matches in a charged bar or restaurants with friends literally splitting into two teams would really be a great fun. That too, with unlimited supply of beer and snacks…. Wow! Am waiting for the weekend,” says Santhanam. He’s not the only one, there are many like Santhanam who want to avoid the crowd, which often turns unruly at the stadium.
From the hoteliers point of view, it gives them a chance to drive the F&B revenue during the tournament. “Last year, it paid off for us. There was incremental revenue of 20-25 per cent every day during the entire tournament, despite discounts,” said Kumar Shobhan, Director (Food and Beverages), Hyatt Regency.
Special packages
Hyatt has converted its bar – 365 A.S. – into a sports bar with a lot of sports gear on display, to make it live up to the madness of IPL. It also offers special packages starting from Rs 1,111 for unlimited supply of beverages and short eats. Shobhan says this year too it is doing well. “Particularly when Chennai Super Kings and Mumbai Indians play, our bar is almost sold out,” he says. According to him, walk-ins go up by at least two times and 75 per cent of them opt for special packages.
The newest kid in the block, The Flying Elephant, a fine-dining restaurant at the Park Hyatt too has got on to the bandwagon. It is offering special T20 packages, aptly named after IPL terms. While the Free Hit Package, priced at Rs 1,010 gives you unlimited local beer and popcorn to go with, Stategic Time Out (Rs 1,515) offers unlimited local and international beer and select menu of snacks, Power Play (Rs 2,020) besides unlimited beer, offers 50 per cent discount on select hot drinks too with snacks.
Courtyard Marriott has gone one step ahead. It has even given its bartenders sporty t-shirts resembling that of various teams in the IPL. This hotel has introduced special cricket cocktail shots for the season. These shots come in sets of 4 and 6 priced at Rs 650 and Rs 750 respectively. Besides, it offers a pitcher of beer free if you buy one.
Accord's Zodiac bar is also decked up in true IPL spirit. It is also hosting contests with winners walking away with discounts and complimentary food and stay vouchers.
In Chennai, the weekend traffic for rooms in hotels is pretty low. Many hotels in the city do their best to drive their restaurant revenue to make up for that. And, tournaments such as this would certainly come in handy for them.
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