IndiOne Hotels lines up holy expansion

Pilgrimage areas will be a key focus area in the expansion plan of IndiOne Hotels. Starting with Varanasi and Haridwar, the economy hotel wing of Indian Hotels is planning to develop its economy hotels across all major religious destinations of the country, said Sheela Nair, chief operating officer.

Indi One hotels is 100 per cent subsidiary of Roots Corporation Ltd (RCL), which is a 100 per cent subsidiary of Indian Hotels Company.

"There are about 80 potential places of religious importance in the country, which we would eventually like to tap. However, in the first five years, IndiOne is planning to set up 30 hotels across various pilgrimage centres in the country," said Nair. Amritsar, Tirupati and Guruvayoor are some of the locations, which are on the immediate focus of the company.

"Most of these religious places do not have affordable standard hotels. Moreover, a lot of NRIs visit these places, who would like to stay in hotels like ours. So the potential is huge," said Nair.

IndiOne will focus upon religious destinations of states such as Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh, Rajasthan, Gujarat, Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Orissa, Uttar Pradesh, West Bengal, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, and Kerala for setting up its hotels.

IndiOne hotels are 100 room economy hotels that charge an average room rate (ARR) of Rs 1,000.