The Ritz on Rs 75-crore room expansion mode

Heritage hotel property set to reopen in 2006 with Le Meridien tag

Hyderabad-based The Ritz, a heritage hotel property and soon set to reopen sporting a Le Meridien tag, is expanding its room capacity at a cost of Rs 75 crore.

The heritage property, which was run by the Andhra Pradesh Tourism Development Corporation (APTDC), had downed shutters close to a decade back.

Subsequently, APTDC had in 2002 entered into an agreement with the Hyderabad-based Varsha Hill Fort Resorts, wherein the property was leased for a 33-year period on a build-operate-transfer (BOT) basis.

An APTDC official said, "The 6.46 acre land was leased out to Varsha in June 2002." APTDC will be paid Rs 1 crore as lease rent per annum, for the arrangement.

Varsha Hill Fort Resorts is now ramping up the room capacity, from less than 50 rooms, to more than 200 rooms and is targeting a mid 2006 opening.

B R Rao, director of Varsha Hill Fort Resorts, told Business Standard that it had entered into a marketing and management agreement with the Le Meridien group for developing the hotel.

"Hawaii-based Wimberly Allison Tong & Goo (WATG), the world's leading design consultant for the hospitality, leisure and entertainment industries, will be involved in the designing of the five-star hotel," he said.

The WATG group has worked in about 130 countries in six continents and has designed hotels, restaurants, spas, theme parks, casinos, resorts, cruise ships and convention centres. In India, it was involved in designing the Kempinski Leela Palace in Goa.

The hotel is most likely to be ready by mid 2006, Rao said. "We will be investing on developing the banquet hall and parking facilities also. However, the project details are likely to be finalised only in January next year," he added.

"Since 'The Ritz' building is basically a heritage site, we have notified the promoters to leave the monument architecture as it is and develop the surrounding areas for commercial purposes," the official said.

Necessary approvals from various authorities like the Municipal Corporation of Hyderabad have also been acquired, an APTDC official told Business Standard.

The global hotel group, Le Meridien, currently has a portfolio of about 130 luxury and upscale hotels in around 56 countries across the world. It also has an alliance with JAL-owned Nikko Hotels through which 44 additional properties now form a part of its portfolio.

Jaipur, Bangalore, Ahmedabad, Chennai, New Delhi, Kochi, Mumbai, Pune and Thiruvananthapuram are some of the Indian cities where Le Meridien has its presence. This venture will be the London-based hospitality major's first foray into Hyderabad.

Room for growth

• Varsha Hill Fort Resorts to ramp up capacity to more than 200 rooms
• Company ropes in Hawaii-based Wimberly Allison Tong & Goo to design the five-star hotel