Viceroy's Rs 70-crore expansion plan to be over by November

Viceroy Hotel, which is being renamed as the Hyderabad Marriott, is expecting its Rs 70-crore expansion project to be over by November 2004.

The hotel is expanding its room strength to 308 from the existing 168. The expansion project includes the recently completed convention center that can accommodate about 1,500 people.

According to Viceroy's new general manager Ravi Krishnan, construction of the shell (civil structure) for the new rooms was already over and at present the interiors were getting done. Post expansion, the hotel is slated to emerge as the largest hotel in the south.

"We will also renovate the existing rooms once the new rooms are ready for occupancy. The new look Hyderabad Marriott with 308 rooms will be ready by mid 2005," Ravi Krishnan told Business Standard.

The refurbishment was taken up prior to the rebranding of the hotel. Marriott International Inc is a US-based hospitality major with over 2,600 lodging properties in the US and 68 other countries.

At present, the Marriott lodging brand in India is represented in properties in Mumbai, Goa and New Delhi.

On the tie-up with Marriott, Krishnan said that the international hotel-chain major would provide management as well as partial operations support to the rebranded hotel. It will also provide web-enabled room reservation facilities.

The refurbished hotel will feature a variety of restaurants and bars including a coffee shop, an Indian restaurant and a lobby-level bar. Recreational amenities will include a health club and an outdoor swimming pool.

For conferences and social events, the hotel will have 3,083 sq mt of space consisting of a 968 sq mt ballroom and 14 additional rooms in a variety of configurations. "With a number of international conferences happening in Hyderabad, we are witnessing the highest ever room occupancy levels presently," Krishan said.

The hotel's present average room occupancy is over 80 per cent and higher than the 70 per cent it was enjoying till November last year. Average room revenues have also gone up by about 30 per cent to Rs 3,200 from Rs 2,450 a year ago.

"Post rebranding, we plan to go for upgrading our hotel rating to a five star deluxe property from five star," Krishnan said. The hotel was upgraded from a four star property to a five star property in February 2002.