Golkonda to set up Rs 10-crore resort

Golkonda Hospitality Services and Resorts Limited, promoter of the three-star Golkonda Hotel in the city, will be setting up a resort in Gandipet by June this year.

A separate company "�"� Golkonda Resorts Private Limited "�"� has been formed and an investment of around Rs 10 crore has been earmarked for this purpose.

Speaking to Business Standard, S Krishnan, financial advisor to Golkonda Hospitality Services and Resorts Limited, said, "We are setting up a resort with 44 cottages in Gandipet at an investment of Rs 10 crore which is likely to become operational by June this year."

The resort will be spread over 15 acres of land that has been taken on lease for 33 years from the Andhra Pradesh Tourism Development Corporation (APTDC) on a build-operate-transfer (BOT) basis in 2002.

The corporation gets a lease rental of either Rs 25 lakh per year for the first three years, which by the end of the lease period (33 years), will increase to Rs 42 lakh per year or five per cent of the gross revenues, whichever is higher.

"The resort will house an amphitheatre with a seating capacity of around 300 people, a 30,000-square feet health club, restaurant, bar, two swimming pools, jacuzzi, two tennis courts and two conference halls," Krishnan said. The company has got all the necessary clearances from the Gandipet gram panchayat to set up the resort.

Singapore-based Total Integrated Design (TID) Associates, which is into interior designing, consulting and construction services, has been signed up for designing the resort.

TID has a portfolio that ranges from designing hotels for groups like Le Meridien and Sheraton to Parliament House in Singapore. It has executed projects in various countries like Australia, Korea, China, India, Vietnam and the UAE apart from Singapore. TID also has operations in Malaysia, India, Philippines and the UK.

This apart, the Golkonda Hotel is also going for a four-star classification in the next few months. "We have renovated 45 rooms at the hotel and will be renovating 90 more rooms by September," Krishnan said.

"We will also be adding new facilities like a see-through bar, discotheque, pub and a health club at the hotel soon," he added.