Leela Palace to invest Rs 1,400 cr on new projects

Bangalore, June 3 (UNI) Leela Palaces and Resorts will invest around Rs 1,400 crore on setting up new hotels and resorts in various major cities across the country.

Briefing newspersons about the expansion programme, its Chairman Capt C P Krishnan Nair said the 319 guest rooms and suites and 90 serviced residences in Leela Kempinski at Gurgaon near Delhi was fast nearing completion and was expected to be operational in a few weeks. The four-storeyed Leela Palace Kempinski at Udaipur would house 80 deluxe rooms, junior and royal suites. Slated to open in the winter, the hotel was strategically located beside the Pichola lake, offering a panoramic view of the languid waters of the lake.

He said the 15-storeyed high-rise hotel in Chennai would have 350 rooms and suites. Work was on in brisk pace and the architecture was inspired by the royal, opulent Chettinad house. It would be thrown open for business in early 2008. In Hyderabad, the 300-room hotel, located in the prime Banjara hills area, was expected to be commissioned by mid-2009, he added.

Capt Nair said the hotel in Pune was being designed as an urban resort with a laid back feel. Located 3.5 km away from the Koregaon airport, the hotel would have 300 rooms.

To a question, he said numerous people from across the world had contacted him for entering into business partnership in the hotel industry. However, he had not chosen any of them as yet.

He said the group would introduce helicopter services and set up a helipad in the hotel here to ferry guests from the upcoming international airport at Devanahalli, near here.

UNI SR GD GM1855