Surya Palace joins UK firm for first modular hotel project

Vadodara, July 23 (UNI) An UK-based consultancy firm has tied up with city-based Hotel Surya Palace, to help the latter set up a modular hotel room factory, said to be the first of its kind in the country.

The hotel has acquired the land for the proposed Rs 30 crore project at Dabhasa, about 25 km from here, and hopes to bring out the first prototype hotel by 2010.

Announcing the project at a press conference here today, Hotel managing director Piyush Shah, who recently bagged the first runner-up award at the CNBC TV18 ''Emerging India Awards 2008'' in the Travel and tourism category for Small and Medium Enterprises (SME), held in London, said containers would be imported from China and modular rooms would be designed inside the containers as per the Indian condition.

Stating that there was an acute shortage of budget hotels in India and the demand was fast increasing with rapid growth in business and tourism, Mr Shah said a 100-room modular hotel could be constructed in just three months, as against two to three years time required to complete the project by conventional methods.

The new concept of developing hotel rooms and structures on a modular basis, would be an ideal solution to overcome the limitations of time and it could save 40 per cent of the construction cost, he added.

Mr Shah also announced a Rs 50 crore expansion plan of the hotel, its state-of-the-art food factory and hospitality education projects.

UNI SS RN NP2016