Le Meridien plans to open 5 hotels in India
23 May 2009
The French hospitality major, Le Meridien, plans to open five hotels in India in the next three to five years, a top company official said in Mumbai yesterday.
"We are looking at setting up five new properties of hotels and resorts in India adding around 1,000 rooms capacity over the next three to five years," Starwood Asia Pacific Hotels regional vice president, Don Elliot, told reporters.
However, he has not revealed the names of the cities in which the company is interested in setting up its properties.
''We are negotiating with our partners and these properties will be set up in Tier I and Tier II cities,'' Elliot said.
Le Meridien currently has eight hotels in India in Ahmedabad, Kochi, Jaipur, New Delhi, Pune, Mumbai, Bangalore and Chennai.
With close to 80 of its properties located in Europe, Africa, the Middle-East and the Asia-Pacific region, Le Meridien provides a strong international complement to Starwood's primarily North American holdings.
Le Meridien recently opened new hotels in Bangkok, Chian Mai, Chiang Rai and Shimei Bay in China, and will open in Dallas and Philadelphia in the coming months.
It has also signed new hotel deals in Taipei, Xiamen, Chongqing Nan'an and Qingdao in China.
Le Meridien was started as an accommodation option for Air France customers to be used when they travelled to destinations across the world. The first Le Meridien property was setup in Paris in Etoile with 1,000 rooms.
In November 2005, the company, was acquired by Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide Inc, one of the leading hotel and leisure companies in the world with more than 940 properties in approximately 97 countries and 145,000 employees.
Starwood 's internationally renowned brands include St. Regis, The Luxury Collection, Westin, Le Méridien, Sheraton, Four Points by Sheraton, and the recently launched Aloft, and Element. Starwood Hotels also owns Starwood Vacation Ownership, Inc., one of the premier developers and operators of high quality vacation interval ownership resorts.