Snippets

More InterContinental hotels in India

InterContinental Hotels Group has signed an agreement with the Eros Group to manage the new Crowne Plaza Mayur Vihar New Delhi, scheduled to open in the third quarter of 2009. The hotel will be the first brand-defining Crowne Plaza Hotel in India and the only purpose-built hotel within its immediate vicinity. The property will have 220 rooms and approximately 150 apartments for long stays. As part of mixed-use 1,00,000 sq. ft. retail development, over 12,000 sq ft would be dedicated for custom-equipped meeting space. Dining, leisure and recreational amenities will include four specialty restaurants and a roof-top bar, in addition to a spa and fitness centre, barber shop and beauty parlour, business centre and two swimming pools.

InterContinental recently tied up with Indroyal, one of the leading furniture brands in the country, to launch Holiday Inn Cochin in Ernakulam, Kerala. The hotel with an investment of Rs 100 crore is scheduled to open by end of 2008. Panning over a built up area of 3.30 lakh sq ft the hotel will have 22 floors with 253 rooms. It will be the group's fourteenth hotel in India and the seventh Holiday Inn in India.

Accor's first hotel in India Novotel Hyderbad officially opens

Novotel Hyderabad, the first Accor hotel in India, officially opened early November after its soft launch last May for the Asian Development Bank Meeting at Hyderabad International Convention Centre (HICC). Located in the heart of the IT hub of Hyderabad, the 287-room Novotel Hyderabad is expected to attract international travellers from the high-tech sectors. It will also target domestic weekend guests by virtue of its resort-in-the-city quality.

Sula heads into 2007 harvest with a bang

Sula Vineyards, the Indian producer of premium wines, announced its expansion plans, the acquisition of India's first sparkling wine factory, and India's first wine nursery.

Rajeev Samant, its founder and managing director, said that it recently bought Pimpane Co-operative India based 30 km from Nashik. The 15-year old facility has been taken over in an open and transparent tender process and it will be restarted within three months for the 2007 crush, which entails tremendous amount of additional investment. Sula acquired an additional 500 acres of vineyard this year, taking the total acreage under ownership and contract farmers from 700 acres to 1,200 acres.

Apropos to the new retail wine policy Samant added, "Retailers are now allowed to sell wine in their stores. As a result, wine should hit supermarkets soon. We have also tied up with Food Bazaar as its preferred wine partner and are currently assisting it with the licensing process."

He also announced the setup of a nursery for planting material in Nashik in a French joint venture which will be spread across 150 acres. Sula Vineyards will be investing Rs 5 crore over two and half years. "This will ensure consistency in wine production and eventually lead to enhancing the quality of wine produced in years to come," he said.