Snippets

Marriott plans Quan Spas across India

In its roll-out of its Quan Spa concept worldwide, Marriott Hotels is implementing its Quan Spa brand in five locations across India - Mumbai, Bangalore, Chennai, Hyderabad and Pune by the end of 2008, while the sixth is under negotiation. Currently, Quan Spa is present at the JW Marriott, Mumbai. Rhett Pickering, director (Spa Operations and Development), Asia Pacific, Marriott International, said, "We will implement the Quan Spa in properties where there is a need for a spa. By the end of 2008, the spa count in Asia Pacific will total 14."

The Quan property at the JW Marriott, Mumbai is the flagship property for the brand in India, and the Group's first urban spa retreat, whose template will be adopted for developing the brand across India, revealed Pickering. He adds, "We are a young brand so we are dedicated to a quality rollout of our spas. Right now, we are focused on what we do best and that is offering 'luxury relaxation'. While our key is to be consistent, we must evolve at the same time." The international hotel group, until recently, outsourced its hotel spa operations to brands such as Six Senses and Mandara.

AICTE sponsors seminar on environment management

Institute of Science & Management, Pundag in Ranchi is organising a 14-day faculty development programme from February 16 to March 1, 2007 on 'Environment Management in the Hospitality Industry'. It will be sponsored by AICTE (All India Council for Technical Education). The institute invites all industry professionals and faculty members to attend this programme.

Australian food & safety standards now in India

The Indian hospitality industry wanting to upgrade to international health and safety practices in the workplace can now do so, thanks to an Australian food safety and occupational health & safety (OH&S) consultancy service, Environmental Health Consultancy (EHC). It was in the country recently to roll out its health and safety systems across Starwood Hotels in India.

All Starwood Asia Pacific Hotels & Resorts in Australia adopted these safety systems in 1996, and next year all India-based Starwood Hotels will join this system. With food safety becoming an important issue worldwide, hotel groups are developing safety programmes and requesting third party food safety audit companies to measure their performance against international standards. The Australian Trade Commission helps Indian companies source from Australia joint venture partners, overseas investments, products, services across all industry sectors.

Fortune Park Hotels establishes presence in Pune

The Fortune chain has just added a hotel at Pune, bringing the total number of properties in the chain to 27. Located at Viman Nagar, which is fast becoming the city's IT hub, the 46-room hotel is part of the Jukaso chain. The hotel will offer all the necessary add-ons required by IT professionals around the globe. In addition, it will have a 24-hour restaurant and bar. It expects to add at least three more hotels to the chain by the end of March. Prior to this, Fortune had opened a Fortune Royal Palms at Chennai and Fortune Bella Casa in Jaipur.