Newstrack

Ambassador Hotel outlines more properties

To model them under Taj's Ginger brand

Sanjeev Bhar - New Delhi

As the race towards more budget hotels enters into an accelerating phase, family-owned property, Ambassador Hotel, in the heart of the city, which comes under the management operation of Taj Hotels & Resorts, divulged plans of coming up with two to three more budget properties.

Speaking to Express Hospitality, Rajindera Kumar, its director, revealed that there are plans to come up with new properties in association with Taj branding. "There are two to three sites, which belongs to the family and we are very keen to construct hotels that would cater to the budget segment. We have planned to model them under Taj's Ginger brand," he says.

The plans are at an early stage and the branding will also have a stamp of Ambassador apart from Ginger as per tentative plans. Not revealing the locations Kumar hints, "The new properties will come up in resort areas and busy city locations." Budget hotels, these days, are considered more risky than others owing to high land costs, which make business and high-end hotels more feasible for returns on investments.

Kumar, who is also the president of Hotel & Restaurant Association of Northern India (HRANI), is of the opinion that one should only get into the budget segment if they are confident of keeping consistency in room rates throughout the year. He says, "Selling rack rates is a challenge and if one is not able to do so then they should not enter the segment at all. Continuous fluctuation of tariffs is unwarranted." According to latest developments, tax holidays for budget hotels are on the cards for investments made in budget hotels. The sector is thus expecting more announcements of budget hotel projects after tax sops are declared.