Sun-n-Sand to launch two new properties by 2008 end

Sayoni Bhaduri - Mumbai

Mumbai-based Sun-n-Sand hotel has announced a total investment of Rs 360 crore for two new properties - in Pune and Nagpur. Gulshan Arora, the group's vice president and general manager, revealing the details, said, "The 280-room Pune hotel will be built on an area of four acres with an investment of Rs 280 crore. With 14 suites and one presidential suite, this hotel will be the second Westin hotel in the country."

Overlooking the river, there will be a banquet space of 1,500 x 2,000 square feet which will be the largest in Pune. The 138-room Nagpur property is being built with an investment of Rs 80 crore. Both these properties will be ready by end of 2008. "Nagpur is bound to be a buzzing city in the future with the new airport and cargo hub coming up there," said Arora. Boeing is also planning its regional maintenance repair and overhaul facility there.

Its recently launched Goa property is a commercial hotel in Panjim. The circular hotel is based on a rock and starts from the second floor. "The rooms are large with an area of 400 square feet. It's a round hotel with a central lobby and dome. The total investment for this property was Rs 22 crore," informed Arora.

The group started its expansion 1998 with a hotel in Shirdi. Now the group has hotels in Goa, Pune and Nagpur. Its first property in Pune was taken over from The Holiday Inn in 2002. Presently the hotel is operated and managed by Sun-n-Sand. Initially the hotel had five floors and a passed FSI for a sixth and seventh floor, informed Arora. Sun-n-Sand in Pune has both apartments and suites with a total of 139 rooms.