New Opening | IHCL announces the signing of a 775-room hotel at Bengaluru Airport

Part of Airport City at BLR Airport, hotel complex to have two brands – Vivanta and Ginger

Indian Hotels Company (IHCL) announced the signing of an agreement with Bengaluru Airport City Limited (BACL) for a 775-room hotel at Kempegowda International Airport, Bengaluru (BLR Airport). The hotel will be a combination of a 450-room Vivanta and a 325-room Ginger hotel. This will be a management contract with BACL to operate another hotel at BLR Airport where IHCL already operates in Taj Bangalore.

BACL – a wholly-owned subsidiary of Bangalore International Airport Limited – has been founded to develop the Airport City at BLR Airport as a world-class destination of truly mixed-use development, consisting of business, medical and biotech parks, a world-class mall, hospitality, convention, and exhibition centres and a central park. The Airport City will offer leisure, retail, entertainment, and hospitality, with a multipurpose concert arena for hosting large conventions and shows.

Commenting on the signing, Puneet Chhatwal, Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer, IHCL, said, “Kempegowda International Airport, Bengaluru is one of the fastest growing airports in the world. This new upcoming hotel complex, along with Taj Bangalore, will offer a combined inventory of 1,150 rooms catering to the needs of this dynamic and evolving market. We are delighted to extend our partnership with Bengaluru Airport City Limited.”

The proposed hotel will be strategically located in close proximity to the concert arena that is currently under development and will be part of the sustainable Airport City being developed by BACL. The Vivanta and Ginger branded hotels will have extensive banqueting facilities to capture the growth potential of the MICE demand. It is slated to open in 2025.

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Covid News | Hotels turn into hospitals and extend care for patients

IHCL and Lemon Tree Hotels have multiple hotels in cities across the country being used as extensions of hospital wards for mild or asymptomatic cases.

Hotels being used as hospital rooms are perhaps now more necessary than during the last surge of cases and governments in various states have taken measures to requisition these rooms from various hotels.

IHCL and Lemon Tree were two hospitality companies that have been at the forefront in volunteering rooms to be used by hospitals, whether for quarantine, patient care, or accommodation for healthcare in 2020, this time around too, it isn’t any different and both companies have led the way.

“The country is going through an unprecedented humanitarian crisis, and IHCL is humbled to be of service to the nation once again. The company has offered over 1400 rooms across its hotels in the country to partner with hospitals for quarantine centers. These facilities are for asymptomatic and mildly symptomatic patients. Hospital partners will provide on-site doctors and nurses at these facilities. This is an ongoing effort, and we will continue to support the Government in its fight to combat the spread of COVID-19,” said Puneet Chhatwal, managing director and CEO of IHCL.

The company have listed their hotels and the hospitals they are associated with along with the coordinator’s number on the company website.

The hotels are: Ginger Bangalore IRR in Bengaluru; Ginger Vadapalani and Taj Club House in Chennai; Vivanta Dwarka in Delhi; Ginger Guwahati in Guwahati; Taj Banjara in Hyderabad; Ginger Indore in Indore; Ginger Mahakali and President Mumbai in Mumbai; and Ginger Pantnagar in Pantnagar, Uttarakhand.

Lemon Tree Hotels have five hotels being used as facilities for mild or asymptomatic patience and while they said this was a list which could grow according to the need, at present the chain had two hotels in Bengaluru and one each in Gurugram, Delhi and Hyderabad being used for Covid care.

Vikramjit Singh, President, Lemon Tree Hotels Ltd told ET HospitalityWorld, “Our country is at a very crucial stage of the pandemic with the 2nd wave impacting us across most cities of India. This dramatic increase in the number of positive cases, has resulted in an increasing need for quarantine accommodation for asymptomatic people who are either high risk or have been in contact with positive cases. From the beginning of this crisis, Lemon Tree has supported State governments in offering quarantine accommodation and we are now happy to partner with many leading hospitals, including Medanta, Apollo, Manipal, Kauvery and Mahavir. These partnerships are for specific hotels in Delhi, Gurugram, Bengaluru and Hyderabad. We believe it is extremely important for the private sector, especially hospitality, to play an active role in helping the Government control this pandemic.”