IHCL STRENGTHENS ITS PRESENCE IN KOLKATA WITH THE OPENING OF TAJ TAAL KUTIR

Indian Hotels Company (IHCL), India’s largest hospitality company, announces the opening of Taj Taal Kutir, Kolkata. Located in proximity to the Kolkata International Airport, hotel blends its colonial design with its contemporary setting in the smart city of New Town.

Mr. Puneet Chhatwal, Managing Director & Chief Executive Officer, said “Taj with a strong presence in Kolkata for over three decades now extends its offering with Taj Taal Kutir in New Town. With this addition, IHCL is addressing the growing demand of emerging micro-markets in the city. Serving as the gateway to East India, Kolkata holds immense commercial and tourism potential and we remain committed to growing our presence in the region. We are delighted to once again partner with Mr. Harshavardhan Neotia and the Ambuja Neotia Group.”

Overlooking the 100-acre lake in the Eco Park, Taj Taal Kutir offers 75 luxurious rooms and suites with colonial touches of high ceilings, vintage-style furniture, and sit-outs. Guests can enjoy their favourites at The Verandah, the all-day diner, indulge in the classic jazz & Gatsby era inspired bar – Rhyddim or choose to spend languid evenings at The Lakeview Lounge. Embrace wellness at the award-winning J Wellness Circle spa with its wide-ranging holistic practices rooted in the rich and healing traditions of India. The expansive banqueting and conferencing facilities spread across 50,000 sq. ft offer six venues ranging from 3,000 sq. ft. to over 12,000 sq. ft. It includes indoor and outdoor spaces with open to sky terraces, making it an ideal destination for grand social events and conferences.

Mr. Harshavardhan Neotia, Chairman, Ambuja Neotia Group said, “We take great pleasure in the inauguration of the Taj Taal Kutir, offering a luxurious getaway in Kolkata’s contemporary township of New Town juxtaposed with art-deco architecture reminiscent of a past era. Taj Taal Kutir is the newest addition to the portfolio of these boutique offerings which are called ‘Kutir’. It is the fifth in the series after Guras Kutir, Ganga Kutir, Raajkutir and Chia Kutir. We have taken yet another step forward in our partnership with IHCL, adding our third hotel in Kolkata.”

Kolkata, the ‘city of joy’ is an important commercial hub and is a blend of heritage, history and culture.

With this addition, IHCL will have six hotels across Taj, SeleQtions, Vivanta and Ginger brands in Kolkata including one under development.

About the Ambuja Neotia Group

Ambuja Neotia is a prominent and respected corporate house headquartered in Kolkata with its forte in real estate and recent forays into hospitality, healthcare, and education.

The company, under the stewardship of Mr. Harshavardhan Neotia has been responsible for landmark projects in and around Kolkata. Udayan, Kolkata’s first condoville built on the PPP (Public-Private Partnership) model made good living ‘affordable’ for the first time in the country and earned Shri Harshavardhan Neotia, the Padmashree in 1999. This was followed by several mini township projects and housing complexes in Kolkata, Durgapur, Burdwan and Siliguri.

With City Centre Salt Lake, the mall concept was revolutionised. Leisure destinations like The Fort Raichak and Ganga Kutir were created by the river Ganges. The Group also forayed into healthcare with the setting up of Bhagirathi Neotia Woman and Child Care Centre. Eco space Business Park was developed to give the city smarter, greener workspaces for better work-life balance. With the vision of imparting education that transforms students into leaders for global society, the Group embarked on a new journey with The Neotia University.

Thai hospitality firm Dusit International announces re-entry into India

Thailand-based hospitality firm Dusit International has announced its return to India with a plan to open at least two Dusit-branded hotels per year 2021 onward in tier I and tier II cities.

The company will focus on markets such as Mumbai, Delhi and Bengaluru – as well as key leisure destinations such as Goa.

Source

Kolkata restaurants to reopen from June 8 with new innovative measures to ensure social distancing

Key Take Away

The nationwide lockdown has led to various restrictions being lifted in many parts of the country, restaurants in Kolkata are also set to function from June 08 .In this regard, they have come up with various innovative measures to ensure social distancing as well as smooth functioning .

There are quite a few interesting measures which include: glass partitions between tables, an option to place an order on phone from the table, virtual instruction cards to inform guests about the new guidelines, a marked waiting area for those queuing up at the entrance door.

For More Information Click Below :

www.timesnownews.com/kolkata/article/kolkata-restaurants-to-reopen-from-june-8-with-new-innovative-measures-to-ensure-social-distancing/602755

From lift room to swimming pool, hotels suffer damage in Kolkata

Key Take Away

Some of the leading star hotels in the city have suffered major damage on Wednesday night following cyclone Amphan. Park Hotel, along with JW Marriott, were among the properties that suffered damages.

For More Information

hospitality.economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/hotels/from-lift-room-to-swimming-pool-hotels-suffer-damage-in-kolkata/75882185

Exclusive Interview | Hemant Gupta, General Manager, Holiday Inn Express Kolkata Airport - PreOpening

Editor: Tell us about your journey. How did it all start?

January 2003, was the year when my journey as a Hotelier began with The Trident in Jaipur as a F&B Associate. It has been 17 years now and have been fortunate to work with some great Indian & International Brands in the Country. A Hotel Management Graduate, from Oriental School in Kerala, my journey took me to 7 different states of India: Rajasthan, Kerala, Maharashtra, Karnataka, Delhi NCR, Tamil Nadu & West Bengal; and considerable years of my experience has been with Hyatt.

My Managerial role started in 2007 with Le Meridien in Jaipur, as a Restaurant Manager, to lead the Coffee Shop, Bar & The Indian Specialty. To further deepen my knowledge in F&B, I took the role of Banquet Manager with The Leela Kempinski in Kovalam, in 2008.

In 2010, my First Pre-Opening assignment knocked my door, for Hyatt Regency in Pune, as Events & Conference Assistant Manager. 2 years later, in 2012, came my second Pre-Opening assignment with Hyatt, to launch Hyatt Place Brand in India, in the City of Ruins, Hampi.

Pre-Opening assignments was something which I started enjoying and came in 2014 was my Third assignment, for opening of second Hyatt Place in Udyog Vihar, Gurugram Delhi NCR, as an Assistant General Manager. To broaden my knowledge in Hotels, I switched roles and headed the Rooms, Human Resource and Engineering functions of the Hotel.

My love for Pre-Opening Hotels is never ending, and hence now I am in my Fourth Pre-Opening Assignment, and my First stint with Intercontinental Hotels Group (IHG), to open a Beautiful and Smart Holiday Inn Express Hotel, opposite the Kolkata International Airport, which will make the Future Travelers #morethanready and focuses on Simple Smart Travel.

Editor: What do you think it takes to succeed in this industry?

Everyone has their own definition to success. If one has to be successful, then one has to keep adding value; to yourself, your guests and your stakeholders.

Editor: What are the attributes you look for while selecting or hiring?  If someone wants to work with you, what should they do?

I look for morals and values; the person is made of. I look for the value addition that a person can do in my team, create balance and foster teamwork. One has to be real and be true to themselves, to work with me.

Editor: What according to you can trainees do while they are training at hotels to make it a win-win for them & the hotel/unit?

Hotel Exposure Trainings are extremely important, and I can only recommend that all Hotel Management students should spend equal amount of time in all the departments. It’s too early to make up a mind even before the start of internship, that which department they want to spend maximum time in. It eventually burns them out. This is the only time you get to work in all areas, so why not make best use of it.

Editor: What are some of the trends you see impacting the hospitality industry?

Environmental Sustainability and the fight to reduce Carbon Footprints, is on the rise like never before. This is going to be big game changer in Hospitality, as the impact can be immediately seen on your bottom line.

While all the Hotels are moving into this direction, this can be evidently visible in the newly built upcoming hotels, which are now focused on using natural resources by creating efficient designs to reduce. Holiday Inn Express Kolkata Airport is one of the newly designed hotels of IHG, which makes great usage of natural lights by having large windows at lobby and even back of the house areas. IHG has taken Environmental sustainability to higher levels by making Carbon Reduction as one of our Core KPI’s.

Editor: Tech is now an enabler for great hospitality. Can you share with us some of the tech that goes into creating your guest experience? 

We have always looked at Technology for providing great guest experiences. At IHG we have been looking at creating value for our Stakeholders and Owners as well. We use cloud based technology platform, IHG Concerto, which is seamless combination of our Guest Reservations System and Price Optimization Software. This continue to strengthen our enterprise and enhance revenue delivery system.

To further strengthen our guest experience, our WiFi Guest network, IHG Connect, is providing seamless connectivity. In future, a guest would have the ability to stream content on in-room smart TV’s.

Editor: Two things you would like to change in the industry.

1. I would look at ways on how we can remove Sugar sachets from Café’s & Restaurants. A sugar sachet has a huge impact in environment which we don’t see, as it easily misses the eye. Every sugar sachet, in addition to paper, also has a plastic layer inside to prevent it from moisture. This needs to go out, just like the plastic straws. If we can have Salt & Pepper in crusher, why not Sugar.

2. Remove the concept of Sunday Brunches from Cafés &Restaurants. While it is an important part of F&B Business, however if someone has to do a research on this subject, the kind of food waste that we generate in just on one Sunday is huge. We are wasting resources way too fast.

Holiday Inn Express Kolkata Airport - PreOpening

Editor: What can we expect from your hotel in the coming year?

In my current assignment, my Hotel, Holiday Inn Express Kolkata is in its Pre-Opening stages. It’s a smartly designed 125 Keys property, nestled in the centre of a 4 acres of beautiful landscape and just 800 metres of walking distance from the Boarding Gate of Kolkata International Airport.

The plan is to establish this property as an Airport Hotel, which will be used by Transit travellers moving in and out of Kolkata, and also as a great Business Hotel to the likings of all our Corporate Guests, with us being only 15 minutes from the IT Hub of Rajarhat and 20 minutes from Sector V.

The Hotel also features our All Day Dining Café, Great Room, serving light bites and beverages. In coming months, we foresee Great Room, operating like an Airport Lounge. It will be a quick stopover for all our Transit guests to take a quick bite or have candid farewell meetings before a final goodbye, as Wi-Fi is always Free and Boarding gates are just a 5 minutes’ drive or 10 minutes’ walk, whatever a Guests chooses to prefer.