Lemon Tree to open 20 new hotels without fresh hiring for 2 years

The hospitality sector could perhaps top the list of sectors affected by the pandemic. The revenue and profits destruction in the sector is irreparable, and the hotel companies are now trying to find new ways to control their costs, and look out for inefficiencies. Take Lemon Tree Hotels, for instance, which has about 5 per cent market share in the branded hotels segment. The hotel chain had a revenue projection of Rs 1,200 crore for FY21, but due to lower demand, and weak room rates, the company is expecting to clock just Rs 400 crore.

"Our occupancy today on full operations inventory is 50 per cent. Normally, Lemon Tree does 80 per cent. So it is 40 per cent down, but prices are about 40 per cent down too. On a combined basis, our revenue is 36 per cent on room basis of what it should be," says Patu Keswani, Chairman and Managing Director at Lemon Tree Hotels at a Business Today panel discussion recently.

Keswani also says that the hotel chain's staff-to-room ratio was one. It had 8,000 rooms, and about 8,000 staff broadly. Post-COVID, the company realised that it can operate at a staff-to-room ratio of 0.7 which means that 30 per cent of the staff is excess in the system. Though the company is not laying off people because of that, it has a bunch of hotels opening up in the next two years (about 20), and so it would not need to hire new staff for those hotels.

"The productivity improvement is a part of them (staff) because people are multi-skilling. The culture-building of multi-tasking is going to play an enormous role for us going forward," says Keswani.

Just like the entire hospitality sector, the initial few days after lockdown were highly uncertain. Shortly after the lockdown, Keswani says, his company started thinking of steps that it would take for different levels of revenue destruction. Then, the other issue was debt. Unlike most large hotel companies like Marriott, Hilton or Hyatt, 70 per cent of the Lemon Tree Hotels are owned by the company, so it has a large amount of debt on books.

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Lemon Tree Hotels debuts in Jhansi with 61-key Hotel

Lemon Tree Hotels Limited, through its management subsidiary Carnation Hotels Pvt. Ltd., has announced the opening of the 61 key hotel–Lemon Tree Hotel, Jhansi. This marks the entrance of the brand in this historic city of Uttar Pradesh. The city, which lies on the banks of the Pahuj River, in southern Uttar Pradesh, is a symbol of bravery, courage and self-respect.

Located in the heart of the city, overlooking the historical Jhansi Fort, Lemon Tree Hotel, Jhansi, is an aesthetically designed hotel easily accessible from the railway station.

The hotel features 61 well-appointed rooms and suites, which combine understated elegance with modern amenities and facilities. The innovative interiors and the inspiring artwork of this hotel make for a setting that is refreshing, contemporary and stylish, while still reflecting a touch of the city’s heritage in the artefacts.

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Vande Bharat Mission: Authorities seek hotel rooms across the country

India begins its biggest repatriation exercise to bring back 14,800 nationals stuck in 12 countries, the government is earmarking a range of hotel rooms across the spectrum, from one star properties to plush five-stars, for quarantining these travellers who will be landing in different cities
Hotels newly earmarked in Delhi include the Taj Palace Hotel, Shangri-La’s Eros Hotel and Le Meridien, according to people aware of the matter. Besides Taj Palace, the Indian Hotels Company Limited ..
(IHCL) has earmarked rooms in five of its hotels in Bengaluru for the exercise, including in Taj MG Road, Taj West End and the Vivanta hotel in Whitefield.

“We are glad to be able to offer support and care for our community,” said a Shangri-La spokesperson. “The hotel will accommodate some of these returning travellers as and when required. During this period, we will take all necessary precautions and strictly abide by the guidelines provided by the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare,”.

“We have got 200 rooms. The Delhi government had approached us. As per the instructions that we have received, all the guests are supposed to pay for the rooms. The government is not footing the bill. In our case it’s Rs 4,000 for a single room and Rs 4,800 for a double room, inclusive of meals plus taxes,” said Tarun Thakral, Chief Operating Officer at Le Meridien. “I think they are giving options to arriving passengers to choose from hotel categories and rates.”
The Delhi government has reportedly allocated 1,200 rooms in Delhi and National Capital Region for the purpose.

The Hotel and Restaurant Association of Western India (HRAWI) said it has been in constant touch with the authorities in Maharashtra and has arranged more than 1,500 rooms at discounted rates in Mumbai across categories
At IBIS New Delhi Aerocity, there are 200 rooms which have been committed for the repatriation exercise
Lemon Tree Hotels said it has been approached by different state authorities on room availability and quotation in locations like Delhi, Mumbai, Bengaluru, Hyderabad, Chennai, Alleppey, Kochi, Amritsar and Lucknow.
Besides IHCL, hotel chains such as Lemon Tree, Accor and Radisson Hotels have been offering quarantining services for asymptomatic people during the lockdown.