B'lore gets one more 5-star hotel

The Chancery Group has entered the five star hotels segment with the opening of its 234-room Chancery Pavilion on Residency Road in Bangalore's central business district.

The five-star business hotel, built at a cost of Rs 120 crore, is only the second hotel of the group after The Chancery, a four-star deluxe hotel that was opened in 2004 and was built at a cost of Rs 70 crore. The group is promoted by K C Chandrashekhar Raju, managing director, and K Chengama Raju, chairman.

The boom in business travel to Bangalore "" foreign business travellers make up 51 per cent of foreign travellers "" has led to an explosion in the demand for five star accommodation. The Chancery Pavilion hopes to capitalise on this and also the flow of leisure travellers. The group expects a high 75 per cent occupancy.

"If this demand sustains, it could help the new hotel break even in just five years or even less, compared to seven years earlier", said Tapesh Chakraborty, president, The Chancery Group, who has an industry experience of 30 years.

The hotel offers a wide range of rooms to choose from "" the presidential suite, theme rooms, executive suites, superior rooms and two business floors called Club Pavilion. Room tariffs range from Rs 11,500 for a single bed, to a club pavilion single at Rs 13,500, to the presidential suite at Rs 35,000.

Unlike most other cities in the country, Bangalore doesn't have an off-season. Hence, the room rates here do not vary seasonally, says Chakraborty. Events round the year in the city, enabled by its weather, ensure that demand is sustained throughout the year.

The hotel tries to address the biggest shortage in central Bangalore, parking space, by providing for parking of upto 200 cars. The Group has plans to start hotels in Chennai, Hyderabad, Mumbai, Pune, Kochi, Goa and one more in Bangalore.