Royal Orchid to invest Rs 500 cr in two years

Hospitality chain Royal Orchid Hotels (ROHL) is planning to invest Rs 500 crore over the next two years for setting up hotels in the country.

"We are setting up one five-star hotel each in Jaipur and Hyderabad, while two four-star properties would come up in Ahmedabad and Mumbai," ROHL Chairman and Managing Director Chender Baljee said here.

The company would set up the five-star and four-star hotels, with about 750 rooms by the end of 2010, he said.

The BSE and NSE listed company is also looking to go global by 2010 with its properties coming up in Dar Es Salam – capital of Tanzania.

The company is also planning to set up budget hotels in smaller cities as these cities are more dominated by the unorganised sector with little known brands.

"We are exploring possibilities in tier-III cities like Udaipur, Indore, Bikaner etc. We are also interested in taking management contract of a good heritage property," Baljee added.

The Royal Orchid Metropole in Mysore is the company’s only heritage property. The company runs 12 hotels in Bangalore, Mysore, Pune, Goa, Hyderabad and Jaipur.