Hilton Worldwide enters Kerala

134 room hotel property to be managed by the Muthoot group

Hilton Worldwide Thursday announced the opening of its Hilton Garden Inn brand in Kerala's capital city.

"This is the third Hilton Garden Inn brand in the country and with it, this becomes the 12th property of ours. In the coming months we are expanding our portfolio to Bangalore, Agra and Jaipur," said Guy Hutchinson, vice president operations, India, Hilton Worldwide here.

The Rs 85 crore, 134-room hotel will be located in the heart of the city and owned by the Muthoot Hotels and Infrastructure Ventures Private Limited and is classified in the mid-category business hotel.

"This is the second property that we have in the capital city, with the other one at Kovalam and is categorised as a resort and is managed by the Taj Group. This new one is basically aimed at the business traveller and we expect to break even in four and half years," said Thomas John Muthoot, chairman and managing director of the Muthoot Group.

The state-of-the-art business hotel will be officially opened Dec 27 and will have a 24-hour business centre and a round-the-clock pavilion pantry. The hotel is located 12 km from the IT hub at Technopark and just a 20-minute drive from the international airport.

"The tariff ranges from Rs.7,000 to Rs.15,000," said Manish Garg, general manager of the hotel here.