 "Aiana Hotels & Resorts plans hotel chain in India")
Aiana Hotels is a 50:50 joint venture company between Qatar's eminent businessman Sheikh Faisal bin Qassim Al Thani, Chairman of Al Faisal Holding and Amruda Nair.
Nair's new venture will introduce the concept of fractional ownership in the hospitality business at its first hotel in India. Aiana will be completely independent and different in terms of its service and positioning from the Leela Hotel.
"At Munnar, we have signed a management agreement for a 33-villa resort on 23 acres. The property will be operational at the end of the year. We are in the upscale space with four and five star properties and are aiming at the next generation of Indian traveler. Fractional ownership is not a time share property but investors get actual ownership of the property,"said Nair.
According to Nair, through fractional ownership, a single asset can be owned by multiple people. In other words, a person or an investor can either own an entire villa or a fraction of it. Over 15 high net individuals and non-resident Keralites, particularly from the Middle East, have already invested in the Munnar hotel.
The second property is likely to open by end of this year at Munnar in Kerala followed by Sakleshpur in Karnataka. It comprises 75-100 villas on 100 acres, the first phase of which will be launched in 2018. Aiana Mecca, a 611 room property which will be ready in time for the Haj traveller in 2017.
"Aiana's operations are split between Doha and Mumbai. We have signed up management contracts for eight properties - two in the Middle East and six in India. We have crossed 1,000 rooms under construction. Each hotel property will be unique as it will adopt a location-specific and not the cookie-cutter approach," she added.
The other projects are a 180-key hotel in Doha and a 150-room hotel in Agra that will have a view of the Taj Mahal.
