Orchid group to hit the highways with 'Kamfotels'

It's destination Gujarat for the Mumbai-based Orchid Group. The hotel major plans to open 12 hotels in the state within the next three years and has identified highways as ideal locations for its projects.

Sensing the tremendous opportunity presented by the increasing traffic on the national and state highways, the group plans to open two-star hotels across these highways. This would help in expansion and revenue generation.

Orchid would be opening 50 such hotels in the next five to seven years.

These 'Kamfotels' will also house 'Vithal Kamat Restaurants'. The group plans to invest around Rs 450 crore for the project.

"The developing road network has enabled people to travel at ease on long routes. However, a person traveling with family requires an appropriate place on the highways where they can have hygienic food. We are targeting those travellers and have designed rooms that will accommodate a couple and at least two kids," said Vithal Kamat, chairman and managing director of the Orchid group.

"We are planning to keep tariff around Rs 1,200 per room per day in the Kamfotel chain," added Kamat. Each Kamfotel Hotel will house 60 to 100.

The group is planning to complete projects in the state in next three years.

Apart from Gujarat, four hotels each will come up in Konkan and Nashik in Maharashtra. Later, group might also enter Madhya Pradesh.

Kamat, however, did not divulge the details about the sites identified by the group.

Kamat said that the project will be funded partly through internal accruals. Around 60 per cent of the investments will be through loans from banks of financial institutions.

"As per the viability, we may also open commission hotel projects on the locations apart from our planned places," Kamat said. "We might adopt franchisee model on selected sites for better management," he added.