Hilton to offer The Palms to global retail brands

Hilton Towers, Mumbai, will have an additional eight leading international brands including Gucci, Giorgio Armani and Louis Vuitton occupying its retail space.

The Hotel has signed up with these international delux brands recently as it is planning to convert its exisitng buffet restaurant ""The Palms, into retail space by mid-October.

Since all the eight international deluxe brands will be occupying the newly created retail space by the ned of this year, Hitlon has already assigned a strategic partner to design the space according to the specific requirments of these brands.

"It is about bringing in quality to the customer. Customers look for branded luxury goods when they stay with us and giving the area for retail will help serving that bringing more new brands into the Hotel. Taking The Palms off and supplementing the area with another value proposition, is a viable idea," said Rattan Keswani, executive vice president, Oberoi Hotels and Resorts.

Industry sources, however, believe that The Palms, would not have been able to fetch Hilton with rewarding rent and thus the hotel major has got into such arrangement.

This arrangement would help the hotel draw more rent and also utilise its other restaurants to its fullest capacity. The Oberoi Hotels and Resorts is in a sales and marketing tie-up for franchise hotel with the Hilton.

Besides The Palms, the hotel has three other dinning joints namely, Frangipani, India Jones and Caffe Cino and a bar called Opium Den. The hotel, however, plans to create a food and beverages area back into the premises.