The Hindu Business Line : Pune makes room for budget hotel boom

Space elements
Tariffs placed anywhere between Rs 1,000 and Rs 4,500.
Facilities include gyms and cybercafes, flat-screen TVs and wi-fi.
Demand-supply gap for budget-hotel rooms in India now over 50,000.

Pune March 15 Be it a business traveller who is flitting in and out of a city or a family which likes to take a vacation, everybody is on the lookout for a quality hotel with a reasonable tariff. And this has brought budget hotels to the forefront.

According to the industry, the demand-supply gap for budget hotel rooms in the country is currently more than 50,000. To give in to the demand of the ever-rising transitory population, budget hotels are springing up in different corners of the city, giving travellers all the basic comforts, may be ignoring a few such as a swimming pool or a 24x7 coffee shop.

The tariffs are placed anywhere between Rs 1,000 and Rs 4,500. And to kickstart budget hotels, a couple of them have already begun their construction. Bigger players such as the Taj Group of Hotels have also entered the fray, considering the immense potential.

Ginger is one such hotel owned by the Taj. Ginger has 101 rooms, with a choice of single, twin and queen-sized rooms.

The rooms are air-conditioned and provided with electronic locks, comfortable beds, a work area, a 17-inch flat screen colour television with satellite channels, direct-dial telephone with STD facility, mini-fridge, tea/coffeemaker, 24 hours hot/cold water and toiletries.

A night stay at Ginger for a single room costs Rs 999 while a double or twin room would cost Rs 1,199 a night.

What other facilities does the cost-conscious customer look for? On offer are a restaurant, meeting room, gymnasium, a cyber café, 24-hour reception, automatic check-in kiosk, digital safe deposit boxes, 100 per cent power back-up wi-fi connectivity in public areas and rooms, among others.

Currently there are two `budget' hotels in Pune — Ginger and Smart Inn — which have about 150 rooms, a far cry from the demand. The inflow of travellers into Pune on a daily basis is about 15,000 and out of this, about three to five thousand people stay back in the city, Mr Suresh Talera, Chairman, Talera Group of Hotels in Pune,points out.

Mr Talera said Smart Inn, a 45-room hotel which will open its doors to guests in the coming month, is a contemporary adaptation of central Lodge, the first hotel built by the founder of the Talera Group — Mr Motilal Talera — in 1948.

It would offer complimentary buffet breakfast, a dial-a-meal from 40 restaurants across the town and automated check-in kiosks instead of staff reception.

A night here at this hotel is estimated to cost Rs 850 and the plan is to add about 1,000 rooms within the next five years, Mr Talera added.

More business

Catering to the booming tourism, Lemon Tree Hotels, is also venturing into this space with its first hotel opening up in Hinjewadi on March 10. The second will be opened in December 2008 near the Railway Station, Mr Patu Keswani, Chairman and Managing Director, Lemon Tree Hotels, told Business Line.

He said the Hinjewadi hotel would have124 rooms and suites while the second one would have 190 rooms and suites.

``We are planning another brand, i.e, Red Fox Hotels which will be a limited service, economy brand. At present we are developing 3 hotels under this brand, aggregating 450 rooms, in Hyderabad, Jaipur and Chandigarh,'' he said.

He said that in Pune, the company is also looking at a location to build a 150-200 room Red Fox Hotel in Magarpatta. By 2011, Lemon Tree will have a network of 2,000 rooms across12 cities with 1,000 more under development, he added.

Pune, which is gearing up for the Commonwealth Games in 2008, will witness a boom in the hospitality segment with an estimated 30 new hotels springing up in and around the city.

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