Grand Ashok To Join Luxury Bandwagon

Vyas Sivanand - Bangalore

The Grand Ashok Bangalore will unveil itself as a five-star deluxe hotel by mid-June. The hotel was acquired by the Rs 1,500 crore Bharat Hotels through a bidding process in the disinvestment of the ITDC hotels by the government of India, 18 months back. Bharat Hotels has now infused new management ethos and instituted an extensive product refurbishment programme. The hotel is hiring 200 young employees after retrenching about 340 workers. The group paid about Rs 14 crore towards the total settlement with the older employees, which had been a very sensitive issue resulting in huge protests from the employees. The new positioning will be in two phases. The hotel is ready to unveil the first phase of its new look, by mid-June. This will encompass 90 enhanced rooms with new colour schemes and modern furniture, state-of-the-art business centre and a refurbished rooftop Chinese restaurant. The Grand Ashok will also increase the average room rate from Rs 4,500 to Rs 6,500. The hotel expects to post a 120 per cent increase in revenue in the current fiscal over the Rs 10 crore earned last year. The second phase of the renovation plan will be ready for commissioning by year-end. The area includes the hotel lobby, the balance suites and rooms, all other restaurants and bar, a modern and well-equipped health spa, landscaping of the gardens and enhancement to the banquet facilities. Bharat Hotels operates all its hotels under The Grand banner. The group has seven luxury hotels in the country offering more than 1600 rooms in the five-star deluxe segment.