Ginger hotel announces its East India plans
March 6, 2007

The Indian Hotels Company Limited (IHCL) today announced an expansion plan of its GenNext 'Smart Basics' hotel, Ginger, for East India. Launched in June 2004, the 'SmartBasics' concept created a revolution in the world of Indian hospitality. Today, Ginger hotels has six fully functional properties. Under its current expansion plans, Roots Corporation Limited (RCL), the wholly owned subsidiary of IHCL that operates the 'SmartBasics' hotels, is taking the category across fourteen destinations in India.

The new 101-room hotel in Durgapur is the latest addition to the growing chain of Ginger hotels across the country, which includes Bangalore, Haridwar, Bhubaneswar, Mysore, Thiruvananthapuram and Pune.

The Ginger hotel in Durgapur is the second hotel to be opened in the East after Bhubaneswar. The company is exploring opportunities of opening more hotels in West Bengal at Kolkata, Siliguri, Haldia and Kharagpur.

Speaking on this occasion, Prabhat Pani, chief executive officer, Roots Corporation, said, "These locations have been identified after detailed studies across various parameters such as potential of the market, clusters of clientele and peak periods among others. The increasing business and commerce and leisure travel linked to these destinations has also led companies like ours to look at providing a branded product in this segment."

Ginger Hotels is tapping into these niche markets and targeting the customers who are looking for a branded product at a viable price making it a profitable proposition for the traveller. As this brand caters to the middle class traveller, both Indian and International, in both business and leisure categories, it aims to be present in the gateway cities - metros and mini metros, as well as class A and B satellite towns and leisure and pilgrimage destinations.

Ginger Hotels are characterised by freshness. The hotels are simple, unique, reasonable, basic, very different, light-hearted, Indian and innovative. Priced at Rs999 for a single room and Rs1199 for a double room, Ginger Hotels have created a new category in the domestic hospitality landscape, while giving a major fillip to Indian tourism and other ancillary industries. The primary objective behind the launch of these hotels is to provide a superior product offering and consistent experience to travellers, an experience far beyond the present offerings in the industry.

Ginger hotels are modern, modular and scalable, providing guests with a consistent experience. These hotels will have 100 / 200 well-appointed rooms, with a choice of single, twin and queen sized rooms. The rooms will be individually 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 including STD facility, mini-fridge, tea / coffee maker, 24 hours hot / cold water and toiletries. Other guest facilities at these hotels would include a restaurant, meeting room, gymnasium facilities, a cyber café, 24-hour reception, automatic checkin kiosk, digital safe-deposit boxes, 100-per cent power backup, as well as wi-fi connectivity in the public areas and individual rooms at the hotel.

Indigenously designed and developed by IHCL, the hotels had as the guiding principle behind its design, the concept of a unique 'space' that is conducive not only to guest comfort and relaxation but also suitable for their work requirements. The design of the hotel, from the rooms to the furniture and lighting systems, was thus thoughtfully created to offer users a unique sense of being welcomed.

The concept for the hotels was developed in association with renowned corporate strategy thinker, Dr C K Prahalad. The unique concept ensures that the hotels provide facilities to meet the key needs of today's traveller, at surprisingly affordable rates.

Work on new Ginger hotels has commenced in Goa, Pondicherry and Agartala and will also commence work on hotels in Pantnagar, Baroda, Tirupur, Guwahati, Nasik, Ludhiana, Jamshedpur, Delhi, Mangalore, Paradeep and Ahmedabad, amongst other destinations within the next couple of months.