Starwood to manage Vatika`s hotel in Gurgaon  ( June '10,2005, BS)

Delhi-based real estate major Vatika Group has signed an agreement with Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide, a leading hotel and leisure company, to manage its Westin Hotel in Gurgaon. This will be the first Westin hotel in India.

Gaurav Bhalla, executive director, Vatika Group said, “The investment in the hotel will be around Rs 350 crores, including the land cost.”

Scheduled to open in 2007, the hotel will have 300 rooms, five dining outlets, 17,500 square feet of meeting and function space, retail outlets and 16,000 square feet big health and spa centre.

Miguel Ko, president, Starwood Hotels and Resorts Asia-Pacific said, “We expect this to be the first of several hotel projects we will work on with Vatika Group.” Similar projects are on the anvil at Bangalore and Jaipur also.

The hotel will mostly target business travellers. Along with the hotel, 150 Westin Serviced Apartments are being developed in Vatika City, a 3.2 million square feet group housing project in Gurgaon, worth Rs 700 crores. These apartments will be managed by Starwood as an adjunct to The Westin New Delhi Hotel.

Starwood Hotels and Resorts opened five new hotels across the world in 2004. Presently it has 23 hotels under development throughout Asia Pacific that are scheduled to open over the next four years. Starwood owns several brands like Sheraton, Luxury Collection, W brands etc.

Their first entry into India was with the Sheraton brand.

Vatika Group has developed prime commercial properties in National Capital Region like First India Place, Vatika Triangle and Vatika Atrium. It is presently developing two more commercial complexes- Vatika Towers and Vatika Technology Park totalling over one million square feet.