September 5th, 2006
Traders Hotel opens in Chennai
Asia-Pacific’s luxury hotel group, Shangri-La Hotels and Resorts, opened its first hotel in India, the Traders Hotel, Chennai, in association with J-Hotels on April 22. DMK president M Karunanidhi declared it open.
DMK general secretary K Anbazhagan, Jagatrakshagan of J-Hotels, and a number of political personalities were present.
The hotel is located on G N Chetty Road in T Nagar, Chennai.
The Shangri-La group is developing more properties in India, including Shangri-La Hotel, New Delhi, which will open mid-2005, and three new properties in Bangalore which will open between August 2007 to December 2008. In all, 8-10 hotels would be up by the group in India in the next four to five years.
“The opening of Traders Hotel, Chennai, is a significant milestone marking the first entry into India for the Shangri-La group and particularly the Traders brand,” said Giovanni Angelini, chief executive officer and managing director of Shangri-La Hotels and Resorts. “We are excited to be represented in Chennai with its key position in India and strong links to South-East Asia. This is an important progression of our expansion plan for the region.”
Chennai is well known as “the jewellery and silk capital of south India”, said Symon Bridle, vice-president, Shangri-La.
Chennai is a major destination in the world now due to the IT boom, he added.
The Traders Hotel, Chennai, is conveniently situated in the heart of the city, close to the shopping hub of T Nagar. All 162 guestrooms, with a minimum size of 30 square metres, have data ports and broadband Internet connectivity. Amenities and services include 24-hour room service, same day laundry and valet, and satellite TV. Located on the 10th to 12th floor of the hotel, the Traders Club offers exclusive privileges and services such as express check-in and check-out, free use of meeting room, and a club lounge for daily breakfast and evening cocktails, said Andrea Mastellone, general manager, Chennai.
Dining and entertainment facilities include Seasons Cafe, Indiana, a contemporary Indian restaurant; Zodiac, the hotel bar; and a roof-top restaurant which will open in a second phase. Meeting and banquet facilities feature a 516-square-metre grand ballroom which can be divided into two rooms, as well as other banquet halls with a total space of 450 square metres. Facilities such as business centre, health club, massage rooms and swimming pool are also available.
“We are very excited to see the opening of Traders Hotel, Chennai. We are certain the hotel will become an attractive choice for business and leisure travellers to this region,” commented Dr J Sri Nisha, co-owner of J-Hotels Ltd, the developer and owner of Traders Hotel, Chennai.
“We selected Shangri-La to manage the hotel due to the strength of this award-winning brand and its long-standing reputation for delivering service excellence,” said J Sandeep Annand, director of the J-Hotels Ltd.
Hong Kong-based Shangri-La Hotels and Resorts currently manages 46 hotels under the Shangri-La and Traders Hotels brands, with a rooms inventory of over 21,000. Traders Hotels are designed to satisfy the needs of the fast-growing, mid-market travel segment by offering a comprehensive range of facilities, and swift and friendly service, at competitive rates. Traders Hotels offer executive floors and lounges, fitness facilities and business centres.
Introduced in 1989, Traders Hotels are located in Beijing, Dubai, Manila, Singapore, Shenyang, Yangon and Changzhou, with scheduled openings in Kunshan and Urumqi in Mainland China, Kuala Lumpur in Malaysia and Bangalore in India. In aggregate, the group has over 30 hotel projects under development in Canada, Mainland China, India, Malaysia, Maldives, Mongolia, Oman, Philippines, Qatar, Thailand, the United Arab Emirates and the United Kingdom. For more information and reservations, access the web site at www.tradershotels.com.
Shangri-La Hotels and Resorts, announced that the group has signed management contracts with India’s Adarsh Group to operate three new hotels in Bangalore, starting August 2007, adding a total of more than 1,000 rooms to the group’s inventory in India.
The hotel has named Singapore-based CPG Corporation its architect and Hirsch Bedner Associates Design Consultants, its interior designer.
Guest rooms are designed to be modern and will reflect a classic yet contemporary style combined with local cultural influences. Wireless and broadband Internet access will be available in each room to meet the needs of business travellers. The hotel will feature CHI spa, Shangri-La’s signature spa brand with its treatments based on Chinese and Himalayan healing concepts. The hotel will also provide dining and entertainment outlets, as well as meeting and banqueting facilities including a grand ballroom of 500 square metres.
A Traders Hotel will also open in August 2007 with 250 rooms near International Tech Park situated at Whitefield, Bangalore, about 7 km from the Bangalore airport. With spacious guestrooms and various dining and entertainment options, as well as business facilities including broadband and wireless Internet access, the hotel will cater to the needs of mid-market travellers.
Opening December 2008, Shangri-La will also operate a 330-room business retreat and spa located at outer ring road in the IT corridor, about 6 km from Bangalore airport. A second phase will include 200 additional rooms and 200 serviced apartments. The property will be designed with lush landscaping and recreation facilities such as tennis, squash, putting golf and health club. Shangri-La’s exclusive CHI will be a separate spa village complex designed as a sanctuary within the hotel. The hotel will also feature extensive meeting and convention facilities, with a total space of over 1,000 square metres.
“These excellent new additions of Shangri-La will reinforce our presence in India and will complement the Traders Hotel, Chennai, and the Shangri-La Hotel, New Delhi, which will open in the second and third quarter of 2005 respectively,” said Giovanni Angelini, Shangri-La’s chief executive officer and managing director.