Luxury business hotels

Most businesses happen over the table no matter where one is located. The marketing of products, expansion of network and building a long-term business relationship are part of the itinerary of an emerging corporate house. Creating brand value and making a presence across geographical boundaries can be achieved with effective business meets. All these have necessitated the emergence of corporate meetings and conferences. To grow in the contemporary competitive business scenario, almost every high-profile company invests a lot on business meets. These companies facilitate the comfortable stay of their business executives in world class luxury business hotels. Again it is the brand that matters. Many a company chooses the biggest and the most happening business hotels in the hospitality sector like the Oberoi Group.

When one recalls about a luxury business hotel, one visualizes about all the latest amenities and facilities introduced in the hospitality sector. Most contemporary luxury hotels upgrade their amenities in sync with the latest developments, fashion and requirements of the demanding business traveler. No doubt, Oberoi Hotels & Resorts stays updated with the latest state of the art features.

Luxury Resorts in India

Luxury is something defined by opulence, elegance, style and creativity. If you are looking out for a holiday that can give you all this, then luxury resorts in India is the best option. Who does not wants to take a break from their monotonous lifestyle and pamper them? Each and every corner of luxury resorts satisfies the taste buds of various customers. You will find excellence in architecture, individuality in interiors and grace in hospitality of these resorts. The grandeur of luxury resorts leaves every visitor spellbound. Whether you are on a holiday or business meeting, the resorts treat you with their fineness.

The location of these resorts also matters a lot. They not only add beauty to the resort; but also increase their demand among visitors. Some of the most popular luxury resorts in India are Amar Vilas Agra, Raj Vilas in Jaipur, Golden Palms Spa & Resorts in Bangalore, The Leela in Kovalam, Radisson White Sand Resorts in Goa, Taj Exotica in Goa, Taj Fisherman’s Cove in Chennai and Le Meridien in Cochin. These resorts incorporate international standards at national level and provide excellent services. Jacuzzi, spa, ayurveda massage parlour, health clubs with advanced equipments and pool games are few of the outstanding services offered by luxury resorts.

Hotel Secret Shopping

Hotel secret shopping has become an effective tool to maturate businesses in hotel industry. Hotel secret shopping is petty different from ordinary hidden shopping services. All luxury hotels need to match their frequency with their customer what they want and need. Different undercover shopping programs for hotels and hospitality businesses provide a powerful tool to evaluate the performance of your hotel from the point of view of your guests. If these assessments are done on a regular basis, you can get a clear view of what areas are doing well and where there is room for more improvements. You will also be able to get an understanding of what new services you can provide for your guests. It is also possible to get assessments done for particular situations or customer profiles.

For those who are still new to the concept of hotel secret shopping, it helps to know what a general assessment consists of. An evaluator will check into a room posing as an ordinary guest. At the check-in counter, they will make a note on how helpful and friendly the staff was as well as if they had to wait a long time to be served. Data is also collected regarding cleanliness of the lobby as well as the actual room. The evaluator will also inspect the room to see that items like shampoo and soap are provided. They will also keep an eye open for items such as broken fixtures- these are aspects that can quickly make a bad impression on any guests.

Since hotel secret shopping is very different from ordinary hidden shopping, it is best to go with a company that has special expertise in the field of hotel assessments.

Hotel Industry stargazes of summery times

The immediate outlook is nothing like as rosy. Revenues are plummeting; hotel occupancy is spiraling downwards. Desperate hoteliers are slashing room rates, ignoring the lesson of the last bout of heavy discounting, which came in the aftermath of the September 11 terrorist attacks. It took years for hoteliers to restore their pre-2001 prices.

Worse, the hotel industry is confronted by a climate of public distaste at business executive’s conspicuous consumption, such as their travel budgets. The big groups merrily sold their hotels in return for long-term franchise and management deals, which gave them multi-year annual fees and a cut of revenues. They became brand managers, rolling out new lifestyle concept hotels. All they needed for growth was a pipeline of new developments.

Now, hotel owners are feeling the pressure, particularly the highly leveraged ones, and are looking to the big operators to “share the pain”. Some hotel advisers predict a bloody year, as hotel owners miss interest payments, while operators lose money on unwanted rooms.

However difficult it may prove this year to find customers, and however low prices may fall in the short term, particularly in emerging markets such as India and China.

DLF –Hilton’ Indian Hotel Plan Emerges

Hilton's relationship with The Oberoi group may have ended but that has not soured Hilton's enthusiasm for India. Mayhap, having learnt from the experience the company will now work with a number of partners instead of a single exclusive relationship.

Hilton has a joint venture with Delhi based developer to institute hotels in the country called DLF-Hilton hotels. The alliance between Oberoi and Hilton came to an end on April 1, 2008. More brands will be there in india.

DLF Hilton will be launching the luxury Hilton brand, the business hotel brand Garden Inn as well as extended stay brand Homewood. Other brands of Hilton not mentioned in the DLF deal include Doubletree, Embassy Suites Hotels, Hampton Inn & Suites, Hilton Grand Vacations, The Waldorf-Astoria Collection, and Hilton Honors. The first DLF-Hilton hotel is expected to be ready at Saket in New Delhi.

These projects are in various stages of development and construction, and will come up in cities like New Delhi, Kolkata, Chennai, Trivandrum, and Chandigarh. DLF will build the hotels and will be managed by an affiliate of Hilton Hotels Corporation in India.

Hotel Occupancy Tax

A hotel's owner, operator, or manager draws hotel taxes from their recipients of hospitality provided by them. For the purposes of the tax, a hotel is adjured to be any building in which guests rent sleeping accommodations for $15 or more per day. Local hotel levy taxes for sleeping rooms up to$2 or more per day.

The tax covers business hotels, leisure resorts, and bed and breakfasts, as well as condominiums, apartments, and houses rented for less than 30 consecutive days. Hotel tax is not being applied to hospitals, sanitariums, nursing homes, student dormitories operated by colleges and universities, or condominiums, apartments, and houses leased for more than 30 consecutive days.

The state hotel tax is 6 percent. Cities and some counties can each levy local hotel generally at rates varying up to 7 percent; sports and community venue projects can levy hotel taxes at rates varying up to 2 percent.

Hotel Industry can get Infrastructure Status

The Ministry of Tourism instructed Indian tourism organizations to unite a alliance under a common umbrella so that their voice could heard as one. Arguing at a panel discussion on Impact of Global Meltdown and Terrorism: India Tourism Fights Back organized by FICCI, Sujit Banerjee, Secretary, Ministry of Tourism, said: “I would like the infinitive agencies in the hospitality domain to inaugurate an pinnacle federation of tourism industry so that the entire industry could work with one intent”.

Banerjee said that the Ministry of Tourism has made a intense pitch to the various arms of the government including the Reserve Bank of India to bestow infrastructure status to the hotel industry. “There is some consent that the hotel sector may be granted that status provided to the corporate entity involved in the hotel industry that sets up a hotel. This status, however, may not be accorded to developers who set up hotels”.

The terrorist strike of November 2008 in Mumbai was the first direct attack on the hospitality domain and we have to confront the challenge and be able to show to the world that we are one in fighting back, Banerjee said, adding that the Ministry of Tourism has made a strong declaration for relief to the tourism sector in income tax, service tax, road tax and easier access to credit.