NEW DELHI, INDIA Hilton Worldwide has signed a management agreement with Eros Resorts & Hotels Ltd. to manage two new properties in New Delhi’s Mayur Vihar business district, marking the debut of DoubleTree by Hilton in the country.
Both hotels, which are twin towers, were originally under contract to be flagged by IHG brands. The new DoubleTree was to be Hotel Holiday Inn Mayur Vihar, while the planned Hotel InterContinental Eros, Mayur Vihar, will be adopting the Hilton Hotels & Resorts brand instead.
The 173-key Hilton New Delhi Mayur Vihar is scheduled to open within the next few months. The other building, which is currently operating for the past few months as an unbranded hotel, will open as DoubleTree by Hilton New Delhi Mayur Vihar “soon,” although an official date has not been announced.
Eros also owns the 214-key InterContinental Nehru Palace, New Delhi. IHG confirms that property is leaving its system later this year, and reports in the India press say that Hilton is in talks to flag that hotel as well. A Hilton spokesman did not immediately respond to a request for comment from HOTELS.
Hilton New Delhi Mayur Vihar will offer three food and beverage outlets, a health club, a spa and an outdoor pool. The neighboring 196-key DoubleTree by Hilton New Delhi Mayur Vihar has an all-day dining restaurant and a specialty restaurant, along with a business centre, event space for 600 guests, a health club and an outdoor pool.
Hilton Worldwide is focusing much of its development efforts in Asia Pacific region, where it has 112 hotels and 32,916 guestrooms in the pipeline. “We foresee phenomenal opportunities in India,” says President and CEO Chris Nassetta. “We are expanding rapidly and will more than triple our presence in the country in the next two years, from four trading hotels to a total of 14, including these two properties signed with Eros Resorts & Hotels.”
Hilton Worldwide currently operates four hotels under two brands in three cities in India: Hilton Janakpuri New Delhi, Hilton Mumbai International Airport, Hilton Chennai and Hilton Garden Inn Saket New Delhi.
Including these two new properties in New Delhi, Hilton Worldwide expects to open a total of 10 new hotels by 2012, including five Hilton Hotels & Resorts, three DoubleTrees by Hilton, a Hilton Garden Inn and a Hampton by Hilton. Locations include New Delhi, Bangalore, Gurgaon and Baroda. Hilton Worldwide has more than 20 properties under various stages of development across its portfolio of brands in India.