EllBee Hospitality Worldwide, Rishikesh, India, is opening its first hotel this month, the 32-room EllBee Ganga View, also located in Rishikesh.
The upscale boutique brand, ran by brothers Sahil and Sahib Gulati, has a pipeline of three other hotels, all located in the northern India state of Uttarakhand, known as the “Land of the Gods” due to its many religious pilgrimage sites. These include another Rishikesh hotel to be completed in August 2013, a 98-room hotel in Mussoorie and 25-room resort in Haridwar to be completed in 2014. EllBee will own and operate all the properties, although it said it will eventually take on third-party management contracts.
To find out more about the new brand, HOTELS spoke with Sahib Gulati, director of marketing at EllBee Hospitality Worldwide.
HOTELS: What motivated you and your brother to launch EllBee?
Sahib Gulati: The idea behind launching EllBee Hotels was to provide an experience to visitors to Uttarakhand that will match with the best all over India as well as abroad. We felt that despite Uttarakhand having such popular destinations like Rishikesh, Mussoorie, Haridwar and Dehradun there were not enough luxurious accommodations available in the region.
Hence, we decided to fill in that gap and created a brand that provides a luxurious experience for the guests.
HOTELS: What will make EllBee hotels unique?
Gulati: At our first hotel, EllBee Ganga View, we have paid meticulous attention to detail. The marble inlay work in the hotel has been done by experts from Agra who are descendants of the families that built the Taj Mahal. Other stonework in hotel was done by expert artistans from Makrana. We feel the craftsmanship that we have incorporated in our hotel provides a unique luxurious dimension to the hotel.
HOTELS: What will the opening rate at EllBee Ganga View and what is the initial projected occupancy?
Gulati: One of the ethos which we have adopted for our brand is to provide a blend of luxury and affordability. Hence our room rates would not be as high as one would expect from a high-end luxurious hotel.
We have four categories of rooms. The opening rate of our deluxe rooms is US$100, premier rooms are US$130, executive suites are US$155 and our Ganga royale suites are US$200.
We have already started receiving bookings for the month of April and May and our initial projected occupancy is 70% to 75%.
HOTELS: Who will the primary customer of these hotels be?
Gulati: Uttarakhand, being one of the most spiritual places in India, receives a lot of pilgrimage tourists.
Rishikesh is known as the “Yoga Capital of the World,” so we expect a lot of international leisure visitors, too. The Beatles helped popularize Rishikesh when they stayed here with the Maharishi Mahesh Yogi in 1968. With this in mind, we have partnered with yoga gurus and will be conducting free morning and evening lessons of yoga for all our guests on the hotel terrace, which overlooks the Ganges. We will also be performing Aarti rituals for our guests and other engagement activities.
HOTELS: What are the challenges of operating in Uttarakhand?
Gulati: One of the challenges of operating in Uttrakhand is the limited support from the state’s tourism department. Despite being blessed with the famous Hindu pilgrimage sites of Yamunotri, Gangotri, Kedarnath and Badrinath that make up the Charm Dham as well as Sikh pilgrimage sites Hemkund Sahib and Nanakmatta and the Piran Kaliyar dargah for Muslim pilgrimages, Uttarakhand has not yet been able to turn into the huge market it could become.
The state has not prioritized the region’s travel infrastructure and as a result there is limited connectivity. The state needs to identify potential tourist circuits and fund infrastructure projects to make Uttrakhand more tourist-friendly.
HOTELS: Any plans to expand outside of Uttrakhand?
Gulati: Over the next five years, all our projects will be set up in Uttarakhand. However, we have identified some locations in Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh where we might develop some properties after establishing our presence in Uttarakhand. Our aim is to be a leading hotel chain with locations that capture the essence of India.