ITC to Launch its First Luxury Hotel in Goa

ITC plans its first luxury hotel in Goa after it takes over the 252-room sea-facing resort property currently run by US-based hotel chain Hyatt under the Park Hyatt brand.

The company will take over Hyatt's beach front (Arossim beach) property located at Cansaulim, South Goa in September. It will run the hotel, which has 5 suites and 9 food and beverage options, under the brand ITC Grand.

Although the Kolkata-based company already has an operational property in Goa under the mid-market brand Fortune, the state remains the most under-represented for ITC in terms of hotels.

The company has a collection of 12 luxury hotel properties across Mumbai, Delhi, Chennai, Kolkata, Bengaluru, and Jaipur.

ITC bought the Park Hyatt property from its owners Blue Coast Hotels through an auction held by IFCI (the erstwhile Industrial Finance Corporation of India) for INR 541 crore in 2015.

But the promoters of Blue Coast Hotels moved courts to stall the sale, stating that the property has been undervalued by IFCI and that it was worth INR 1,200 crore. The hotel was kept as collateral against a loan taken from IFCI. But earlier this year, ITC won the case along with a guarantee that the property is handed over to it within six months.

"We regret to inform you that we anticipate a change in ownership and management of the hotel on September 19, 2018. From and after this date, the hotel is expected to no longer be affiliated with Hyatt," Hyatt said in an advisory.

ITC's hotels business is currently concentrated in India. The company operates 107 properties under four distinct brands – 'ITC Hotel' in the luxury segment, 'WelcomHotel' in the upper-upscale segment, 'Fortune' in the mid-market-to-upscale segment, and 'WelcomHeritage' in the leisure and heritage segment.