The Leela Takes Management Contract Route to Launch New Hotels

By Sourish Bhattacharyya ASSET LIGHT are the two words that have become the overnight favourites of the country's leading luxury hotel chains, which used to revel in the number of owned properties they had around the world. The Indian Hotel Company's Managing Director and CEO Rakesh Sarna first proposed this model soon after taking charge of the beleaguered Taj hotels. Even the Grand Old Man of The Oberoi, PRS Oberoi, clarified recently that the overseas hotels carrying the chain's flag will all be managed properties. And now, sources inside The Leela Palaces, Hotels & Resorts inform us that the financially strapped chain is moving on to the management consultancy-driven model of business on the lines of global corporations such as Marriott International, Starwood, IHG, Hilton International, Hyatt Corp and Wyndham, which do not own, barring certain showpiece addresses because of historical reasons, any of the properties carrying their name. The hotels are owned mostly by real estate developers or real estate investment funds, or by business tycoons such as the Saudi Sheikh Al-Waleed bin Talal, whose Kingdom Holding Company owns The Four Seasons, Fairmont, Raffles, Swissotel and Movenpick hotels. The Leela, one learns, is on an expansion spree, but only as management partner of owners of prime addresses. Dubai is back on its radar, with work having begun on a luxury hotel bang opposite the dancing fountains of the Burj al-Khalifa. In Maldives, The Leela will be managing what is now the Viceroy Resort at the stunning Vagaru Island in the Shaivyani Atoll. A similar foray into Seychelles is also on the cards. Closer home, Jaipur will see a luxury hotel managed by The Leela coming up soon, as will Agra, where each room of the hotel will command the same view of the Taj Mahal. And to make its signature restaurants aren't denied the view (a loss the one at Amar Vilas has to live with), a drone has been employed to pinpoint the elevations that command the best views of the world's most famous monument to love. Agra is also likely to see a hotel of the 50:50 joint venture of the Doha, Qatar-based Aiana Hotels and Resorts with The Leela group spearheaded by its founder, the late Capt. Krishnan Nair's granddaughter Amrudha. The JV has plans to roll out hotels, resorts and serviced apartments in Qatar, Abu Dhabi, Dubai, India and Thailand. Amrudha Nair had earlier been quoted by the Gulf Times as saying: "In India we are looking at greenfield sites -- in Bangalore, Coorg, Sankleshpur (Karnataka) and Thekkady in Kerala. The reason why I am very keen on south India at the moment is that there are not many branded products available there." Certainly, The Leela story is not over yet. It's taking a healthy new direction that is worth watching. The author is Consulting Editor of BW Hotelier.