By Bikramjit Ray
BIRD GROUP’s Executive Director, Ankur Bhatia (see photo) gave BW Hotelier an exclusive interview explaining his ethos of hoteliering and giving us a peek into what the future plans were for the company.
’I will grow my collection when I find the right product. I am not a listed company or a Venture Capitalist. It is a matter of getting the right product. The hotel has to fit the overall luxury and collection portfolio of ours,’ Bhatia told us.
’In the last year, since we opened the Dusit Devarana, we have one of the highest ARRs in the city. Occupancies are not that high, but it takes time for the product to settle down. We have not opened the hotel completely as of now. In April we add a new Chinese restaurant called Chini,’ he said.
What Bhatia was really excited about was Dusit D2, to open soon. ’It is a totally different lifestyle product. With 216 key more focused on the younger traveler. It has very nice f and B outlets’A pool bar with Japanese cuisine and a cinema as well as high end retail within the hotel. The suites are done by Fendi,’ he said.
About future plans, Bhatia said, ’I have a hotel in London on Hyde Park called the Royal Park and we are looking at more properties in the UK. In India we have land, but we are not building for the time being. We continue to explore and acquire land. In India there will always be a new build kind of an opportunity. As far as acquiring hotels go, the cost of actually doing them up to the standards we want, would be actually as much as building the hotel ourselves’.
The Group’s plan for the next five years is very opportunistic. ’In UK we are looking at opportunities. If we find the right product we will of course go ahead. In India, when we want to build, when the situation is right, we will actually go ahead. There are products available internationally which fit our portfolio, but not in India right now,’ he concluded.
Bikramjit Ray is Executive Editor, BW Hotelier.
BIRD GROUP’s Executive Director, Ankur Bhatia (see photo) gave BW Hotelier an exclusive interview explaining his ethos of hoteliering and giving us a peek into what the future plans were for the company.
’I will grow my collection when I find the right product. I am not a listed company or a Venture Capitalist. It is a matter of getting the right product. The hotel has to fit the overall luxury and collection portfolio of ours,’ Bhatia told us.
’In the last year, since we opened the Dusit Devarana, we have one of the highest ARRs in the city. Occupancies are not that high, but it takes time for the product to settle down. We have not opened the hotel completely as of now. In April we add a new Chinese restaurant called Chini,’ he said.
What Bhatia was really excited about was Dusit D2, to open soon. ’It is a totally different lifestyle product. With 216 key more focused on the younger traveler. It has very nice f and B outlets’A pool bar with Japanese cuisine and a cinema as well as high end retail within the hotel. The suites are done by Fendi,’ he said.
About future plans, Bhatia said, ’I have a hotel in London on Hyde Park called the Royal Park and we are looking at more properties in the UK. In India we have land, but we are not building for the time being. We continue to explore and acquire land. In India there will always be a new build kind of an opportunity. As far as acquiring hotels go, the cost of actually doing them up to the standards we want, would be actually as much as building the hotel ourselves’.
The Group’s plan for the next five years is very opportunistic. ’In UK we are looking at opportunities. If we find the right product we will of course go ahead. In India, when we want to build, when the situation is right, we will actually go ahead. There are products available internationally which fit our portfolio, but not in India right now,’ he concluded.
Bikramjit Ray is Executive Editor, BW Hotelier.
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