The Le Meridien Group of Hotels is revamping locally after the global merger of the group with the US-based Starwoods Hotels & Resorts three months ago.
To begin with, the group, which was earlier under Le Meridien's operations in the Middle East, will become part of Starwoods' activities in South Asia (India, Nepal and Bangladesh).
The South Asian operations will be headquartered in Starwood's new office in Gurgaon, said Julian R Groom, general manager, Le Royal Meridien, Mumbai. Starwoods' new office will be headed by Stephen Ford, vice-president and area managing director, South Asia (India, Nepal and Bangladesh). Ford had held a similar position in his previous posting in Indonesia.
The initial phase of integration of the Le Meridien group with Starwoods Hotel & Resort in India will be completed by the first week of April.
"The integration of features of Le Meridien like the room reservation systems, usage of loyalty cards and room representations will be completed by April. Other procedures like the human resources policy, reporting and control procedures, sales & marketing and tariffs will be integrated subsequently," said Groom.
The Le Meridien group currently operates eight hotels in India through management contracts in New Delhi, Bangalore, Pune, Mumbai, Chennai, Kochi and Jaipur. Globally, the group manages 130 hotels spanning 56 countries. Recently, Le Royal Meridien Mumbai won the five-star Diamond Award, 2006.
"Le Meridien is looking to double its presence in the next 3-4 years. The group intends to manage new hotels in places like Goa, Kolkota, Agra, Nagpur and Baroda. We are looking forward to play new innings with the backing of Starwood," said Groom.
Le Meridien had occupancy of about 85 percent in its hotels and an average room rate of Rs 8,000 across Mumbai, New Delhi, Bangalore and Chennai in the past one year.
Starwoods globally manages hotel brands like Westin Hotels & Resorts, Sheraton Hotels & Resorts, Four Points, St Regis, the Luxury Collection and W Hotels.
