Most five-star hotels don’t really prefer autos whizzing into their porticos, but here’s one that’s got a funky auto grandly parked in its lobby. Zone by The Park, the new “design and price-conscious” brand of properties by The Park hotels, has quite a few endearing quirks up its sleeve. “If you live in a small city, you look for a good bar and a good banqueting facility. Zone is a new brand that hopes to tap into the Indian traveller in tier II and tier III cities. It has the essence of The Park,” says Priya Paul, chairperson, Apeejay Surrendra Park hotels.
The first of the Zone properties will open in Coimbatore. Another four will open next year at Jaipur, the OMR, Chennai, Mahabalipuram and Raipur. The hotel at Coimbatore will have 56 rooms, two bars, a rooftop swimming pool and bar and a banqueting facility; the one on the OMR will have 50 rooms; Mahabalipuram, 43 rooms (not on the beach but with views of the sea); and Raipur, the biggest, will have 72 rooms along with a nightclub. “People have money to spend and want to have a taste of city life,” she says. All the hotels are identical but have different colour schemes. They will have interesting zones — work zone, play zone, gaming zone… and a vibrant auto that sells local food and kitschy knick knacks. “Priced between Rs. 3,000 and Rs. 4,000 the hotels are going to be a smart, efficient and modern place to stay,” says Priya.
In addition to that, The Park Collection will get two new properties. These are the boutique hotels with 20 to 40 rooms. Chennai already has The Park Pod and Calangute in Goa has one too. The other two will come up at Wayanad and the Chettinad region.
The first Park property was set up in 1967 at Park Street, Calcutta. Forty-seven years on, the company now has seven properties under The Park banner with three new ones underway, and two under The Park collection. It has been a cautious, conservative approach, says Priya. “The idea is to invest assets wisely in the development of land and real estate,” she adds. “The goal is to have 20-25 hotels in the next five years.”
Other than hotels, branches of Flurys, the iconic tea house in Kolkata with its legion of loyalists, have also been launched in Hyderabad and Navi Mumbai. Will Chennai also get a taste of the popular all-day breakfast, the rum balls, puddings and other delectable confectionery that it’s known for? “We are experimenting with these two cities. Let’s see if that stabilises,” says Priya with a smile. Priya Paul joined the Apeejay Surrendra group in 1988 and worked with her father for a year-and-a-half before he passed away. She was then the marketing manager of The Park in New Delhi. After her father’s demise, she took charge of the hotels in Kolkata, Delhi and Vishakapatnam. Of the properties the group owns, the one in Hyderabad is her favourite. “I put a lot of energy and love into it. This is the first one we built; the others were bought and converted.” Often credited with introducing the concept of boutique hotels to the country, she says she was 23 then and was thinking of ways on how to make the hotel stand out when she she stumbled upon the idea. So, in 1992, the revamp of the hotels began with the focus on design. Nightclubs and bars were added, and in 1994, Kolkata got Someplace Else, a pub still popular. “Basically, in the 80s hotels were staid. We created interesting places to dine and hang out at,” she says nonchalantly, and mentions Aqua, the first of the outdoor bar/ dining by the pool concept that the group came up with in Chennai. Aqua has been revamped again… and now Lotus has gone in for a change too. “A lot of things are being redone. Wait and see what’s coming,” she smiles.
