CHENNAI: Marking the entry of the InterContinental Hotel Group’s Crowne Plaza brand into Chennai, Park Sheraton, one of the landmarks of the city is being re-christened with a wordy mouthful - Crowne Plaza Chennai Adyar Park.
The move comes following the signing of an agreement between IHG and Adyar Gate Hotels, where the two have come together to operate the newly branded hotel - currently being managed by IHG. This makes the 286-room hotel the second IHG hotel in Chennai, after the Holiday Inn Express Chennai Mahindra World City, apart from signifying the entrance of the Crowne Plaza brand into the city. The site also takes added significance to the group as being on the site of the forst Holiday Inn to have opened in India in the 1970s.
“It’s with great pleasure that we are working together with Adyar Gate Hotels Ltd to launch our Crowne Plaza brand here to cater to the increasing number of business and leisure travellers,” IHG Head of South West Asia, Shantha de Silva said. He also added that at the moment, there are eight Crowne Plaza Hotels and resorts across India. Five additional ones, meanwhile, are due to open in the next 3-5 years, he said.
Adyar Gate Hotels Joint Managing Director Manish Goyal said added that from the point of AGH, the hotel has found itself the right partner.
“The hotel has great potential to increase its share of business through a new and improved corporate and leisure focus, and we are confident we found the right partner to deliver these great experiences,” he said.
IHG currently has 21 hotels with 4,100 rooms in 13 cities in India across four brands - InterContinental, Crowne Plaza, Holiday Inn,Holiday Inn Express.
while another 47 hotels are in the pipeline, including Holiday Inn Express Chennai OMR and Holiday Inn Chennai OMR Tidel Park. The erstwhile Sheraton Park Hotel and Towers was Originally built as “Adyar Gate Hotel” by AGHL. The hotel was then taken over by Goyal family, the present promoters, who took over the controlling stake in February 1985.