Marriott International opens new hotel in Mahabaleshwar

Neeraj Govil, senior vice president of operations for Asia Pacific (excluding Greater China) at Marriott International, said that Courtyard is one of the fastest growing brands in the world and that there are huge opportunities for the brand in India.

The hotel has announced that it will have four restaurants and organize strawberry picking in Mahabaleshwar, known as the strawberry capital of the country.

Last month, the hotel industry major announced that it had signed 22 new hotel agreements in South Asia. These have taken place in India, Bhutan, Sri Lanka, Maldives, Bangladesh and Nepal over the past 18 months and are expected to add nearly 3,000 rooms. The American hotel major also manages brands such as Fairfield by Marriott, Four Points by Sheraton, Aloft Hotels and Moxy Hotels. Its Moxy brand will enter India by 2023.

In 2018, Marriott International completed the acquisition of Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide for a hefty $ 12.2 billion, making it the world’s largest hotel company with more than 30 brands and 7,600 hotel properties. The company has more than 1,423,044 rooms worldwide and competes with brands such as InterContinental Hotels Group, Wyndham Worldwide and Choice Hotels International.

According to the hotel consultancy Hotelivate, in fiscal year 2020-21, the supply of existing rooms in India increased by 3.3% compared to the previous fiscal year, bringing the total number of branded rooms nationwide at 144,047. This took into account approximately 4,093 new rooms opened during the year. He added that while the proposed supply for the past two years was around 60,273 rooms, overall active development was down to 61% (from 74% in 2018-19).