Ginger hotel announces its East India plans
Kolkata, March 6, 2007

For the GenNext 'Smart Basics' hotel from The Indian Hotels Company Limited

The Indian Hotels Company Limited (IHCL) today announced an expansion plan of its GenNext ‘Smart Basics’ Hotel - Ginger for East India. Launched in June­ 2004, the Smart Basics Concept created a revolution in the world of Indian hospitality. Today Ginger Hotels has six fully functional properties and under the current expansion plans; Roots Corporation Ltd (RCL) the wholly owned subsidiary of IHCL that operates the ‘Smart Basics’ hotels is taking the category across fourteen destinations in India.

This 101-room hotel in Durgapur is the latest addition to the growing chain of Ginger Hotels across the country, which includes Bangalore, Haridwar, Bhubaneswar, Mysore, Thiruvananthapuram and Pune.

Ginger Hotel in Durgapur is the second hotel to be opened in the East after Bhubaneswar. The company is exploring opportunities of opening more hotels in West Bengal at Kolkata, Siliguri, Haldia and Kharagpur.

Speaking on this occasion, Mr. Prabhat Pani, Chief Executive Officer, Roots Corporation Limited, said, “These locations have been identified after detailed studies across various parameters such as potential of the market, clusters of clientele and peak periods among others. The increasing business and commerce, leisure travel linked to these destinations has also led companies like ours to look at providing a branded product in this segment”

Ginger Hotels is tapping into these niche markets and targeting the customers who are looking for a branded product at a viable price making it a profitable proposition for the traveller. As this brand caters to the middle class traveller, both Indian and International, business and leisure, it aims to be present in gateway cities – metros and mini metros as well as class A and B satellite towns and leisure and pilgrimage destinations.

Ginger Hotels characterize freshness. The hotels are simple, unique, reasonable, basic, very different, light-hearted, Indian and innovative. Priced at Rs. 999 for a single room and Rs. 1199 for a double room, Ginger Hotels have created a new category in the domestic hospitality landscape, while giving a major fillip to Indian tourism and other ancillary industries. The primary objective behind the launch of these hotels is to provide a superior product offering and consistent experience to travellers, far beyond the present offerings in the industry.

The Ginger hotels are modern, modular and scalable, providing guests with a consistent experience. These hotels will have 100 / 200 well-appointed rooms, with a choice of single, twin and queen sized rooms. The rooms will be individually air-conditioned and provided with electronic locks, comfortable beds, a work area, a 17-inch flat screen color television with satellite channels, direct-dial telephone including STD facility, mini-fridge, tea/coffee maker, 24 hours hot/cold water and toiletries. Other guest facilities at these hotels would include a restaurant, meeting room, gymnasium facilities, a cyber café, 24-hour reception, automatic check in kiosk, digital safe deposit boxes, 100% power back up, as well as wi-fi connectivity in the public areas and individual rooms.

Indigenously designed and developed by IHCL, the guiding principle behind the design was to create a unique ‘space’ that is conducive not only for guest comfort and relaxation but also for their work requirements. The design of the hotel, from the rooms to the furniture and lighting systems, have been thoughtfully created to offer users a unique sense of welcome.

Smart Basics – a GenNext category of hotels – signifies simplicity, convenience, informality, style, warmth, modernity and affordability. The concept was developed in association with renowned corporate strategy thinker, Dr. C.K. Prahalad. The hotels are built around a unique concept that provides facilities to meet the key needs of today's traveller, at surprisingly affordable rates.

Work on Ginger Hotels has commenced in Goa, Pondicherry and Agartala and will also commence work on hotels in Pantnagar, Baroda, Tirupur, Guwahati, Nasik, Ludhiana, Jamshedpur, Delhi, Mangalore, Paradeep and Ahmedabad, amongst other destinations within the next couple of months.

About Roots Corporation Limited
Roots Corporation Limited (RCL) is a wholly owned subsidiary of the Indian Hotels Company Limited (IHCL). Incorporated in December 2003, RCL operates Ginger, a first-of-its-kind category of 'Smart Basics' hotels. The first Ginger hotel was launched in Bangalore.