Starwood checking out of DB’s Mumbai hotel

Global hospitality major Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide is checking out of flagship Le Royal Meridien hotel in Mumbai.
It will be replaced by one of Hilton Worldwide’s five-star deluxe brands.

The decision on the new brand association is expected to be made within a week,” said two sources familiar with the development.

Though the reasons for this are not known, it is understood that the 10-year management contract with Starwood was nearing expiry and DB Hospitality amicably decided not to go for a renewal.
This may also be because Starwood opened a Westin hotel in Goregaon East with the recently listed Oberoi Realty.

“It seems DB Hospitality wanted to have a differentiated product and a brand that was not yet available in Mumbai,” he said.
Hilton Worldwide has been desperately looking for a Mumbai presence after its association with P R S Oberoi promoted EIH Ltd was called off sometime in 2007.

Starwood will be disassociating from property located on Sahar Airport Road in the vicinity of Mumbai’s international airport on December 31 this year.

The 171-room boutique five-star deluxe hotel is owned by DB Hospitality and is part of Dynamix Balwa Group, which has interest in real estate (DB Realty), hospitality, telecom (Etisalat DB) and infrastructure.

Julian Groom, COO and executive director, DB Hospitality, couldn’t be reached for a comment on this development. Calls to his mobile phone remained unanswered. He did not revert to text messages requesting for confirmation and details as well.
DB Hospitality currently has three properties — one each in Mumbai (Le Royal Meridien), Ahmedabad (Le Meridien) and Rajasthan.

It has also tied up with Hyatt International for upcoming properties in Mumbai, Goa, Pune, Hinjewadi and Mundra (Gujarat).

Le Royal Meridien Mumbai currently has a manpower base of over 250 people of which some of the key positions are manned by Starwood officials themselves.

“DB Hospitality always remains the principal employer of the
majority of the hotel staff. Thus, with a few exceptions, the entire management team will continue operating the hotel under a different brand name though,” said another source familiar with the development.