By Bikramjit Ray

VEER VIJAY Singh, (see photo) Chief Operating Officer of Vivanta Hotels and Resorts, spoke exclusively to BW Hotelier about the plans ahead for Vivanta by Taj during the launch of the newest sprawling Vivanta Hotel to open on a seven-acre plot in Dwarka, New Delhi.

’We plan to have 10 more Vivanta Hotels by the end of 2020,’ he told us, these include hotels in as diverse places as Rishikesh, Andaman Islands and Lakshwadeep and internationally in the Middle East and Africa. The most recent openings on the card are one hotel each at Amritsar and Guwahati by the end of 2016.

Speaking to BW Hotelier exclusively at the launch of the fourth Vivanta by Taj and the seventh Taj in the National Capital Region (the others Vivanta properties are in Gurgaon, Surajkund and New Delhi), Singh said it was the soft skills of the group hotels, which make them absolute standouts.

’When you differentiate the hotel you get more focussed on whatever you are delivering, the brand standard, the service style. It’s the soft touches which really make a difference,’ he said. This hotel had the ’Kabir’ project an AV experience of Kabir’s work and ’Terra Forma’ an art exhibition as its Vivanta Motifs, reflecting the Vivanta philosophy of hospitality with a difference.

Singh was confident that the new Vivanta by Taj in Dwarka was going to be a success within a very short time. A thought, echoed by Anil Malhotra, the General Manager of the hotel, who--when asked about his take on what 2015-2016 looked like’told us, ’We are going to get the largest bite of the pie in Dwarka by the end of the next financial year. ’

He told us that he was banking quite a bit on the MICE and banqueting business as well. ’We already have had a major conference and some large weddings in the hotel,’ he told us.

With ARRs in the region of Rs 5500 to Rs 6000, the aim was to raise them to Rs 7000 and aim for occupancies in the region of 60 per cent, we were told by Vikram Berry, Director of Sales told BW Hotelier.

The hotel itself, built like a piece of folded earth coloured origami model has 250 rooms all curiously angular like the main building structure. We were impressed by the use of light and the windows that offered fantastic views of the surroundings’since this was not inside the airport zone, some rooms afforded beautiful views of planes landing and taking off’all within the super quiet hotel.

The hotel itself was designed by Hong Kong based Research Architecture Design or RAD who already have a number of hotels designed across China and South Korea.

The hotel has in the region of 17000 square feet of flexible meeting and event facilities. This includes nine meeting rooms, from small, to large (the ballroom has a 27 feel high ceiling. The conferencing faciliites in the hotel, as expected from a brand new building, has all the bells and whistles built into it.

There are two restaurants, the all-day dining restaurant Creo which has a variety of cuisines including, as the team were very proud to point out, a great sushi counter. There is also the Indus Express, which offers food from undivided Punjab. Interestingly the hotel also offers a Blue Line Menu of Delhi street food, in line with the fact that they are at one of the DMRC Blue Line and on Metro land. The hotel also has a bar, Tipple and a Deli, Caramel. The Kitchen team is led by Executive Chef Elangovan Shanmugan.

Like all Taj properties, Vivanta Dwarka also have a Jiva Spa on premises.

Bikramjit Ray is Executive Editor, BW Hotelier.