Thailand’s Dusit group to build five luxury hotels in India

CHIANG MAI - Thai hospitality chain Dusit, acclaimed for blending modern global service standards with the country’s traditional hospitality in its hotels, hopes to open its first luxury property outside the country in New Delhi next year.

This will be followed by four more hotels and resorts, one each in the national capital, Jaipur, Rishikesh and Goa, by 2013, as part of the group’s major expansion plans in the international space.

“The expansion plan in India includes opening of the company’s first-ever Dusit Devarana — the most luxurious brand under the Dusit International umbrella,” said Anton Kilayko, corporate director with the hospitality chain.

Officials said they have entered into a joint venture pact with India’s $100-million Bird group, with interests in travel trade, hospitality and airport services, to bring the collection of Dusit brands to the country.

The new venture is looking to bring the best in Asian hospitality to the Indian capital before the Commonwealth Games to meet the anticipated shortage of rooms during what is touted as the second largest sporting event in the world.

The Dusit team in this Thai resort explained that the “Devarana” brand itself has been derived from Sanskrit, translating into “garden in heaven” and its spas combine age-old therapies and modern knowledge to pamper and revitalise guests.

The New Delhi project will be the first luxury hotel in Dusit’s India portfolio with only 78 luxury rooms, located near the city centre of New Delhi, officials at the chain said.

This is also the company’s fifth sub-brand and promises the visitor who values only the finest in the world a definitive sanctuary, they added.

“Every aspect of the Bird-Dusit properties is expected to set a new benchmark for the Indian hotel industry,” said Ankur Bhatia, executive director of the project collaborators, the Bird group.

“The brand culture will be manifested through its people — a devoted group of professionals inspired to understand the needs of each guest and deliver highly personalised experiences to create the elusive Dusit Devarana,” Kilayko added.

The officials explained that in New Delhi, apart from launching their Devarana brand, they will also built another property under the DusitD2 brand. The projects in Jaipur, Rishikesh and Goa will be offered under the Devrana brand.

The Dusit group’s unique selling proposition is in detail. Guests have a wide menu to choose from even for the pillows, with a selection that includes those that seek to curb snoring, originally designed for American astronauts.

In fact, even its menus are known to combine some of the best in Thai and Indian cuisines. The highly acclaimed restaurant here, Moxxie at D2, offers some amazing dishes like broiled snow fish tikka and tajima wagyu meats with morel sauce.

The fare includes some palette-tickling ginger-based desserts and the chef has added new Asian-Indian dishes to the selection of cuisines.

“The day is not far when I can delightfully order my favourite dish — mutton rogan josh with makki ki roti — at the D2 hotel restaurant in Chiang Mai,” said Tarun Kalra, a senior executive here and all of 30 years.

The Dusit group hopes to use the experiences of team members like Kalra — who have joined the group after stints at the Ritz-Carlton and Raffles in Singapore — to ensure that their properties in India also blend to the regional tastes.