India's Leela Hotel Expands

Chain will double in size by 2011

As India’s economy grows and the country emerges as a key business hub and destination, the Leela Palaces, Hotels and Resorts (theleela.com) has embarked on a three-year, $500 million expansion plan that will double its room capacity by introducing six new properties, which will bring its total number of hotels to 10. The new properties will be in Gurgaon Delhi NCR (2008), Udaipur (2008), Chennai (2009), New Delhi (2010), Hyderabad (2010) and Pune (2010). Hotels currently in operation are located in Mumbai, Bangalore, Kovalam and Goa. The company has marketing alliances with Preferred Hotels and Kempinski and is a member of the Global Hotel Alliance.