The promoters of East India Hotels Ltd, owners of the Oberoi brand and the largest hotel chain after the Tata-owned Indian Hotels and ITC Welcome Group, are in advanced discussions with leading corporate houses and private equity firms to divest a strategic stake, possibly 26 per cent.
In an email interview, Devendra Bharma, executive vice president, Oberoi Hotels & Resorts, Mumbai, tells rediff.com about the incredible show of support the hotel has seen.
Shreekant Sambrani remembers P R S 'Biki' Oberoi, personal friend and hospitality icon, who passed into the ages this week.
The taxi driver that took us back to office remarked, "Two days there was no traffic on the streets, today the crowds are back.
The Oberoi Group, which is reopening 100 rooms of the Trident portion on Sunday, said on Saturday that the Oberoi portion, badly damaged in the November 26 terror attack, would take six to seven months to start business.
The overall management responsibility is handed to close aide Shib Sanker Mukherji. The patriarch will be an advisor and guide, and will retain chairmanship of the company.
An account on how traders' lif has changed at the New Oberoi Shopping Centre.
Prithvi Raj Singh Oberoi, chairman of the Oberoi group of hotels, says many people had approached him for picking up stake in EIH, but their investment objectives were not compatible with the company's.
The influx of such international hotels chains into India over the last two years has led to a sharp correction in room rates, not just in Pune but also in other hot spots like Bangalore, Mumbai, Delhi and Goa.
The Oberoi Group on Thursday said the Trident Mumbai, which was one of the hotels targeted by terrorist during last week's attack, will reopen for guests from December 21.
While a certain number of the terrorists had already entered Mumbai and taken shelter in the two hotels, 12 more persons came into Mumbai through the sea-route. While initially it was suggested that the attackers came in from Karachi, investigators are also probing claims made by fishermen in Kerala that a ship unknown to their parts was sighted. The IB is now probing whether this was the mother ship that brought in the attackers
When Indian Hotels Chairman Ratan Tata told shareholders at the annual general meeting earlier this week that the hotel chain, which operates the Taj group, continues to be impacted by the slowdown, he was merely echoing what P R S Oberoi, his counterpart at the East India Hotels (EIH), had said recently.
The National Security Guard's fight against terrorists is 'almost coming to an end' and the commandos were locked in battle with the last batch of the ultras on Thursday night.Mumbai Police Commissioner Hassan Gafoor said all hostages inside the Taj Hotel have been evacuated but refused to comment on whether the terrorists inside the hotel have been killed.Regarding terrorists holed up in the Oberoi Hotel and Nariman House, Gafoor said NSG commandos are leading the operation.
The iconic hotel opens after Rs 6-billion revamp
Reader Rudra Ghosh sent us this picture from California.
Speaking at a special memorial service held at the Trident-Oberoi Hotel, which had along with Taj Mahal Hotel, bore the brunt of the terror attack in 2008, Sarkozy said: 'Mumbai terror attacks are comparable to 9/11 attacks. I count on Pakistan authorities to show that they are resolute in combating terrorism.'
Terrorists holed up inside Mumbai's Taj and Trident-Oberoi hotels allowed 17 Russian hostages, including nine defence contractors, to leave after checking their passports.
The group is developing one property each in Mumbai, Goa and Rajgarh in Madhya Pradesh on its own. It also has partnership projects in Bangalore and Hyderabad.
"There were some pretty scary moments while we were fighting fires at the Taj Hotel. On Thursday night, while we were in a cage trying to rescue guests trapped in the heritage section of the hotel, we saw one of the terrorists carrying a gun," Chief Fire Officer A V Sawant told PTI.
For the moment, the family prefers to keep their faith in God, "We won't give up hope. We won't say no till the last minute," says the Jiwrijka firmly.
Yes Bank chairman Ashok Kapur was on Friday found dead in Mumbai's Oberoi (Trident) Hotel, which was under terrorists' siege for several hours since late Wednesday evening.
Sheryl Sandberg, COO of Facebook, was at her disarming, candid and eloquent best.
"The flushing-out operations at these hotels, being undertaken jointly with National Security Guards, may be over sooner than expected were it not for our endeavour to ensure that there is no collateral damage," the sources said
Mumbai's Taj Mahal hotel and Jaipur's Oberoi Raj Vilas have made it to the world's best hotels' list compiled by Conde Naste Traveller.
TripAdvisor has announced the winners of its 2013 Travellers Choice awards for hotels. In their 4th year in India, the awards have identified the 104 most outstanding properties across the country.
So you're a water baby? Here are 12 of the best hotel swimming in the world!
Guns boom in Mumbai: Be a Citizen Reporter
Grounded carrier Jet Airways on Friday announced the appointment of Sanjiv Kapoor as the chief executive officer. His appointment to the post comes days after the airline brought in former Sri Lankan Airlines CEO Vipula Gunatileka as the chief financial officer. Kapoor, who is currently the president of Oberoi Hotels and Resorts, has been associated with budget carriers SpiceJet and GoAir as well as with full-service carrier Vistara in various capacities in the past.
Set mostly aboard the Ibis, 'a vessel into which (the author) poured his ideas', the book has a vast multicultural cast of characters and speaks several tongues -- the unique patois of the lascars -- a unique breed of multiethnic seafarers -- and ancient curses straight out of Hobson-Dobson.
The death of 11 French engineers in Karachi and Pakistan's secret plot to destabilise India.
Tears of joy and sorrow flowed outside Trident-Oberoi Hotel as the last batch of hostages started coming out on Friday evening.
The raging controversy over author Salman Rushdie's visit to the Jaipur literary festival and the abrupt cancellation of a video link with the writer at the last minute on Tuesday evening refuses to die down. We reproduce an interview with Rushdie, when he visited India in 2000.
An American national who lost both her husband and daughter in the 26/11 terror attacks said the hanging of Pakistani terrorist Ajmal Kasab has removed an "irritant" from the city of Mumbai and help the city to move on.
Forgiving the convicted Pakistani terrorist, the American survivors of 26/11 terror attack on Thursday said death penalty is not a solution for Ajmal Kasab, instead he could be rehabilitated.
'The whole time we were talking, we were holding hands and he looked right in my eyes. It was very moving.'
The Oberoi Centre of Learning and Development invites applications for its two-year Post-Graduate Diploma Programmes in Guest Service, Housekeeping Management and Kitchen Management.
India's uncrowned metal king Anil Agarwal revelas his recipe for success.
