Courtyard Virginia Hotels|"Shangri-La Hotels, Phoenix Mills Call Off Management"

Source              :    articles.economictimes.indiatimes.com
Category         :    Courtyard Virginia Hotels
By                   :    ET Bureau 
Posted By      :    Hotels in Virginia Beach North Courtyard

Courtyard Virginia Hotels

Hong Kong-based hotel operator Shangri-La Hotels and Resorts and Mumbai-based Phoenix Mills have 'mutually' agreed to terminate the management contract of the latter's five-star hotel in Mumbai, just nine months after the hotel became operational. "Shangri-La International Hotel Management and Pallazzio Hotels and Leisure have mutually decided to end their relationship and Shangri-La will withdraw from the management of the Shangri-La Hotel, Mumbai," a spokesperson for Shangri-La said in response to an email query by ET. Pallazzio Hotels is a subsidiary of Phoenix Mills, which owns the 40-storeyed luxury hotel in the Phoenix Mills compound in Lower Parel, Mumbai. Shangri-La will withdraw from the management of the hotel on September 6. "The hotel will be handed over to the owning company on September 6 and will no longer be part of Shangri-La Hotels and Resorts," the spokesperson said. Shishir Shrivastava, joint managing director and group chief executive officer of Phoenix Mills, confirmed the development.

Both Pallazzio and Shangri-La, however, declined to comment on the reason behind the termination of the 20-year contract within nine months. The mutual decision, however, means there will be no penalties involved. "Reasons are confidential and as of now, officially, both the parties have mutually agreed to terminate the contract," Shrivastava said. Pallazzio has now finalised a new operator to manage the 390-room hotel. "We have narrowed down on the new operator we want to work with and as soon as we finalise, we will announce it," he said. At present, 223 of the hotel's 390 rooms are operational. The remaining will be made operational in phases. The company has invested over Rs 1,000 crore on the hotel project. "The property will continue to operate as an uber-luxury hotel with several enhancements, new banquet facilities and further the signature restaurant Mekong and Libai Bar will launch as planned by mid-September," Shrivastava said. Phoenix Mills had faced several issues while obtaining environmental clearance for the project, as the construction work of the hotel had commenced before obtaining the mandatory clearances from the State Environment Impact Assessment authority, the three-member committee set up by the Ministry of Environment and Forests to scrutinise and grant clearance to all major construction projects.

Source:articles.economictimes.indiatimes.com/2013-08-28/news/41539003_1_phoenix-mills-shangri-la-hotels-hotel-project