Global luxury brand sets eyes on Mahabs

Chennai: The hospitality industry along the ECR has been consistently growing and the newest entrant to cash in on the popularity of the stretch will be the InterContinental Hotels Group (IHG), one of world’s leading hotel companies. This luxury brand’s foray into the international destination where the Unesco declared Shore Temple and also the group of monuments exist, is likely to alter the dimensions of the sector in pampering the high-end tourists with spa and exquisite cuisine by the seafront.

Chennai, with good air connectivity, is the closest city to Mamallapuram and the present move by the state tourism department to introduce heli-tourism connecting it with the metro, will further enhance the variety of attractions at this historic town.

“With its growing popularity as a tourism destination, Tamil Nadu’s capital is a key growth city for us and, with its proximity to both the business district and tourist attractions such as the Unesco world heritage site at Mahabalipuram, the location of the new InterContinental Chennai Mahabalipuram Resort is second to none,” claims Shantha de Silva, head of south west Asia, IHG.

The hotel plans to cater to the increasing number of business and leisure travellers. When it opens later this year, the InterContinental Chennai Mahabalipuram Resort will be one of the first five star beach resorts on the east coast side and company’s second in India after Mumbai.

Located on the picturesque beachfront of the East Coast Road, south of Chennai, it boasts of 106-key luxury resort besides all-day dining restaurant, a specialty restaurant and bar, spa, health club, outdoor pool and banquet facility for large events.“With Chennai getting saturated with existing upscale hotels like The Leela, ITC and Sheraton, hotels are coming up along three major mini-markets around the city: the East Coast Road stretch, especially in Mahabalipuram, GST Road and Sriperumbudur, all on the city’s outskirts,” N. Ravi tour operator and CEO of TourBoss.