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Gouri Agtey Athale
PUNE
T
HE new destination,
after five and seven star super luxury hotels, is now five star
resorts and spas, that too within hailing distance of
Mumbai's Gateway of India.
First off the block is the
Sahil group's first resort and spa project at Alibaug, in the
state's coastal strip, called the Konkan. This resort cum spa is to
be operated by international hospitality major, Radis-son and
it will throw open its doors on May 10, with the spa will
following soon after. Vinay Phadnis, chairman, Sahil group,
maintained that this is the only resort and spa between Mumbai and
Goa, where all the major global brands are
present.
"The
spa is part of the resort but it will be run by the
Singapore-based |
Mandara group, offering Thai
treatment. The Mandara group runs a chain of spas and this is
their first foray in India," Vinay Phadnis, chairman, Sahil group,
said.
Others banking on the
proximity to Mumbai are the Pride Hotel group, which is locating its
spa near Alibaug, which the hospitality group will operate
themselves. While the Radisson-operated property is a 144 room,
24 villa spread, located on 16 acres, the resort from Pride Hotels
is a six acre, 100 room resort-cum-spa project.
Both of them pale in the
face of a third resort project, this one from City Development
Corporation, a Pune based real estate company. This is a 400 acre
development at Roha, just 40 kms south of Alibaug but located on the
Mumbai-Goa National Highway 17. Aniruddha Deshpande, director, CDC,
said a firm decision on the project will be |
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"The market for the resort
is in Mumbai, which is a 10 minute catamaran ride from the Gateway
of India to Mandhwa, the jetty closest to Alibaug, from where
our resort is another 7 kms. Alibaug itself is a very high
class locality, land here goes for Rs. 10 crore an acre. So,
creating a holiday locality is not difficult, since we are targeting
those people who cannot buy land there now but would like to go tof
such a destination," Mr Jain remarked.
Mr Phadnis added, "The new
bridge for which Anil Ambani won the bid recently will connect Sewri
to Nhava Sheva. Which means that in 45 minutes, central Mumbai
residents can reach the resort."
The proposed Reliance mega
city is also expected to benefit these developers since there
is a plan in it to start an all-weather ferry service to the Konkan
from there, apart from |
improved road connectivity.
With these basic infrastructural facilities being developed, Mr Jain
was confident that it would open up the rest of the Konkan's
beautiful beaches
For Mr Deshpande, the
clientele for the resort will be different from tire one which the
Sahil and Pride groups are targeting. Part of this is related to
infrastructure, since Roha is further south of Alibaug.
"Roha is 40 kms
south of Alibaug so we cannot
expect the rates that will be charged at Alibaug, which
moreover, is sea
facing. Roha is on the
national highway from Mumbai to Goa, unlike Alibaug which is
10 kms off the
highway," Mr Deshpande said. The Radisson resort will
charge rates in the Rs.
15,000-60,000 range,
since its 144 room capacity includes eight luxury suites
plus the 24 lake front
villas. Rates for the
spa are still to be firmed up. gouri.athale@timesgroup.com |
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taken only after the
monsoons this year.
"We will decide on the
nature of the project only after this year's monsoon, since
everything hinges on water availability. While the Konkan receives a
lot of rain, the red laterite soil does not absorb it and the water
runs off. A project this size
needs 2 5 crore litres of wa - |
ter annually so if we can
retain 30 crore litres by building "bandharas' (check dams), it will
be a tourism project, 20 crore litres will mean a low type of
development and just 10 crore litres will mean we have to do
farming," Mr Deshpande explained. Mr Jain noted that Alibaug
already has the right kind of visitors for a resort to be
successful. |
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