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Thursday, 11 July, 2019, 16 : 07 PM [IST]
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Grand Hyatt Kochi Bolgatty - A fulfilling Journey for Kochi’s only Destination Hotel
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While completing the first year of its operations, Grand Hyatt Kochi Bolgatty
and its promoters can take pride in the fact that the iconic convention hotel has
turned the fortunes of the Queen of Arabian Sea, Kochi in no uncertain way. The
kind of conference and convention business that came calling the hotel and the
destination in the first year itself is a testament that Kochi is geared to give a
run for their money for conventional MICE destinations in India in coming years.
The 264-room hotel with its mammoth Lulu International Convention Centre
(LICC) is poised to redefine the image of God’s Own Country from a leisure only
destination to a veritable MICE destination of the country. P Krishna Kumar reports after visiting the hotel just before turning one.
When an out and out leisure destination, gets a worldclass
MICE infrastructure that becomes an icing on the
cake. That is what a world-class Grand Hyatt Kochi
Bolgatty and LuLu Bolgatty International Convention
Centre (LBICC) has delivered to Kochi, the Queen of Arabian Sea, and
God’s Own Country, Kerala. There are not many instances where a hotel
has become a destination in itself. Undoubtedly, Grand Hyatt Kochi
Bolgatty together with LBICC has in a way taken such a ubiquitous
place in Kochi’s hospitality landscape in a short time.
It was my second visit to this luxury waterfront property on Bolgatty
Island (not sure whether an island nomenclature for this man-made
island still holds good or not) since it opened a year ago. Compared to
my first visit which was more a whirlwind tour of the property, this visit
as a hosted guest enabled me to get a true feel of hospitality and deeper
insight on the facilities.
While the resort-ish setting of the hotel right on the Vembanad Lake
adds to the hotel’s leisure appeal with stunning views of the Kochi
port and Fort Kochi even from the lobby and the waterfront rooms,
what gives this urban resort the edge is its expansive meetings and
convention space which are a separate product in itself. However, it is
inappropriate if I do not mention about the guest rooms, which again,
might be because of the LuLu Group’s GCC connections, are pretty
lavishly appointed with all hi-end luxury fittings and fixtures and use of
modern technology. Offering Lake and city views, the hotel offers 264
luxurious guestrooms including 38 suites and 4 villas with plunge pools
and private access.
LBICC: The Game-changer:
LBICC is one of its kind international MICE facility in Kochi and whole
of Kerala and therefore have been a game-changer for God’s own
Country. Shrikant Wakharkar, the General Manager of the Hotel and
Zafar Karmali, Director of Sales mentioned how Kochi has been able to
host events up to the capacity of 9,000 delegates because of the facility in
the last one year. LBICC has hosted about 250 big and small conferences,
200 weddings, social events, etc. since the facility opened a year ago.
The property offers one lakh sq.ft of indoor and outdoor space, excluding
the 2.5 lakh sqft of the open parking area, which also can be used for
expositions, etc. if required. The facility has also got three helipads and
three boat jetties around the resort, etc., which add colour to the settings
for niche events like destination weddings, hi-end Incentives, etc.
“Kochi has slowly started becoming a convention destination because of
this hotel,” said Wakharkar, when asked about the challenge of filling up
the huge convention space. “The challenge of filling up space is the same
as promoting the city as a convention destination. But, we had fairly good
success considering the number of big events, we hosted in the first year.
Global mega-events are planned for two to three years in advance. So, we
are now looking at bidding for global events of 2021 and ahead,” he said.
Among major conferences LBICC played host to in the first year include
Association of Physicians of India Conference (APICON), International
Advertising Association (IAA) World Congress, Conference of Naval
officers, International Customs Conference, among others. The
APICON had an attendance of 9,000 delegates. Hotels, homestays up
to Alleppey were booked for the conference, says Wakharkar. “Live
surgery from the US was streamed live in all the conference halls
simultaneously during APICON. That was the level of technology our
conference halls are equipped with,” he said.
The Residences on the ground floor offers 8 residence style meeting
spaces with a common dining area. All the meeting rooms are equipped
with drop-down screens and projectors for presentations, boardroom
meetings, or small social events, etc.
For big events, the hotel has three dedicated ballrooms with different
sizes. The Grand Ball Room has 7,700 sq.ft carpeted area which can be
further partitioned into three small halls. The hall with 7 mtr floor to
roof height is fitted with theme-based lighting, projectors and drop down
screens. Vembanad is another big hall with 19,500 sqft area with a capacity
to hold 2,000 pax in theatre style. With 24ft roof height, Vembanad can
also be divided into three smaller halls as well. The largest of halls, Liwa,
is 26,000 sqft carpet area with a permanent stage to host big events. The
hall is also equipped with well-appointed green rooms on both flanks of
the stage and an automated retractable seating at the rear.
“We can host 20 different meetings, conferences at the same time,”
said Karmali.
Getting on the Destination Wedding bandwagon:
Ever since it opened its doors, the property has also become a rage with
the destination wedding market because of the thrilling backwater
backdrop and ability to curate memorable wedding settings. The hotel
has hosted innumerable weddings both residential and non-residential
in the last one year. Karmali who sold Rajasthan and Goa hotels in the
past sees a marked movement of Destination Weddings to Kerala ever
since Grand Hyatt opened at Kochi. Shana Susan Ninan, Manager-
Marketing & Communications remembers how the whole hotel was
booked for a residential destination wedding for which preparations
and planning started 8 months in advance with designers, architects,
photographers all doing multiple recces to the property. The hotel had
flown in speciality chefs from Tokyo to cater to special menu demands
for a Sindhi wedding, she recalls.
krishna.kumar@saffronsynergies.in
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