ITC Limited entered the hotels business in 1975 with the acquisition of a hotel in Chennai, which was rechristened
Hotel Chola. Since then the ITC-Welcomgroup
brand has become synonymous with Indian hospitality.
Today amongst India's finest and fastest growing hotel chains, it consists of over
90 hotels across 77 destinations in India. These include super deluxe and five star hotels, heritage palaces, havelis and resorts and full service budget hotels.
The 442-room
ITC Maurya at New Delhi is not only amongst the leading business hotel in the country, but is in a class by itself. Complete with the
'ITC One', the hotel has played host to a galaxy of world dignitaries, including
Bill Clinton and
Bill Gates. In fact, even as he was leaving the White House, the former US President nostalgically recalled the memories of a
fabulous Indian meal he and his family had at the
Bukhara restaurant in the hotel.
Bukhara at ITC Maurya in New Delhi has been declared the
Best Indian Restaurant in the world by
'The Restaurant Magazine', UK. It has also been voted the
Best Restaurant in Asia and was the only Indian restaurant to feature in the list of
50 Best Restaurants in the World from 2002 to 2007.
The 386-room ITC Maratha, opened in February 2001, is perceived as amongst the leading and the finest properties in Mumbai, designed in a grandiose classic style, the hotel pays tribute to Mumbai's colonial roots and the spirit of the Great Marathas.
In keeping with its plan to have a presence in every major business destination in India, ITC-Welcomgroup unveiled one of Asia's finest business resort, the 238-room
ITC Sonar in Kolkata on December 31, 2002.
Another landmark hotel - the ITC Grand Central in Parel, Mumbai was formally inaugurated in January 2005. This five star deluxe property with 242 suites and rooms offers international standards of service, state of the art amenities and culinary excellence.
ITC Mughal at Agra, a proud recipient of Asia's first Aga Khan Award for Architecture, is an outstanding resort hotel, lavishly spreading across 35 acres of beautifully landscaped Mughal gardens.
ITC-Welcomgroup also pioneered a holistic concept of "branded accommodation" in the hospitality industry. It was the first to launch the powerful idea of a
'Hotel within a Hotel' by segmenting and branding the hotel services. It created the exclusive
'ITC One', 'The Towers' and the 'Executive Club' each catering to the needs of the global business traveller with unmatched quality and a range of services.
In 2007, ITC-Welcomgroup
entered a new phase in its collaboration with Starwood Hotels &
Resorts. ITC-Welcomgroup now has an exclusive tie-up with Starwood
in bringing its premium brand, the ‘Luxury Collection’, to India.
The seven hotels which are part of this collection are: ITC Maurya
in Delhi, ITC Maratha in Mumbai, ITC Sonar in Kolkata, ITC Grand
Central in Mumbai, ITC Windsor in Bengaluru, ITC Kakatiya in
Hyderabad and ITC Mughal in Agra. The agreement also includes the
rebranding of WelcomHotel New Delhi as a Sheraton, while the Chola
and the Park in Chennai, and the Rajputana in Jaipur retain their
Sheraton connections.
The
WelcomHeritage brand brings together a chain of palaces, forts, havelies and resorts that offer a unique experience.
WelcomHeritage endeavours to preserve ancient royal homes and the historical Indian grandeur, opulence of romance, valour and adventure for the future Indian generations. WelcomHeritage Hotels, provide a fine range of hotel services inside these architectural legacies present in Rajasthan, Punjab, Himachal Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Uttaranchal, Jammu & Kashmir, West Bengal, Tamil Nadu, Haryana and Karnataka.
ITC-Welcomgroup was also the first to brand its cuisine. The
Bukhara, the
Dakshin and the
Dum Pukht are today powerful cuisine brands, which delight connoisseurs in restaurants in several ITC-Welcomgroup hotels. Others included Dublin, West View and the Pan Asian.
Fortune hotelsare a part of the well thought-out growth strategy for mid-level business and leisure travellers under the ITC-Welcomgroup umbrella, offering full service, first class properties without compromising on quality. Fortune Hotels have a strong presence at Ahmedabad, Thiruvananthapuram, Calicut, Darjeeling, Jamshedpur, Vapi, Hyderabad, Gurgaon, Indore, Ootacamund, Madurai, Jodhpur, Vijaywada, Chennai, Visakhapatnam, Mahabalipuram, Kolkata, Bengaluru, Navi Mumbai, Tirupati and Port Blair, while several more hotels are expected to be commissioned soon in other key locations in India.
ITC-Welcomgroup's strategy of benchmarking against international standards has won its hotels many laurels.
ITC Welcomgroup
was named the Best Premier Hotel Brand
at the Galileo-Express TravelWorld
Awards 2006. ITC WelcomHeritage won the
Best Heritage Hotel Brand award.
ITC Hotel The Maurya received the award for ‘Best Luxury Hotel’ at the Star Hospitality Awards 2007-08 and the NATIONAL TOURISM AWARD 2007 for ‘Best Eco-Friendly Hotel’ from Ministry of Tourism.
Sheraton, New Delhi
was conferred the '6th Annual Greentech
Safety Award' in the Service Sector for the year
2006.
The NCPEDP-Shell Helen Keller Award
2007 and 2006 to ITC Windsor
for the vision, policies and practices demonstrating the belief in
equal rights and gainful employment for persons with disabilities.
The National Tourism Award 2004-05
to WelcomHotel, Delhi under the
category - Best Eco-Friendly Hotel.
The PATA Gold Award 2005 in
the Corporate Environmental
category for the WelcomEnviron
initiatives of ITC-Welcomgroup.
ITC Sonar, Kolkata has been declared as
one of the best hotels in the world
by the Association of British Travel Agents
(ABTA) in the April 2004 issue of its magazine
'Business & Travel'. ABTA also
rated Dublin amongst the top 20 bars
and Bukhara the
best restaurant in Asia and the
finest Indian restaurant in the world.
ITC Maurya is the only hotel in India, to have won the
British Safety Council's 'Sword of Honour'
thrice.
ITC
Maurya, New Delhi is also India's first hotel to be accorded the
ISO 14001 certification for its Environment
Management Systems. Eight more ITC-Welcomgroup Hotels
followed in quick succession: ITC Windsor, Bengaluru; ITC Kakatiya,
Hyderabad; ITC Mughal, Agra; Sheraton Rajputana, Jaipur; Sheraton
Chola, Chennai; ITC Hotel Park Sheraton & Towers, Chennai, ITC
Maratha, Mumbai and ITC Sonar, Kolkata.
ITC Maurya is the first hotel in India to be
awarded the Golden Peacock Environment
Management Award for 2001 by the World Environment
Foundation. It won this award again in 2004.
ITC
Maratha at Mumbai was declared to be the
Best Luxury Hotel of the Year 2002, by the Federation of Hotel
and Restaurant Associations of India.
ITC Mughal
at Agra was Asia's first winner of the Aga
Khan Award for Architecture.
The
prestigious 'Golden Fork Award',
was also bestowed, by the International Food and Wine Writers Guild,
to Bukhara and Dum Pukht restaurants at ITC Maurya.
Bukhara
at ITC Maurya in New Delhi has been declared the
Best Indian Restaurant in the world
by 'The Restaurant Magazine',
UK. It has also been voted the Best
Restaurant in Asia and is the only Indian restaurant to
feature in the list of 50 Best Restaurants
in the World for five years since 2002.
ITC Maurya and ITC Mughal have both won the
'Green Hotelier Awards'.
ITC Maurya has also won the International
Hotels & Restaurants Association (IH & RA)
environmental award: twice.
ITC Maurya has won the Federation of Hotel &
Restaurant Association of India
'Environment Champion Hotel of the Year' in 2002 and
1997. ITC Mughal, Agra, has won this award in 2003.
Bay Island at Port Blair, Andaman, was presented
'The Tourism For Tomorrow' award
by British Airways in 1993.
ITC Welcomgroup
was named the Best Premier Hotel Brand
at the Galileo-Express TravelWorld
Awards 2006. ITC WelcomHeritage won the
Best Heritage Hotel Brand award.
ITC
Maratha at Mumbai was declared to be the
Best Luxury Hotel of the Year 2002, by the Federation of Hotel
and Restaurant Associations of India.
