Le Meridien is making design renovations at all of its eight properties in India in a bid align them under a consistent brand identity globally. This will allow tourists taking flights to India to experience a globally consistent design pattern.
International business travellers and holiday makers on flights to India and holding bookings in one of the Le Meridien hotels are all set to have a ‘special and different’ experience leading to ‘curiosity and interaction’. The hotel group is renovating its eight India properties in line with the new design concept – a part of Le Meridien’s brand transformation globally.
The renovation to make the brand a ‘design-led brand’ is an initiative of the Starwood Hotels & Resorts, one of the world’s largest hotel and leisure companies which acquired Le Meridien in November 2005. Since the acquisition the hotel chain has undergone a comprehensive brand re-launch.
“We are trying to bring in some uniformity in the brand keeping in mind the main target audience for Le Meridien which is the creative traveller. We won’t have a cookie-cutter approach. We want the hotel design to generate curiosity and interaction among the travellers visiting us,” Mike Tiedy, Senior Vice President, Global Brand Design and Innovation, Starwood Hotels and Resorts was quoted as saying.
Additionally, the two upcoming hotels in India would also follow the same design scheme.
Le Meridien, well-known luxury hotel brand, maintains properties in hugely popular tourist destinations of India like Delhi, Jaipur and Cochin. While these lavish properties may not beguile travellers booking tickets on cheap flights to India, they surely attract those who want to splurge. The hotel group hopes it would continue to do so after the group makes the recommended modifications.
Some of the interesting initiatives undertaken by the company in a bid to create a more ‘artsy’ environment for the guests include artwork on doors, specially designed key cards and special soundscape for elevators with more than 1,500 sounds.
Industry experts believe it is a very smart move on part of Le Meridien. With massive expansion of hospitality sector in India and hotel choices for travel buffs increasing manifolds, it becomes pertinent for big brands like Le Meridien to set a uniform standard that sets them apart from others.
The company hopes to bring all its properties under a consistent brand identity by 2013-14.