Wyndham to bring Planet Hollywood hotels to Asia

Wyndham Hotel Group has signed a deal that will lead to the launch of the first ever Planet Hollywood hotel in Asia.

A franchise agreement with India’s JMJ Group will see the Hollywood-themed hotel brand launch in Goa before the end of 2014. It will become only the second Planet Hollywood hotel in the world, following the existing property in Las Vegas.

Located at Uttorda Beach on Goa’s southern coast, Planet Hollywood Beach Resort will feature 115 rooms and 15 luxury tents spread across four hectares. Facilities will include a spa, swimming pools and yoga retreats, and Wyndham is also looking to tap the Indian weddings market, with a large amount of indoor and outdoor event space.

“Given its features, we are looking forward to Planet Hollywood being a landmark destination in Goa,” said Sachin Joshi, managing director of JMJ group. “Guests at the property will be treated like celebrities.”

And this opening will marks just part of a major expansion of Wyndham’s brands in India. Earlier this week the company signed 10 more hotels in the country, adding to its existing collection of 57 properties either open or in the pipeline.

The 10 new franchise properties, which will operate under the Ramada Encore and Howard Johnson brands, will be located in Gurgaon, Darjeeling, Noida, Jaisalmer, Pali, Lonere, Dharmapuri, Bengaluru, Chennai and Thiruvananthapuram. All of the hotels are expected to be open by mid-2017.

Wyndham said these new locations reflected its strategy to target “the rapidly growing secondary markets in India”.

“Our offerings are flexible enough to fit each owner’s budget while still meeting the expectations of today’s consumer, which is valuable in a diverse and dynamic country like India,” said Deepika Arora, Wyndham Hotel Group’s regional vice president for the Indian Ocean.

“Introducing our hotels to markets that have remained untapped, like Pali, Dharmapuri, Lonere and Darjeeling, allows us great potential to work with partners who are passionate about our brands and who are experts in the market.”