Heritage hotel group Samode Hotels recently announced an alliance between its Samode Safari Lodge Bandhavgarh (Madhya Pradesh) and Relais & Chateaux, an association of the world’s finest hoteliers, chefs and restaurateurs. Addressing the media in Mumbai recently, Yadavendra Singh, Owner, Samode Hotels revealed that the partnership is for a period of three years, during which the property will adhere to Relais & Chateaux’s service standards and will be subject to regular inspections to this end.
Speaking on the occasion, Singh said, “It’s a great tie up and I hope that it is a lasting relationship. It was announced about a month ago at their annual congress in Berlin. I believe it is a great branding exercise for Samode Safari Lodge, and also opens up our client base. The main reason we tied up with them is, the primary guests at Samode are ones who have travelled to Africa and now want to explore the Indian wildlife scenario. Relais & Chateaux are well known there, which will attract their loyal clientele to our property.”
Samode Hotels has a total of four properties, the other three being in and around Jaipur. Singh further revealed that he is considering another property for a tie-up with the Relais & Chateaux. “I will not reveal which one yet, but by the next annual congress I aim to have two properties in their association,” Singh stated.
Speaking about the performance of heritage hotels in India, Singh opined that the segment is faring well, with Samode’s own properties notching a 10 per cent year on year growth post the global meltdown. “There is a segment of people who want to experience a country, and by that I mean live in an environment which they feel is olden and traditional. It’s a big market. We have also realised the potential of the domestic segment, which was largely ignored. As hoteliers, we tend to focus on international clients and forget the domestic travellers. Although inbound is still my primary feeder market, I believe if we want to survive in India, we have to focus on the domestic market, which we have been doing and it’s been great,” he added.
Samode Safari Lodge Bandhavgarh is the seventh Indian property to join the Relais & Chateaux family. Speaking on the sidelines of the announcement of their alliance with Samode, Joerg Drechsel, Chairman of the Asian chapter, Relais & Chateaux revealed that the association is planning to launch a culinary academy in Paris that will offer an affiliation with a culinary school in France, as well as an online training with lobsterinc, a South African teaching programme for hoteliers and chefs.
“Lobsterinc has been successful in most wildlife lodges in south and east Africa, where they train locals as per the Relais & Chateaux standards of service. Being an online platform, it is available world over,” he stated. He further added that The Malabar House Fort Cochin, for which Drechsel is Joint Secretary, is starting a three-month summer programme through it.
