Spend night in Chennai, do biz in city

Spend night in Chennai, do biz in city

The Times of India



Bangalore: Business in Bangalore, lodging in Chennai. That is the new mantra of the business traveller today.

Hard pressed for accommodation, visitors to the IT city are forced to spend nights in Chennai, even though work brings them to Bangalore. Landing a hotel room in the city at short notice is tough. And the available few come at a high price. So, business travellers are finding it convenient to hold business meetings in Bangalore and fly down to Chennai where accommodation is easier to find.

“Some of our international clients travel every day between Chennai and Bangalore because it’s impossible to get accommodation in a hotel in Bangalore,’’ says Sonal Agrawal of Accord group, an executive search firm.

The average room rent (ARR) in Bangalore is around Rs 8,000, with about 85% occupancy rate. Top hotels like Leela Palace have an ARR of Rs 14,000 a night. The ARR in Chennai is 60-70 per cent of that in Bangalore, and there are plenty of rooms available in the coastal city.

The trend started with the Bangalore air show when rooms were booked out a month in advance. At that time, many delegates preferred to stay in Chennai and visited Bangalore for business. That practice continues even today.

For many CEOs, a trip to Bangalore is hectic as very often they are forced to return the same day. “I fix up as many meetings as possible in a day as your city doesn’t allow me to stay back. Accommodation is a painful affair,’’ says the CEO of a Mumbai-based mutual fund company.

Lemuel Herbert, general manager of The Park says the only way to get a room in Bangalore is to plan in advance. “If you leave it for later, then the Chennai option comes into play.’’


Some companies have found a way out: a Mumbai company has block-reserved a hotel room at The Oberoi for three days of the week throughout the year. The employees are asked to travel to Bangalore only during those days. Sources in Chennai say 100 guests from Bangalore get absorbed in Chennai every week.

Leela Palace (Bangalore) GM Eric Swanson believes his hotel would have touched an ARR of Rs 15,000 by year-end. “Rents are bound to go up, and the occupancy rates will go up even further beginning September.’’