Discover Motels is currently soft testing its 216 keys property, at the foothills of Matheran in the picturesque town of Neral, Raigad District, Maharashtra. The hotel is a brand franchise of Best Western International, USA, which is ‘The World’s Largest Hotel Chain’ with more than 4,000 hotels in 80 countries.
The project has been designed by the international architectural firm “SKM Consulting, Australia” which is based out of Melbourne and has a presence in India since 1990. Built by Sterling construction system, using their proprietary concrete filled formwork building technology, Discover Motels is not only an example of quality engineering but also a model of energy efficiency.
Discover Motels pioneered the condotel space in India and is currently expanding its network to 3 properties in Sri Lanka and one each in Alibag, Coimbatore, Mangalore and Chickmangalure. Over 500 rooms are planned each year for the next 5 years. Discover Motels was set-up with the idea of being a ‘Condominium Hotel’; a hotel operating unit that is sold to individual investors where each owner acquires a room, whilst the whole enterprise is managed as hotel operation under a single brand.
The business model is based upon value added services on the bare real estate product. For example; “ Born Again” is a residential curative treatment centre aimed at addressing lifestyles diseases including diabetes, bone disease, obesity, skin disorders, aging, digestive health, etc. A Curative Treatment Centres is defined as one that is an Ayurvedic, Naturopathic, Clinical Establishment – hospital that offers services, facilities with beds requiring diagnosis, treatment (whole range of ayurvedic and naturopathic treatments) or care for illness, injury, deformity or abnormality in Indian/ Holistic system of medicine established and administered & maintained professionally. Plans to develop this into a high end brand and expand it using the franchise model. Additionally we seek to launch an “assisted living” and “timeshare” product when the other properties go into operations.
“Discover Motels is positioned to lead the ‘economy resort’ space. Our unique debt-free model blends condotel, medical tourism, assisted living and timeshare opportunities in a very unique manner. Additionally this year we plan to launch at least 500 hotel rooms based on modular building technology. These rooms can be truck transported and say: can be used in Goa in the winter and Ooty in the summer. We are about to innovate and transform the hotel industry’, said Radhika Mandrekar, Managing Director – Discover Motels.
Charly Varghese, General Manager also quoted, “Our focus is to deliver a great service product at the lowest cost in the sector. We also wish to aggregate small players across the country under the “Discover” brand to offer the customers a diverse offering in the ‘economy resort market segment ’. Our target is to offer room at the USD 20 to 50 range.”
