The Leela Palaces, Hotels and Resorts


The Leela Palaces, Hotels and Resorts, commonly known as The Leela, is an Indian luxury hotel chain, founded in 1986 by C. P. Krishnan Nair, and owned by Brookfield Asset Management. Currently, The Leela is a group of eight luxury palaces and hotels.

History

The Leela Hotels were founded by C P Krishnan Nair, owner of The Leela Group, which he named after his wife. Nair bought 11 acres of land near his house in Sahar Village, Mumbai to build his first hotel, The Leela Mumbai, in 1986. It was the first luxury hotel near the current Chhatrapati Shivaji International Airport.
In 1991 a second hotel was opened in Goa. The Leela Goa was designed keeping the overall architecture of the state in mind. The luxury seaside resort has taken its inspiration from Portuguese heritage and is spread over 75 acres of land in South Goa near by Cavelossim Beach.
In 2001 the group's first modern hotel was built with 357 rooms in the IT capital of India, Bangalore, inspired by the Mysore Palace and the architecture of the 13th century Vijayanagara empire, and is surrounded by seven acres of gardens. By 2009, two more properties were added to this portfolio: The Leela Palace in Udaipur and The Leela Ambience Gurgaon. The Leela Ambience Gurgaon is the group's first non-owned, managed property. The Leela Palace New Delhi opened in April 2011; the palace is inspired by Sir Edwin Lutyens Delhi. The group opened a new hotel in Chennai in 2013 called The Leela Palace Chennai. The second Managed hotel was taken over in year 2015, in East Delhi, The Leela Ambience Convention Hotel. There are plans to open new hotels in Hyderabad, Bhartiya city Bengaluru & Gandhinagar, Gujarat.
The company has marketing alliances with US-based Preferred Hotels and Resorts and is a member of Global Hotel Alliance based in Geneva, Switzerland. A previous marketing alliance with Germany-based Kempinski ended in October 2013.
Recently in a deal in October 2019, the company sold its hotel properties and operations as well as hotel assets located in New Delhi, Bengaluru, Chennai, Udaipur to Canada-based Brookfield Asset Management, in a Rs 3,950 crore settlement, marking the entry of Brookfield in India’s hospitality market.

Business structure

The Leela Palaces, Hotels and Resorts is the trading name of Leela Palaces and Resorts Limited. Hotel Leelaventure Limited is the ultimate holding company of the hotel group, and is traded on the Bombay Stock Exchange and National Stock Exchange of India. Hotel Leelaventure Limited is itself part of The Leela Group business conglomerate.

Awards