The coming week should see action hot up in Delhi suburb Noida, and at least some of the activity shift from the hip and happening Sector 18 to the less cool Sector 16, close to Nirula's Hotel.
For, even though it was launched last week, Savoy Suites hopes to start showing its product to potential clients only next week, with the first bookings expected by end-week.
The product is "India's first purpose-built, stand-alone serviced apartments", according to Wadia Prakash, CEO of Ascot Hotels & Resorts, the owning company of Savoy Suites.
It's a claim that jars. There are serviced apartments in Mumbai, for example, though Prakash pooh-poohs the idea, saying, "They're attached to a hotel."
Equally, Goa's serviced apartments and villas don't qualify because "that's a leisure destination, and we're catering to the requirements of business travelers."
Even though Prakash may be splitting hair, there's no escaping the fact that serviced apartments are still a pioneering concept in India which, given steep luxury hotel rates, is a bit of a paradox.
Perhaps high real estate rates may have contributed to the resistance to such hospitality packaging, but with Noida, the group couldn't have chosen better.
For, with its distance from most Delhi hotels, the proximity of large MNC (particularly automobile) factories close by, and the burgeoning call centre business opportunities in the neighbourhood, serviced apartments are most likely to work in this pocket of the country.
"Add to that the potential of NRIs on a visit home, or families shifting out to renovate their homes," beams Prakash, and the company seems to have the business pretty well sewn up.
Yet, whether the mix works or not, will become evident when the 44-suite property opens next week.
The immediate neighbourhood could be one drawback, a reason that hotel architect Anil Sharma has turned the entire, colonial-style structure inward looking, with a central atrium that overlooks a bar, possibly the only F&B outlet the apartment complex will own and run.
As for the rest, the building already features a drive-in McDonald's (Noida's second), and hasty preparations are on to complete two Old World Hospitality restaurants on the ground floor.
For those familiar with Rohit Khattar's Old World Hospitality operations (Chor Bizarre in Delhi and London, and the restaurants at India Habitat Centre in the capital), the good news is that a sneak-peep seems to indicate that the two restaurants he's most likely to commission are favourites Chor Bizarre and the highly successful Oriental Octopus.
Besides, residents are free to order food from anywhere else, and Prakash feels "the Sector 18 restaurants should end up providing a fair bit of catering for our guests."
This includes not only takeaways for room service, but also catering for rooftop parties.
In addition, of course, there's a kitchenette in all suites, though it's less than fully functional since it is not intended for cooking.
Equipped with Italian modular units, each kitchenette is furnished with refrigerator, toaster, kettle and microwave, as well as with crockery and cutlery.
"It's really an add-on facility, since we do not expect our long-stay guests to do much cooking, especially as breakfast is built into the tariff," says Prakash. Breakfast will be tied-up with one of the restaurants within the building.
For those wanting more than tea/coffee service, though, a convenience store on the ground floor will supply foods that can be nuked in the micro for odd-time dining.
Even hot snacks at the atrium bar may have to be ordered from the restaurants downstairs.
Keeping in mind the requirements of most business-travellers (in meetings or at training programmes for most of the day), the in-house facilities are intended to help them relax -- from a rooftop swimming pool and fitness centre to sauna and jacuzzi.
En suite, the facilities include TV as well as an Internet connection for laptops and electronic room safes. The staff ratio of 40 (for the 44 apartments) builds in a higher level of personalised service than offered at similar facilities internationally.
Prakash, who was with the Oberoi group for two decades and has been associated with serviced apartments in Indonesia, and is also one of the owners of the company with partners Vikram Bakshi (of McDonald's) and restaurateur Deepak Gupta (of The Fortune Cookie in Sector 18), says serviced apartments are less prone to business fluctuations than hotels, and have better levels of profitability.
"A serviced apartment is better because a guest has his own space that is not shared with any member of the public not staying there, and because it's price-friendly," he says.
Usually, bookings for less than a week will not be entertained at Savoy Suites, and suite tariffs are skewed for periods of a week to a month or more, at Rs 2,500 per night. The only two suites with two bedrooms are priced at Rs 3,500 per night.
Services, likewise, are not priced as a deterrent: liquor at the bar, once the licence comes through, will be pegged at "club rates, which is 15 to 20 per cent over the cost". Telephone facilities and laundry will be similarly scaled to a profit of 15-20 per cent.
Calculated at these prices, Prakash estimates that it will be five years before Savoy Suites breaks even. Even so, he is anxious to use it as a model for further expansion.
"We want to get into locations, such as Gurgaon, or Delhi if we can get land, and Greater Noida, and other emerging cities such as Pune and Hyderabad."
Since the apartments remain out of bounds to the public, the security of guests is higher than in the case of hotels, feels Prakash, and this is a feature women business travellers will feel most confident about.
But for those already living in Delhi or Noida, it isn't the apartments as much as the commissioning of Khattar's restaurants that will have most impact, and keep the cars lining up in its miniscule driveway.
