User:Rasnaboy/Hotels in Chennai

Chennai is the third most visited city in India by foreign tourists after New Delhi and Mumbai. In 2007-2008, more than 650,000 visitors have arrived chiefly from United States, United Kingdom, Sri Lanka, Malaysia and Singapore. Like any other global cities around the world, hotels are an important part of Chennai’s tourism industry. This article speaks about the five-star hotels in Chennai.

Ratings
Across the globe, there are no official bodies that rate hotels. Regionally, the local government agencies and other organisations rate them. Chennai hotels are generally rated by the Government of India, Ministry of Tourism.

History
Until the end of the twentieth century, there weren’t many five-star hotels in Chennai. By the turn of the century, there were only seven five-star hotels in Chennai compared with 15 each in New Delhi and Mumbai and 7 in Kolkata. The total room count then was 984.

Hotels in Modern Chennai
The first five-star hotel of Chennai, the Taj Coromandel, was opened in 1974. The following decade saw a few five-star hotels opening their doors, including Chola Sheraton, Park Sheraton, The Trident and The Fisherman’s Cove. Historically, Chennai was an important automobile centre of India and a medical tourism destination. With more automobile corporations opening their manufacturing centres in the city in the late 1990s and with the increased growth in the already booming software industry, the arrival of foreign visitors increased greatly, and the city saw a dramatic growth in the hotel industry. The mark of the millennium saw a boom in Chennai’s hospitality industry, chiefly due to several multinational conglomerates then budding in the city. With the opening of the Radisson GRT hotel in March 1999, the city’s five-star room inventory crossed the 1000-room mark. The year 2000 saw the opening of the second five-star deluxe hotel of Chennai, Le Royal Meridian. The next milestone was with the opening of the third five-star deluxe hotel, The Park, in May 2002. The year July 2005 saw the opening of two five-stars, namely, The Raintree Hotels (at Alwarpet) and the Accord Metropolitan (formerly the Trader’s Hotel). The next hotels to set foot in the city were Asiana (October 2007) and the Taj Mount Road (December 2008). In July 2010, the second The Raintree (The Raintree Hotels, Anna Salai) was opened.

Hotels Under Construction
Hilton Chennai located at Guindy is to be opened in December 2010. The year 2011 will see the openings of Grand Hyatt, Leela Palace, JW Marriott, ITC Grand Dakshin, Radisson City Centre and Hyatt Regency.