Bengaluru is home to two of ITC’s luxury properties, ITC Windsor and ITC Gardenia – each different in its design and aesthetics but similar in their responsibility to the environment. By Steena Joy
As one enters the ITC Gardenia in Bengaluru, one is amazed at the innovative use of natural light and air, in fact the lobby does not have any air conditioning at all. Truly worthy of a hotel located in India’s Garden City, ITC Gardenia’s responsibility towards Mother Earth is evident in every aspect – from linens, water and waste management to the decor and ambience.
Inspired by nature
All the suites in the hotel are named after birds like the Pelican Suite, Woodpecker Suite, Peacock Suite in keeping with the garden theme. Interestingly, all the elevators inside the hotel have their walls adorned with pictures and scenes of gardens, pools, etc. The wind-cooled atrium lobby, with its vertical hanging gardens, leads out to the central courtyard garden, in the midst of which stands the multi-pillared Lotus Pavilion, inspired by Tipu Sultan’s summer palace at Srirangapatna – its sloping roofs covered with a lawn of fresh green grass aptly referred to as a ‘Living Room with a Living Roof’.
Virender Razdan, area manager – Bengaluru and general manager, ITC Gardenia says, “ITC Gardenia has the highest rating for green buildings in the world – the LEED India Platinum Rating. With this as our background, multinationals want to connect with a green and responsible company.”
The exterior of the 292 room hotel uses Gwalior sandstone and Malaysian red bricks, interspersed by panels of specially treated smoked oak and highlighted with strips of copper in a matt copper-sulphate patina. The designer, Francesca Basu, has drawn inspiration from different layers of life forms offered through nature and each floor follows this theme through colours, motifs and textures.
ITC Gardenia has a variety of F&B outlets. ‘K&K’ with its open kitchen concept is the hotel’s signature restaurant, known for its melt in the mouth kebabs. The Cubbon Pavilion, named after the creator of Bengaluru’s famous Cubbon Park, is a four meal period restaurant serving both a la carte and buffets and has a verdant green living wall that reaches 14 meters high to a skylight on the second floor. There is EDO for Japanese cusine and Ottimo the pan Italian restaurant while Highland Nectar is the hotel’s award winning lobby bar. For body and mind pampering, ITC’s signature Kaya Kalp spa, spread across an area of 10,400 sq.ft offers seven treatment rooms.
The green agenda
Commenting on how ITC Gardenia is positioned to tap the MICE market in the city, Razdan informs, “India holds the 35th position in the rankings worldwide and achieved ninth position in the Asia Pacific region, seeing 116 global business events in 2014. The potential for growth in the MICE market in Bengaluru is very high, yet it is not being fully harnessed. We have barely begun to scratch the surface. Whether domestic or international there is a rapid growth in this industry fuelled by the country’s effort to boost tourism and corporate travel. For the hotel industry, increase in MICE could be very rewarding as guests share their experience of a hotel by word of mouth, bringing in more business, leisure or otherwise.”
With Bengaluru, another advantage is that there is a constant inflow of young people in the industry, whether it is through established companies or through their own start ups in the event management industry. The city has already moved in leaps and bounds in terms of infrastructure, with a world class airport in place and several proposed improvisations. Razdan adds, “With improved infrastructure in the city, there is no stopping the MICE market from increasing exponentially. The trend in Bengaluru has always been towards an unconventional style, even with MICE, green meetings and being organic is picking up pace which in fact is ITC Hotels’ core philosophy.”
The hotel offers a banquet space along with a pre-function area covering approximately 8,000 sq ft, and a separate 2500 sq ft party room. There are three meeting rooms and a board room, and of course, the hotel’s own helipad for high profile guests. The hotels’ Presidential Suite or Peacock Suite of 6000 sq ft is the biggest in Asia and has often played host to Vijay Mallya of the UB Group. It has its own private elevator, dining room and infinity pool and a stunning glass mural of a peacock that adorns an entire wall of the suite’s grand dining room.
Outlining the future vision for the hotel, Razdan opines, “With Bengaluru poised as the fastest growing city in the tourism industry, our target is obviously the business segment. As I would reiterate, we make our guests feel special and want to belong. And we will always have our guests wanting to return along with the new tangent of business segment. We will look at investment in current and future technologies which will help us maintain our leadership in the luxury segment. Quality will be long remembered when the price is forgotten. And what would differentiate ITC Gardenia from other competitors would be its gracious, impeccable and efficient service.”
To the Manor born
While ITC Gardenia reminds a guest of a garden within a city, sister property ITC Windsor, with its Victorian façade and interiors give patrons a glimpse of a glorious past. Bengaluru, which still retains certain facets of the old British legacy, is the perfect setting for the 240 room ITC Windsor. Its gracefully colonnaded structure embodies the finest nuances of the Regency period architecture, typical of the finest Manor houses of London. Designed by architect Rajinder Kumar, the hotel has been admired by visitors all over the world. So faithfully has the Regency atmosphere been re-created that it is not unusual for guests to ask about the origin of the building and be amazed when they discover that it was built in the early 80s and inaugurated in 1982. Liveried doormen and traditionally outfitted waiters in attendance, lush landscaped gardens, wood-panel rooms adorned with original water colours and oils, and Queen Anne furniture add up to the charm and the grace of the Regency era. The location of the hotel in the heart of the city is also a tremendous advantage. At a distance of 33 km from the Bengaluru International Airport, it is also the closest luxury business hotel. Shekhar Sawant, general manager, ITC Windsor feels that the hotel’s colonial charm is perfect to tap the leisure market. “In recent years, guests have demonstrated that they are willing participants in forms of leisure for experiences that they actively pursue. ITC Windsor forms the perfect setting for guests having a greater desire for novelty, escape and authentic experiences. ITC Windsor is tailored to emphasise the leisure aspect with its 240 rooms including 22 luxurious suites (with names like Lord Wellesley Suite, the Waterloo Suite, etc) and one regal Presidential Suite, spa, colonial ballrooms, library, and grand lobby in Victorian style, each exuding the history and style that every detail of the hotel pays homage to.”
Sprawled lavishly on a promontory, the hotel has two buildings – The Manor Block and the newer Tower Block. The Tower Block complements the regal splendour of the Manor suites, and the ambience in both is strongly reminiscent of the Raj. Sawant adds, “This unique British flavour and laidback Raj appeal, have been faithfully showcased by ITC Windsor. Many illustrious visitors to ITC Windsor, thoroughly charmed by the architecture and ambience, often return to be refreshed by this immaculate, gleaming white time machine. Overlooking the spectacular greens of the Bangalore Golf Club and located a stone’s throw away from the Bangalore Palace, the hotel is conveniently situated for both business and leisure.”
The hotel offers eight meeting facilities with period names like Westminister Room, House of Lords (North and South), Manor Club, Victoria Room and Regency (1and 2). F&B offerings at ITC Windsor include The Raj Pavilion, a glass covered restaurant (whose interiors are inspired by the 100 year old Lalbagh Gardens) specialising in cuisines from the Silk & Spice Route, the award winning Dakshin offering authentic coastal and regional specialities, Royal Afghan (North West Frontier cuisine), Dum Pukt Jolly Nabobs (Anglo-Lucknowi restaurant) and Dublin (the Irish pub).
Responsible hoteliering
ITC Windsor is the first hotel in South India to have been awarded Platinum rating under LEED EB (Existing Building) programme. Sawant explains, “Committed to creating new benchmarks in responsible hoteliering, ITC Hotels has today established the world’s largest green hotel chain re-engineering every sinew of its signature properties to deliver a unique value proposition to its discerning guests. Under the philosophy of sustainable hospitality that we call “Responsible Luxury”, ITC Hotels endorses socially and environmentally responsible forestry by ensuring that more than 50 per cent of the paper, stationery and wood is either FSC (ForestStewardshipCouncil) certified, sourced locally or recycled.” Like ITC Gardenia, ITC Windsor also encourages green banqueting and has set up a WelcomLab to ensure food, water and environmental safety. From testing each and every raw material that comes into the hotel to checking random samples of food, this lab ensures that standards are maintained at all times.
The Lancelot Gardens
An exquisite English garden exists at ITC Windsor that very few know about. Tucked away on the 23rd floor of the Towers Block and the second floor of the Manor Block, this ‘secret garden’ is accessible only from the Lancelot Rooms on these floors and comes complete with a gazebo, arches, quaint cobbled walkways and cast iron benches. The garden was designed by Lancelot Brown, an English landscape architect remembered as England’s greatest gardener.
