#indeco

The royal weddings that feature the family members—the royalty—and that of neighbouring kingdoms, mostly related through blood or marriage, are ideal for social get-togethers to recollect the glorious past, or formal meetings to refresh their historical ties and age-long relationships. Most royal families of India are political heavy-weights; royal weddings help nurture strong political ties with local and national leaders. In other words, these royal weddings decide the course of political direction and discourse at any point. History is an evidence to the fact that royal weddings to this day have been able to influence the larger political structure and strata.

The heritage properties of the various royal families therefore have seen the highs and lows of political leadership and even change of guards. Love it or hate it, you just can’t stop these events from transpiring. Anyways, this is another side of what the heritage sites have always symbolized or represented. It is said that a lot can happen in a marriage; royal weddings are much more than what they stand for.

The question of where the continuum of digital technology suite (discussed in the previous blog) will lead us into the future remains to be answered. But for now let’s remember that contactless technology and touchless operation define the future of how hotel industry will reshape itself to meet the growing customer demands of security, safety and hygiene. Here is some more technology stack that heritage hotels might be wedded to in the coming months.

Being able to locate where hotel staff and guests are located at any given time can open up a world of opportunities to improve the guest experience—anytime, anywhere, just at the click of a button. From delivering services to guests, wherever they are located on the property to helping event staff function more effectively, to turning over hotel rooms faster and beyond, location-based services can turn the tables on. Some employee located-based features are already deployed using SIP-DECT technologies. May be heritage hotels need to start adopting this at some point. All said and done location-based services are here to stay.

It comes as no surprise that if we say heritage hotels all over will quickly come to grips with the use of robots to undertake tasks traditionally humans perform. For instance, robots can assume a concierge role within hotels, welcoming hotel guests and visitors, and offering them with vital customer information. There are some hotels that are consciously using robots for cleaning purposes including vacuum cleaning floors and even for killing germs.

A perfect heritage hotel is a time travel into the antiquity lost in the bewilderment of fantasy and mysticism. And just imagine how difficult a task it would be even to revitalize and restore it. From the freshly brewed morning cuppa to the tantalizingly chilled Sharbath during the day to ward off the heat, everything is sublime magic at a heritage hotel. Restoration of heritage sites would take several months to even years depending on what the experience should stand for. Investment, and in most cases, even excess of it, is tagged as the crucial factor for turning any heritage site into a commercially viable venture. Imbibing the local culture and infusing its nuances into the transformation process of a heritage site is of utmost essence. 

Most palace hotels are a statement in regale splendour, abounding with the finest of architectural finishes and construction materials ranging from Burma teakwood, Makrana marbles to velvet tapestry and leather upholstery.  Practically speaking, a good part of the effort goes into maintaining the stately possessions of the heritage sites in sublime condition. There are many heritage sites where transformation involves the assimilation of one or more cultures. The finer details need to be thoroughly understood, analysed and applied in the overall restoration of the heritage site. 

If you’ve started reading this blog, you may wonder what these Golden R’s of Heritage Hotel represent and how they are connected with the concept of heritage hotels. Shall we discuss the 5R’s one by one in detail?

# 1 Restoration: Heritage hotels are built on a restoration model. They do not involve restoration alone, but also serve as a link between the past and the present. They also send forth a strong message that anything can be restored if some thought and investment is put into it. Most heritage hotels not just preserve the architecture but the traditional values and heritage that the erstwhile royal families have passed down to several generations.

# 2 Recreation: Heritage hotels relive the traditional art forms of a particular state or region. Now this may also differ locally on a broad scale. Recreation is one aspect that many guests and visitors look forth in a heritage hotel as they expect something different and unique every time compared to the experience in a regular hotel.  

# 3 Re-creation: It is the magic of re-creating something that is lost in the sands of time which makes heritage hotels so mystifying and special. First, heritage hotels bring to life the tradition and culture of the erstwhile royal kingdoms and families. Second, they make us understand that we are very much part of a rich history and legacy that we can take pride of.

# 4 Rooms: Rooms and luxury suites are a blend of the past and the present. These rooms were once the property of the royal households of India. Most heritage hotels offer Wi-Fi facilities, modern-day accommodation amenities including AC, sophisticated plumbing and the latest entertainment devices. Helping the guests connect with the rest of the world will result in extended stay.

# 5 Repast and Remembrances:

We have seen in the previous blogs how heritage hotels need government support mechanisms to survive as many lesser-known heritage hotels are on life support without proper support apparatus. This comes as no surprise as otherwise India then would have had several new heritage hotels developed in the last two decades. Lack of most state government’s support is touted as the primary reason for this trend and continues up to this day. But some of India’s leading chain of hotels including the Tata, Neemrana, HRH Group, Samode Hotels, Welcom Hotels, and many others owned a few Heritage hotels, resorted them completely and made it affordable for stay. 

Now coming to the question of whether heritage properties need the support of the government to survive? Yes, says most travel industry analysts. The need of the hour, in fact, is the formulation of sound policy to pull in tourists, both domestic as well as overseas, to stay in heritage properties. State government should step in by incentivising heritage property owners to transform them into museums, hotels, buildings for other commercial activities. 

There are thousands of heritage properties waiting to be re-built and transformed into heritage hotels and resorts. They are mostly palaces of the erstwhile royal families, guest houses, forts, mansions, Havelis and the like that can be utilized for tourism purposes including museums.

Adquiriste una vivienda o terreno por parte de INDECO y COMEVI; regulariza tu patrimonio

Con el apoyo del Voluntariado Juvenil SOS Discriminación y personal del Instituto de la Vivienda del Estado de Querétaro IVEQ, se puso en marcha el programa: “Por tu vivienda, Querétaro responsable”. El evento fue encabezado por el director general del IVEQ, Germán Borja García, quien explicó el programa, señalando: “que la ciudadanía puede regularizar su patrimonio. En la primera etapa, se…