Residency Group enters Maldives with 6-star resort

Residency Resorts Male Private Ltd, the business entity formed for the purpose will have 47 sea-facing cottages in Vommuli, in the “pristine waters of Dhaal Atoll,” sources told DTNext. The Residency Group operates five properties across South India – over 500 rooms in boutique class, 4-star luxury and business hotels. It will be commissioning two more in the near future (one in India and a super luxury resort on the Vommuli Island in Maldives, is how the LinkedIn profile of its COO Gopinath Balasundaram reads. 

“Residency Resorts Malé Pvt is a company established in Maldives and the resort will be managed by Starwood hotels under the brand St Regis,” it further says. Before getting elevated to the current position of COO Gopinath, in his role as VP between February 2012 and August 2014, set up an office in Maldives and established a core team of over 10 personnel for management of 330 outsourced employees. He also identified an international hotel operator and negotiated contracts for operation of the resort. It is gleaned from sources that the bankers involved in funding the Rs 1,000 crore plus project are State Bank of India and HSBC. At least the ground work of identifying the land and going through the compliance procedures would have taken three years, from the time of drawing the project blueprint. Apparently, after the soft launch the 6-star property will get into operational mode during Christmas to gain maximum leverage of the tourist season as that is the peak time for travelers exploring exotic, leisure destinations. Attempts to get an official confirmation from Ravi Appaswamy did not fructify. 

However, the website is functional, where it proclaims that “The Residency Group of Hotels stands proud across Tamil Nadu as an establishment that has set high standards with many accolades to its name. For over two decades it has catered to the discerning businessmen turning them in to loyal customers. It enjoys a reputation for excelling in all parameters of the industry, resulting in quality service and total customer satisfaction. After all, it is a part of Appaswamy Real Estates - a company renowned for creating ever-lasting bonds with its customers.” It is learnt that one of the first movers in the hospitality segment is Suresh Mutha of MM Exports, which had started a resort project there. Players eyeing Maldives essentially look at the tax-breaks that the island nation provides.