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Starwood Hotels and Resorts has initiated a complete brand relaunch of its Le Meridien properties in India.

The brand relaunch will also take place at all Le Meridien properties across the globe. Starwood acquired the Le Meridien brand in late 2005 but had done little to give a brand a distinctive trademark. This relaunch and refurbishement of all it’s properties will allow the group to achieve just that.

The company looks to revitalise the brand through introducing innovative programmes on arrival, in  rooms and through its F&B outlets.

Many of the existing 105 Le Meridien properties have begun the renovation process, with most of the eight properties in India halfway through the process. Other properties have begun introducing guest to other aspects of the brand relaunch, namely the on arrival service and the new menu.

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The Cochin, Chennai, Bangalore and Mumbai have received project approvals from their owners for renovation while the property in New Delhi will finish complete room renovation work this month. Globally, the Le Meridien brand plans to complete refurbishing of at least 60 hotels in next three years.   
 
 With falling occupancy rates hotel owners find this the right time to take up renovation according to new brand standards and train staff.

“I think, this is the time to train, time to renovate and innovate. Then, by the time the economy bounce back, we come up stronger,” said Fay-Linn Yeoh, brand director, Asia-Pacific, Starwood Hotels and Resorts.

Yeoh said the company has done extensive research and study to understand the needs of today’s hotel guest.
 
“When we were developing these programmes, we spent a lot of time listening to our customers and realised that the first 10 minutes of a guests arrival is the most impressionable period,” added Yeoh. Hence, much emphasis on touch, visuals, sound and smell. Le Meridien will also have a  signature scent developed by Le Labo and specially composed music by Grammy-winning-French composer Henri Scars Struck.