A new hotel in Calicut, Kerala

... the Taj Residency, a five star business hotel opens

The Taj Group of Hotels has opened a new five star hotel -- the Taj Residency -- in Calicut, Kerala. Located three kilometres from the centre of Calicut city (also called Kozhikode) and 26 kms from the airport, the hotel is situated hardly 10 kms away from Kappad beach, where Portuguese explorer Vasco da Gama first set foot in India. May 27, 1998 will mark the 500th anniversary of that day in 1498 when da Gama landed on the sub-continent.

The Taj Residency Calicut is a business hotel. Its target customers, says K B Vinodh, assistant sales manager, South India, for the Taj Group, will be "buyers of spices, business executives, bank executives, airline crews, transit passengers." Cardamom and pepper are hot-sellers in the spice market on Court Road which is located ten minutes away from the hotel.

The hotel has been constructed on the lines of a nalukettu -- a traditional Kerala house which is built around open courtyards. Its sloping roof of terracotta tiles and large central pillars on four sides give the hotel an unusual appearance. Five acres of greenery and palmgroves surround the hotel.

The Taj Residency has three elaborate conference halls of varying seating capacities to encourage usage of the hotel for business conferences and meetings. While the Board Room seats a small group of 20 people, the Beypore hall seats 175 people and the Vasco da Gama hall seats as many as 500 people.

The hotel has 70 rooms that face the swimming pool and four 'half suites' facing the sea. Half suites offer the same facilities as a suite in any other Taj five star hotel. However, they are not as big. A single room is priced at Rs 1,750 per day plus 20 per cent tax. A double room is priced at Rs 1,950 per day plus 20 per cent tax and a suite is priced at Rs 3,000 per day plus 20 per cent tax. "Because it is a business hotel, it invites high luxury tax," explains Vinodh.

Foreign passport holders will be charged a dollar tariff . The tariff for a single room is US $ 65 plus 20 per cent tax. The tariff for a double room, on a twin sharing basis, is US $ 75 plus 20 per cent tax, while the tariff for a suite is US $ 115 plus 20 per cent tax.

The Coral Reef, the hotel's multicuisine restaurant that overlooks the pool and garden, serves Chinese, continental, and Keralite meals. The celebrated Malabar chicken curry and iddiappams -- also called string hoppers -- are served with a glass of coconut milk.

Cape Comorin, the 24 hour coffee shop, serves light refreshments and beverages. The hotel also has a bar, the Logan Lounge. Other facilities include a pool, a business centre, a health club, laundry service, a doctor on call, a currency exchange facility and a travel desk which also arranges car rentals. The business centre is equipped with computers, a fax machine and provides secretarial services. A shopping arcade "is due to open shortly," says Vinodh.

Just five kilometres away is the Pazhassiraja Museum that possesses a collection of coins, murals and bronzes. Next door to the museum is an art gallery and the V K Krishna Menon Museum that houses memorabilia of the controversial leader. The Tali Shiva temple -- which is open only to Hindus -- is one of the ancient temples in the area. Worth a visit: The bustling spice market on Court Road, where cardamom, arecanut and pepper -- the famous Kerala pepper that put Calicut on the world map centuries ago -- is sold.

There are several interesting getaways in the vicinity of Calicut. Wynad, coffee and pepper plantation country, is a two hour drive from Calicut. One can experience the extravagance of nature in the fragrance of flowering bushes and rows of towering trees. It is possible to visit a pepper or coffee plantation. Nearby is the Wynad wildlife sanctuary famous for its elephant herds, leopards and tigers. The sanctuary has a wide variety of birds and is therefore a special haunt for bird watchers.

Just 11 kilometres away from Calicut is the coastal town of Beypore. Beypore is a famous ship building centre and large trading vessels, known as urus, are manufactured here.

Beypore is also famous as a centre of the Kerala martial art, the kalaripayattu. Kalaripayttu teaches the arts of self defence and attack and there are four disciplines -- the first is maithozhil which comprises of exercises to develop fitness, health and stamina. The second is kolethari which teaches one to use sticks skilfully, the third is angathari which is the use of swords and finally, verumkai which is training for unarmed combat. It is possible to witness a demonstration of kalaripayttu at Beypore. And Beypore's Comtrust weaving centre, with its range of cotton fabrics is a must see.

Address

For bookings: it is also possible to contact the Taj reservation offices in Bombay at 022-2022524.

• Or at New Delhi at 011-3322333.
• Or at Calcutta at 033-2233939.
• Or at Madras at 044-8272827.
• Or at Bangalore at 080-2255055.
• Or at Ahmedabad at 079-400304.
• Or at Cochin at 0484-6668111.
• Or at Pune at 0212-620881.
• Or at Hyderabad at 040-3399999.
• Or at Jaipur at 0141-371616.