Party time in Hyderabad! Star hotels welcome decision to open till late at night; small, medium players cold

Hyderabad: Telangana government's decision to permit hotels and shops in Hyderabad to stay open till 1 am every day has evoked mixed responses from stakeholders.

While it hasn't induced much excitement in the small and medium players, star hotels have welcomed the move. The same goes for the shops and commercial establishments in the state capital. Barring shopping malls which also are in two minds, regular shopkeepers and traders are not buying this idea.

It may be mentioned here that responding to a request by AIMIM floor leader Akbaruddin Owaisi in the Assembly, CM Revanth Reddy has allowed hotels and shops to function till 1 am. He said there would be no exemption to the sale of liquor timings as the Congress government is strongly against it. Revanth Reddy informed the House that he gave instructions in this regard to police commissioners of Hyderabad, Cyberabad, and Rachakonda on July 24-25. Just so you know, liquor shops should close shutters by 10 pm sharp every day.

'Positive development; it will work for Hyderabad'

Sharing his perspectives, Pankaj Sampat, President of the Hotels and Restaurants Association of Telangana (representing star hotels) and Area Director, Taj Krishna, Hyderabad, said, "We would look at this development very positively. I think in the long term, it will work well for Hyderabad."

“I think there is always a start to something and if it works out, maybe the government will be tempted to increase the timing (beyond 1 am) further, especially for the big hotels. I think that would be the thought process and let's wait and see. If there are no issues with the law and order and all the other things, I think they would also be tempted to relax further,” he added.

He cited the example of Chennai where the restaurants and eateries in five or six big hotels were permitted to function 24 hours a day. Now, what I hear is because of law and order issues they are having second thoughts about 24-hour licence.

" What happens is that there are certain licenses that star hotels need to get to operate beyond the stipulated timings. If you want to operate till 3 am, for example, they have to take a separate license. Whoever applies for it, and has the capability of handling that, will get the necessary permission. Talking about other cities, in Mumbai, not everybody operates till 3 am. In Chennai, there are five or six hotels that have 24-hour licenses. So, it depends," Pankaj said.

Out-of-the-box marketing is the mantra

When mentioned about challenges like food delivery and takeaway options available for customers, odd shift hours and additional staff and salaries to run the kitchen past midnight, companies in IT corridors having in-house canteens and cafeterias that function all through the night, the likelihood of families shying away from dining till wee hours of the morning, etc, the hotel industry expert says that he is looking at time relaxation as an opportunity rather than worry solely about business.

If you do out-of-the-box marketing, like hosting midnight biryani and food fests, there are no reasons why customers won't flock to hotels till 1 am, I just think it's an opportunity to look at it differently. I mean, I always look at relaxation more as an opportunity. The time relaxation will benefit air travelers, who check into star hotels in the late evening hours and after midnight. And also on weekends, a lot of people look for good time and options.

Hyd joining other metros regarded as food capitals of India

Nightlife culture is on the way up here and Hyderabad is also inching closer to metros like Delhi, Mumbai, and Bengaluru, which are considered the food capitals of the country because of a huge number of hotels and eateries serving all types of cuisines and people receptive nature to the best food, Pankaj stressed. And today, look at Hyderabad as a global city. Hyderabad has got so much of new, IT and industrial parks and all those things coming up. You also have people from different parts of the country working here. So, on the whole, it will be a big beginning and a good beginning, he added.

Pradeep Dutt, executive member of the hotel association and past vice-president-cum-secretary said that as hospitality industry partners, we have to respect all the government decisions and do the business accordingly. Whatever problems and challenges arise in implementation, we have to address them within the organization.

'Will wait and watch for a couple of months'

But when the government has extended time till 1 am, we will see if it needs to be extended further till 2 am, 3 am, or 4 am, keeping the international flight timings in mind. Once you have seen the business for a month or two, a proper decision can be taken on how to give better service to those customers, who come late at night. Especially from a star hotel point of view, we can wait and see for a couple of months before representing the government.

In one to two months, the star hotels shall know whether they can make money out of this and if it is not profitable, then they might think of going back to the earlier routine.

" You will know what is the expenditure on extra hours payment for labour. What are your electricity and air conditioning charges? One will consider all these things and see how much business they can get against the expenditure. If your expenditure is X and you are getting an amount less than X, you will have to watch it for at least 15 to 20 days or 1 month. There is a possibility at the weekend you may get sudden big business. You have to wait for that."

Relaxations were given during YSR and Kiran Kumar Reddy's period

During late CM YS Rajashekar Reddy and former CM Kiran Kumar Reddy's regimes, time relaxation beyond midnight was given to a few big, star hotels. They were told to approach GHMC and the police department and they took permission and they are running. Because they were having air passengers and travelers checking into hotels past midnight. Earlier, only four or five hotels used to run past midnight and wee hours of the next day, but with Revanth Reddy government's latest decision this number would go into a few hundred or even thousand in the coming year, he predicted.

GHMC and police have to be approached for an extension!

Pradeep Dutta felt that GHMC and the Police have to be approached for permission to function beyond 1 am after the latest decision comes into effect. As all hotels and eateries, small, medium, and large are anywhere between 10k to 15k, the government will direct those interested to approach these two wings for approval. This will enable the authorities to have a clear number of how many hotels are functioning till past midnight, for any future communications or correspondences, he opined.

Hotels are allowed to stay till midnight, as per earlier G.O: Venkat Reddy

All this while hotels are allowed to remain open till midnight and a fresh decision by Revanth Reddy government will permit them to function for one more hour extra, said, S Venkat Reddy, Telangana State Hotels, Restaurants and Eateries Association President. He, however, said that this fresh provision by the government will not be used much by small and medium hotels, restaurants, or eateries.

In 2015 after our association impressed upon the then CM K Chandrashekar Rao to allow hotels to operate till midnight, the TRS government took a decision accordingly, Venkat Reddy pointed out. However, small and medium hotels and eateries did not make use of the time relaxation for obvious reasons, he said.

" A majority of small and medium hotels (mostly vegetarian), mess and tiffin centers, bakeries, and tea or coffee shops in the main city will mostly close by 11 pm, with last food orders accepted till 10 to 10.30 at the most. The footfall after 9 pm or 10 pm is very less barring some weekends. However, popular food chains and Irani hotels serving decani and Hyderabadi food used to stay till midnight. Also, a good number of hotels in the old city used to remain open till the stipulated time given by the government," Venkat Reddy said.

Almost all shops close by 9-10 pm

Almost all shops in twin cities and supermarkets pull down their shutters by 9 to 10 pm as there won't be any business afterwards, informed, Ammanabolu Prakash, President of Telangana State Federation of Chambers, Commerce and Trade. Even if the government allows time till midnight, shops in the main city will not avail of the facility, he stressed. Also, the shop owner and the staff have to return in the morning, and hence operating till late at night will not be their cup of tea, he said. Trade centers in Ranigunj, RP Road, SP Road, etc wore a deserted look by 9 pm.

However, shopping mall owners have mixed opinions. According to Prakash, shopping malls if allowed to stay back late can attract customers, mostly software and corporate professionals, who return late evening or night and don't have to time shop for themselves or their families. This time relaxation may give breathing space for them to explore shopping even on working days. However, one has to watch out for one to two months to get a fair idea of shopping malls to know whether time relaxation is working for them or not.