Mumbai,  (IndiaPRwire.com) Panoramic Universal Limited, a mid-segment global hospitality player, plans to introduce four hotels in Thane, Durgapur, Hyderabad and Pune by 2009. The India-based group has hotels in India, US and New Zealand and is in the process of doubling its existing portfolio of 900 rooms over the next three years.

The upcoming property at Thane, to be named United Inn, is a four-star hotel-cum-recreation club, offering 48 rooms, multi-cuisine restaurant with 150 covers and conference and banquet hall with a capacity for 600-1,000 guests. With an investment of Rs 40 crore, the project is scheduled to be ready by April 2008. The project at Durgapur in West Bengal will be a three-star hotel offering 100 rooms at an investment of Rs 20 crore, while the one in Hyderabad will be a four-star hotel offering 90 rooms at an investment of Rs 40 crores.

In Pune, the group has plans to set up a budget hotel as well as a five-star-cum-service-apartment. "The market for five-star hotels in a city like Pune may soon saturate, but service apartments are financially a more viable option. That's the reason we're looking into developing service apartments for the city," says Sudhir Moravekar, Chairman, Panoramic Universal.

The group is also looking to come up with full service hotels in the US and develop United Inn as a brand. "We will initially develop hotels in the four-star and five-star categories with a Pan Indian presence and will then look into budget and boutique hotels across the country," offers Moravekar. Currently, the group is also in talks with international players for co-branding prospects in India. "In the future, we will also look at entering into management contracts," he adds.

The group, which already owns and operates three mid-segment hotels namely, Graciano Cottages in Goa, Hotel Sai Sahavas in Shirdi and Hotel Sagar Kinara in Malvan and a lounge bar-cum-discotheque called Area 51 in Pune, will also look into acquisitions in the travel sector. "We want to create an integrated hospitality group by the next decade. We will look at launching our travel services, portals and services centre for our clients," says Moravekar.