Vivanta by Taj – Surya Opens in Coimbatore

Vivanta by Taj – Surya opened in Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu, in January 2012, bringing the Taj group's Vivanta hotel brand to the city with a 180-room property on Race Course Road. Contemporary reports dated 22/01/2012 and 23/01/2012 documented the launch, with the hotel becoming the 22nd property in the Vivanta by Taj portfolio, the third Vivanta property in Tamil Nadu, and the first in the state outside Chennai. The hotel was developed as an upper-upscale, five-star property serving Coimbatore's business and leisure markets. Located at 105 Race Course Road, it contained 180 rooms and suites, including Superior Charm, Deluxe Delight, Premium Indulgence and Deluxe Allure accommodation, along with the Presidential Nirvana Suite on the ninth floor. Facilities at launch included restaurants Latitude and Red Pearl, the Tease bar, meeting and conference spaces, a spa, fitness centre and swimming pool. The project represented an investment of approximately ₹118 crore. Raymond N. Bickson, then Managing Director and CEO of Taj Hotels Resorts & Palaces, was in Coimbatore for the launch and described the property as combining work and leisure within an urban hotel designed for the city's growing travel market. Contemporary reporting also noted that India's hotel-room market had expanded from about 65,000 rooms to 130,000 rooms across market segments during the preceding decade. The new property occupied the Race Course Road site associated with the earlier Surya hotel. Reporting around the opening noted that local residents knew the location as the place "where a hotel called Surya once stood." The new hotel's design retained the Surya name, meaning "sun", as part of its identity, with the property's design described as drawing inspiration from the warmth of the sun. There is a minor discrepancy among contemporary and corporate sources over the precise opening date. Hotel-industry reporting records the launch on 22/01/2012, while Oriental Hotels' 2011-12 annual reporting states that Vivanta by Taj – Surya, Coimbatore opened on 19/01/2012. Condé Nast Traveller published its opening report on 23/01/2012. The available sources therefore firmly place the formal launch in the second half of January 2012, with 22/01/2012 widely reported as the public launch date.