Hotel Group, Le Meridien, has announced the addition of three new properties to its Indian portfolio.

The company already manages six hotels in major cities in the country.

The new properties are in Ahmedabad, Kovalem and Jaipur.

In Ahmedabad, in the state of Gujarat, Le Meridien is to take over the management of the former 63-room Holiday Inn. It offers a health club with indoor swimming pool, restaurant, lobby bar, coffee shop, business centre and three meeting rooms. It also boasts the city’s only discotheque.

Le Meridien Kovalam Beach Resort, in Kerala, which opens this month, has 144 rooms, 40 cottages and four suites in the adjacent Halcyon Castle. It offers a health club, Ayurvedic spa and three swimming pools as well as three restaurants. A convention centre has facilities and meeting rooms catering for up to 500 delegates.

Opening in December is the 120-room Le Meridien Jaipur, where facilities will include a health club, spa treatment and meditation rooms, a games room, 42-seater cinema, golf putting green, business centre and a Penguin Club for children. It also has two restaurants and a bar and discotheque.

Conference facilities will accommodate up to 600 delegates and include a meeting room and boardroom.

Sami Zoghbi, regional managing director for the Middle East and West Asia, said: “We see India as one of the prime countries for the growth and development of our brand.

“The addition of these hotels to our portfolio is very much in line with our target to double the number of properties in the Middle East and West Asia region by the end of 2004.”

Le Meridien currently operates 29 hotels in the region. Details: www.lemeridien.com