Star hotels pamper single women guests

<div class="section1"><div class="Normal">KOLKATA: She checks in with her briefcase in tow, has a healthy expense account and wants the best of home away from home. She is the single woman lady traveller of today, whose growing presence has spurred star hotels in Kolkata to woo them like never before.<br /><br />"The number of lone women travellers has doubled in the last five years," said ITC Sonar Bangla Sheraton & Towers general manager Ranvir Bhandari.The hotel is drawing 6-8 per cent more such guests on average every year, while the country has registered a 15 per cent growth in this segment.<br /><br />The Park has also seen a spurt in single women travellers in the last year and has added new facilities especially for them. "We provide <span style="" font-style:="" italic="">ayurvedic</span> massage and rejuvenation packages by women experts within the exclusive comfort of their room," said a spokesperson at The Park, adding that though the hotel always had facilities for single women travellers, the sudden rise in clientele has urged them to add new facilities.<br /><br />So have ITC Sonar Bangla and Hyatt Regency. "Our aim is make them feel secure while staying alone," said a spokesperson of Taj Bengal, which has marked out 10 special rooms near the elevators so that women do not have to walk past too many doors.<br /><br /></div> </div><div class="section2"><div class="Normal"><br />Other facilities include special ''non smoking'' and ''smoking'' rooms, toiletries to meet their daily requirements and optional telephone call-scanning facility.<br /><br />ITC Sonar Bangla, however, goes a step further to ensure that the women guests not only feel at home, but feel safe too. The royal treatment begins from the airport arrival lounge where she is received by a hotel representative.<br /><br />A women valet attends to her throughout her stay and women executives attend to room service.<br /><br />Even calls are screened if the guest wishes and her floor is kept under video surveillance.<br /><br />Moreover, in case a woman misplaces her baggage, the hotel keeps an emergency kit handy, complete with undergarments and nightwear, make-up and a pair of slippers.<br /><br />As a senior bank official from Mumbai staying at the hotel said, "It all actually makes you feel at home. It''s nice to be pampered after a hard day''s work"</div> </div>