India’s first and largest chain of upscale hotels and resorts, Lemon Tree Hotels was recently conferred with the prestigious Times Travel Academy award – “Best Mid Range Hotel” for 2011. The Academy comprised of over 100 Travel industry CXOs from leading Travel and Tourism companies who voted for their favorite brand.

Mr. Rahul Pandit, President & Chief Operating Officer, Lemon Tree Hotels said, “This award is of special importance to us as it signifies the appreciation given to us by our peers from the hospitality and travel industry.” He added “Lemon Tree Hotels has worked towards being a pioneer in the upscale/mid range segment and this award encourages us to take our effort up a notch.”

Lemon Tree Hotels is one of India’s fastest growing hotel chains and currently owns and operates an inventory of more than 1500 rooms across 15 properties. The brand’s profitable growth has been driven by an end-to-end business model which has led to a 60% year-on-year growth in rooms over the past five years. By 2013, with 2,800 rooms in 20 hotels across 15 cities, Lemon Tree Hotels will own over 2% of all hotel rooms in the country.

The inaugural Times Travel Honours were designed to recognize the efforts of the growing tourism and hospitality industry. The selection process for the awards was designed under three broad categories: jury, academy and a consumer perception based survey. 29 winners from the entire spectrum of the travel space from airlines to cruise liners to fleet taxi services to hotels were felicitated at the formal event held in Mumbai. Ernst & Young is accredited with the research for the awards nominees & the winners.