AYANA Resort and Spa Bali has announced the appointment of Vineet Mahajan as director of sales and marketing, in a move said to strengthen the brand and develop new markets as the resort enhances its meeting and conference facilities. Vineet will also be part of the pre-opening team for a separately-branded resort scheduled to open in late 2013 adjacent to AYANA, within the 77-hectare Karang Mas Estate.
Having more than 16 years’ experience in the hospitality, telecom and investment banking industries, Vineet was most recently complex director of sales and marketing for Westin Gurgaon and Westin Sohna Resorts and Spa. Prior to that, he launched The Leela Palace New Delhi and The Leela Kempinski Gurgaon from pre-opening to the first year of operations as director of sales and marketing.
Vineet said his immediate priorities are the relaunch of AYANA’s meeting facilities with an extended ballroom to cater for multinational meetings, conferences and events in a secure, high-tech environment. The extension increases the size of AYANA’s ballroom by around 50%, while the upgrade also features a new outdoor event space with four break-out rooms including a VIP reception room and a plenary meeting room seating 150 people.
Vineet will also prepare for the opening of a resort adjacent to AYANA in late 2013. Branded “Rimba”, which is Indonesian for “forest”, the 288-room resort is being built in response to demand from corporate and wedding groups which AYANA has not had the availability to accommodate. Rimba will provide additional accommodation for such groups, enjoying access to AYANA as the main venue for destination Bali weddings, meetings and conferences in Bali.
Named after a “place of refuge” in Sanskrit, AYANA is perched on limestone cliffs up to 30 meters above the Indian Ocean near Jimbaran Bay on Bali’s south-western peninsula. The 77-hectare property enjoys majestic views and a secluded location across its 1.3 kilometer coastline, yet is just 15 minutes from Bali’s airport. The 368 guestrooms comprise 78 private pool villas and a 290-room hotel.
Resort highlights include the Thermes Marins Thalasso spa with one of the world’s largest Aquatonic Seawater Therapy Pools and the Spa on the Rocks villas set amid the Indian Ocean. There are five purpose-built wedding venues: the Champa Garden for grand-scale events; four freshwater swimming pools including a children’s pool; a salt-water, infinity-edged Ocean Beach Pool at the cliff’s base, accessed via an inclinator; 12 dining venues; 18-hole golf putting course; tennis pavilion; jogging/cycling path; fitness center; children’s center; boutiques; meeting facilities and business center; and resort-wide WiFi.
