Solapur (Maharashtra), Oct 19 (IANS): Maharashtra's textile capital Solapur got its first upscale, branded, luxury hotel with the opening of Balaji Sarovar Premiere here this week, an official said.

Part of the Sarovar Hotels, it is the group's ninth hotel in the state, with five others in Mumbai and a hotel each in Lonavala, Nashik and Pune.

The new five-star property is located around 15 km from the upcoming Solapur airport and five km from the railway station and promises to be a benchmark for premiere hospitality in the city, oft referred to as 'Manchester of India'.

"This venture will help us serve travellers to Solapur, known for its cotton mills and power looms. The city will now offer international standard accommodation and conferencing facility hitherto unavailable," said Sarovar Hotels managing director Anil Madhok on the latest venture.

Each of the 129 well-designed guest rooms and suites are modern and offer all contemporary amenities for a comfortable stay, besides multi-cuisine restaurants, banqueting and other luxuries.

Sarovar Hotels & Resorts, considered one of the fastest growing hotel chains, currently manages and franchises over five dozen operational hotels in 40 cities in India and overseas in the three, four and five star spectrum.

It also manages corporate hospitality services at the IIM (Ahmedabad), Hindustan Unilever Ltd. in Mumbai and the new campus of Indian School of Business at Mohali. Its popular English Pub brand, Geoffrey's, operates at multiple destinations in the country.