Thiruvananthapuram: The Taj group will open its eighth luxury hotel in Kerala, Taj Residency-Thiruvananthapuram, Monday.

The Rs.1 billion property, owned by Dodla International DIL), which is in collaboration with the Taj group, has many attractive facilities, including state-of-the-art technology infused bar, several conference halls, a pool side facility, energy-efficient components and sewage treatment plants.

The hotel has 137 rooms with tariff ranging from Rs.6,500 to Rs.7,500 and has a staff strength of 265.

Speaking to reporters here Sunday, M. Damu of Indian Hotels, which owns the Taj chain of hotels, said this was the biggest and the most modern hotel in Kerala.

"We have always been trend-setters and we were the first to open star hotel in Kochi and when we opened at Kumarakom several years back, others followed suit. Thiruvananthapuram is on its way to become a major city in terms of business, with the Vizhinjam port and a brand new airport," Damu said.

The new hotel's general manager Manoj Mathew said a sewage treatment plant had been installed that would be able to treat 250,000 litres of water daily. This water would be used for gardening.

The pastry department will be handled by a trained Italian chef.

DIL managing director G. Mohamed said Kerala has a huge potential in the luxury hotel segment and they were the first to make use of that when they opened the Taj Malabar at Kochi several years back.