Kurla, infamous for its slums, is all set to get a five-star hotel to be run by the International Marriott Group.

Located on the busy LBS Road, the 300-room hotel to be built at a cost of Rs 240 crore is set to be operational by the end of 2011.

Phoenix Hospitality Company Limited (PHCL), which is building the hotel, and Marriott International, which will manage the premises, inked the deal on Monday.

Shishir Srivastava, chief development director, PHCL, said the group is constructing “a mini-township in the 25-acre plot” which is expected to change the face of the area. “It is a good location as it is close both to the Bandra-Kurla complex and the domestic and international airports,” he said.

The project includes Phoenix Market City, which would house the country’s largest multiplex, a mall, restaurant and bars, retail shops as well as office spaces. Srivastava said the market city would be on the lines of High Street Phoenix at Lower Parel, one of Mumbai’s premier shopping centres.

Though the hotel industry has been facing a tough time thanks to the financial downturn, Srivastava expressed confidence of the increased demand in the coming times.

“The Indian travel is exploding as the middle-class is expanding and there is an increasing number of international visitors coming to India for business or tourism,” said Ed Fuller, president and managing director, International Lodging, Marriott International.

The two groups inked a similar deal for a 165-room hotel, Courtyard, in Agra. The unique selling point of this project is its close proximity to the Taj Mahal and New Delhi.