Chatwal group eyes expansion in hotel biz

Indian American Sant Singh Chatwal-led Hampshire Hotels & Resorts, on Monday, announced an aggresive brand building initiative in India, with the plan to open 52 hotels here in the next five years.

The chain plans to expand its international hospitality brands Dream (a mid-size boutique hotel) and Night (a contemporary luxury property) globally, and in this regard, out of the 52 hotels, it would be setting up 40 Night and 12 Dream hotels in the country.

Currently, courting franchise and management opportunities for both these brands, the initial launch sites would be a Dream resort in Goa and India’s first Night hotel in Chennai. These would be followed by New Delhi, Mumbai, Bangalore, Hyderabad, Kolkata, Jaipur and Udaipur. Sant Chatwal said that the chain would make an investment of Rs 2,000 crore in these ventures from own accruals.

The hotels, the brainchild of Sant Chatwal’s son Vikram Chatwal, would be managed by one of the world’s largest chain of hotels, the Wyndham Group.

Sant Chatwal added that the company has already signed 18 deals for both Dream and Night hotels, of which, 12 will be run on franchisee basis, while Hampshire has picked up 26 per cent equity in 4 properties and 49 per cent equity in the remaining two.

Hampshire and Wyndham have ambitious plans for the luxury boutique chain and aim to launch 500 hotels around the world in the next 10 years.