K Raheja Corp's hospitality company Chalet Hotels has signed agreements with US-headquartered Marriott Hotels for over 1,500 keys in the luxury and upperupscale hotels segment in India.
"We have signed five contracts with Marriott. Some are new contracts for the same property and some are contracts for new hotels," said Sanjay Sethi, managing director of Chalet Hotels.
The agreements are for a new 170-room Westin hotel in Hyderabad, which is expected to be commissioned by the middle of next year, renewal of contract for an existing Westin hotel for 15 years, a new 150-room W which is to come up in Powai in 2022-23, brand revamp of Chalet's Renaissance hotel in Mumbai to Westin Mumbai Powai Lake, and a new contract for Chalet's Lake Side Marriott Executive Apartments for 15 years.
"These partnerships are for over 1,500 rooms in tier-1 cities in the luxury and upper-upscale segment. We will be spending a significant amount of capex—about Rs 1,300 crore—on these and other partnerships till 2023, including investments in our two upcoming office towers in Powai and Bangalore," said Sethi, who is also the CEO. Chalet expects to complete the brand revamp of the Renaissance Mumbai Convention Centre Hotel to a Westin by the middle of next year.
"That hotel has been Renaissance for about 20 years. We were due to renovate it anyway and we thought the location and size commands a more premium brand. So we thought of rebranding it two notches up to the Westin brand to improve yields," said Sethi. "Hybrid companies are going asset light because their balance sheets are stressed. Our four-year horizon talks of a 50% growth in revenue and doubling our EBITDA." |