Chalet Hotels plans to expand its portfolio to about 5,500 hotel keys by FY30 by combining third-party operated properties, franchise hotels and assets under its Athiva brand, the company’s managing director and chief executive officer Shwetank Singh said in an interview reported by PTI.
The company currently operates approximately 3,389 keys and has announced a pipeline of close to 2,300 keys. The expansion will move Chalet beyond its traditional asset-ownership model, with the company continuing to develop and operate properties through multiple formats.
“So, the way we look at our business is that we have graduated from a pure asset-ownership model to having all three models in play,” Singh said. He cited the Ritz-Carlton as an example of a property operated by a third party, Taj properties as franchise assets and Athiva hotels as properties developed under Chalet’s own brand.
The announced pipeline includes a 380-room Taj hotel at Delhi Airport. Approximately 70 rooms from the project are expected to open by the end of the current financial year, according to the company. Ritz-Carlton Hyderabad, Hyatt Regency Airoli and a hotel in Udaipur are expected to come online in FY29. The recently announced Pune Yerawada project is targeted for FY31.
Athiva, launched by Chalet in 2025, accounts for about 1,200-1,300 keys in the company’s pipeline. Its initial pipeline was around 900 keys, and approximately 380 keys have since been added through recently announced projects in Pune and Hyderabad. Chalet does not currently plan to introduce another hotel brand and will focus on expanding Athiva, Singh said.
“We are not conceptualising any other brands. Our focus right now is entirely on Athiva,” he said.
Alongside its hospitality business, Chalet operates approximately 2.4 million square feet of commercial space and has another 900,000 square feet under construction. Its overall commercial portfolio is expected to reach around 3.2-3.3 million square feet. Singh said hospitality would remain the company’s primary focus despite its presence in commercial real estate.
“We are fundamentally a hospitality-first company, and that is where we intend to remain focused,” he said.
Chalet is also evaluating additional greenfield and brownfield opportunities, although it has not set a separate target beyond its announced pipeline. Singh said the company was assessing multiple opportunities while continuing to prioritise projects already disclosed.
The company expects to fund its announced expansion without substantially increasing debt. “We are well funded on the balance sheet and believe we can execute our expansion plans without substantially increasing our debt,” Singh said. The next milestones include the planned opening of the initial rooms at the Delhi Airport hotel and the scheduled delivery of projects in FY29 and FY31.
