Friday, June 28, 2019
Lemon Tree Hotels Ltd, India’s one of the the mid-to-economy category hotel chain is entering the Western India’s capital city, Mumbai as it gears up to launch its first hotel in the city within the next one month.
The New Delhi-based hospitality firm, which listed on the domestic stock exchanges last year, is planning to launch a 303-room Lemon Tree Premier Hotel, its premium hotel brand, near the Mumbai international airport. At present, the company operates 11 hotels under the brand.
Patanjali Keswani, chairman and managing director said that the Demand for hotel room is phenomenal in Mumbai. Whoever puts up a hotel in Mumbai does well. He guessed that the occupancy in the whole of Mumbai would be over 80%. It is one market which doesn’t face down cycle. With the Mumbai hotel, Lemon Tree will operate around 5,800 rooms in 57 hotels across 34 cities. By 2021, the company expects to operate around 85 hotels with 8,674 rooms, across 57 cities.
Keswani said despite a huge demand for hotel rooms, Mumbai is also one of the most difficult cities in Asia to build hotels. “The approval process is too complicated. So many agencies are involved and it takes a lot of time for approval and the land values are high.
The company, which raised ₹1,038 crore in March 2018, had said back then that it had plans to add 3,000 hotel rooms over the next three years. The past year has seen Lemon Tree in an expansion mode. Keswani also said the company plans to move towards the asset light model going forward focusing largely on managing hotels rather than owning the properties.
The hospitality firm recently announced its entry into the rental housing segment. It has also signed a pact to acquire Keys Hotels from Berggruen Hotels Pvt. Ltd for an undisclosed amount.
Tags: Lemon Tree Hotels, mumbai, Patanjali Keswani
Wednesday, March 29, 2023
