Starwood Hotels and Resorts in talks to manage Mumbai property

MUMBAI: Starwood Hotels & Resorts, the owner of luxury hospitality brands St Regis, Le Meridien, Westin and W, is in advanced talks with developers in Mumbai and expects to conclude a hotel management deal shortly, said a top company official.


"Negotiations are on; we hope to conclude at least one deal for a luxury hotel management in south and central Mumbai in the next couple of months. We are actively pursuing development in central Mumbai," said Dilip Puri, managing director India & regional vice-president (South Asia).

The international hotel operator is looking to shore up its revenues from India and is aiming to make the country one of its top ten EBITDA (earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation) contributors to the group in the three years.

At present, the group operates 35 hotels in India (with 8,500 rooms) and has 23 under development, but the country does not feature in Starwood's major EBITDA contributing markets.

"Starwood currently operates in 100 countries. India ranks 4th in terms of number of properties, but is not in top 10 markets with respect to EBITDA contribution," Puri said.

For the nine months ended September 30, Starwood Hotels & Resorts has reported global EBITDA of $895 million, and its North America operations remained the top contributor towards this. Starwood aims to have at least 100 hotels under operation, development or management in India by 2015.

If it achieves that, India will overtake Canada as Starwood's third-largest market, following the US and China, in terms of properties under management, he said.

Starwood Hotels & Resorts manages over 1,100 hotels in 100 markets, with a total of 325,600 rooms across the world under its nine brands - St Regis, The Luxury Collection, W, Aloft, Le Meridien, Sheraton, Element, Four Points by Sheraton and Westin.

With the upcoming debut of W Hotels and St Regis, 8 of its 9 brands will be present in India.

International hospitality chains are eyeing growth opportunities in India and are looking to expand here faster to boost their revenues while Indian hotel developers and owners are also keen to rope in global luxury hotel brands to operate their properties.

On Monday, Dubai-based luxury hospitality company Jumeirah Group announced its maiden deal to operate an upcoming hotel at Lower Parel in Mumbai. The group also said it is in advanced negotiations on potential projects for hotels and resorts in other key destinations in the country.