By Rashmi Pradhan

SVENSKA HOTELS, a collection of boutique hotels, aims to operate 20 hotels by 2020. The company is looking to operate 1000 rooms across the two brands: Svenska Design Hotels and Svenska Select Hotels in the next five years. Speaking exclusively to BW Hotelier, Zia Shiekh, CEO & CMD, Svenska Design Hotels, (see photo) informed, ’We have a target of operating 1,000 rooms across the 20 hotels by 2020. These will be a mix of owned and lease properties. Currently 4 owned and 6 leased properties are in the pipeline. These properties are located at Chandigarh, Kolkata, Delhi and few tier-II locations. With two properties operational in Mumbai and Bengaluru, we are looking at multiple properties in these cities as well. We are a collection of small boutique hotels.’

Talking about the investment, Shiekh said, ’The cost per key for Svenska Design Hotels is Rs 50 lakh whereas the cost per key for Svenska Select Hotels is Rs 25 lakh.’ The overseas travelers contribute one-third of the hotel occupancy. The F&B plays an important role to drive the business. We do get a mix of business and leisure travelers. The business travelers comprise 75% of total occupancy while the leisure travelers are 25%, he added.

Speaking about taking up brownfield projects, Shiekh said, ’We are open to undertake brownfield projects but the only hitch is to fit the property as per our brand standards. Therefore, the modus operandi as of now mainly is lease and greenfield projects.’

The Author is Assistant Editor at BW Hotelier.