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Nikhil Manchcharam, vice president, Acquisition and Development, Starwood Asia Pacific

Starwood Hotels and Resorts' aggressive expansion plans have only slightly slowed down as the company is busy finalising some ‘real deals.’

The company recently signed a management agreement for a 177-key hotel in Chandigarh under the Sheraton brand. Starwood is also in the final stages of closing another deal, the announcement of which will me made later this year.

“We are still doing real deals. It’s (deal) being worked out right now and once it’s closed, we will make the announcement by August-September,” said Nikhil Manchcharam, vice president, acquisition and development, Starwood Asia Pacific Hotels & Resorts.

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“We had pretty aggressive plans but I won’t say we cut them down because of lack of opportunities. We already have 20 hotels in operation at the moment so we could be selective about where we wanted to go and what deal we wanted to do. We weren’t impressed by the idea of building distribution so quickly. We also need to see how quickly a hotel can open and how that can increase our business.”

The company will also introduce the Four Points by Sheraton brand, and the Aloft brand in India. The launch of the first Four Points by Sheraton is slated for a low-key launch this July.

Manchcharam thinks the time is right for building hotels as there is a reduction of 30-40% in construction cost and land costs are relatively cheaper.

“The mid-market has never really taken off purely because of land value and owners not wanting to get into this segment for ego reason. But now the paradigm has shifted. The land cost has come down and that has really helped make mid-market hotels more viable.”