Sanjay Sethi

Sanjay Sethi is the man credited with successfully leading Chalet Hotel's IPO earlier this year. Flush with funds, the company is currently in talks with multiple hotel owners to buy out existing properties in Pune, NCR and Chennai, and is also looking to acquire large-size operating hotels or brownfield hotels where construction has reached a certain stage.

“Acquiring ready operating assets is one of our strategies for expansion. Our balance sheet is a lot healthier to buy more assets," Sethi said. At present, the group has five hotels and one service apartment property totalling around 2,300 rooms in Mumbai, Bengaluru and Hyderabad that are managed by Marriott International. Another three hotels with around 580 rooms in Mumbai and Hyderabad are in the pipeline.The company is also expanding its branded hotel partners by signing on global hospitality firm Hyatt Hotel Corporation and is gearing up to launch its 260-room Hyatt Regency hotel in Mumbai by April 2021.

A hotel management graduate from IHM Pusa, with additional qualifications from Cornell, XLRI-Jamshedpur and IIM-Bangalore, Sethi has spent 28 years in the industry and is counted among the brightest professionals. His last big project was the 585-keys JW Marriott at Sahar, Mumbai, but he first came to the industry's notice during his tenure with the Tatas, where he qualified and served as an assessor of group companies.

Sethi quit the Taj Group in 2006 to set up Berggruen Hotels in partnership with Berggruen Holdings, New York. Through its proprietary brand Keys Hotels, Resorts and Apartments, the company went about setting up a chain of mid-market hotels and upscale resorts in India. By the time Sethi left this assignment in 2014, he had guided the company to a sound beginning. From Keys, according to Sethi's official biography, he moved on to Chalet Hotels in January 2015 with the mandate of doubling the company’s portfolio in the next five years. Much like a good leader, Sethi is a good manager, inspiring trust and loyalty in his team. If leadership is defined by results and attributes, he more than excels in his role.