Gateway Hotels to double room inventory

To add eight new hotels in the next 18 months

Gateway Hotels and Resorts, a part of Tata group's Indian Hotels Company Ltd, plans to double its rooms over the next six to seven years.

Speaking to reporters after launching the Rs 150-crore 'The Gateway IT Expressway Chennai', Prabhat S Verma, chief operating officer, Gateway Hotels, said it would add 8 new hotels in the next 18 months, and double the total rooms in six-seven years.

In the next 18 months, the total number of properties under the brand will be increased to 32, and in 3 years there will be more than 40 hotels under the Gateway Hotels brand, all under a combination of new properties and conversion of existing one's, he added. It has an inventory of around 2,200 units across the country.

Verma said the 200 room Chennai property was expected to break-even in a year and the brand would now be looking at greenfield properties and JV projects.

Deepa Misra Harris, senior vice president, sales and marketing, Indian Hotels, said the company had followed a mix of new properties and converting an existing hotel to the Gateway Hotel brand.