Lemon Tree Hotels, a Delhi-based upscale hotel chain, plans to have at least 20 hotels of the four-star category operational in two years, as part of its strategy to tap the potential in cities in the north, west and south of the country.
The company, which operates four-star Lemon Tree and economy-class Red Fox hotels, today opened its 14th Lemon Tree property, and the first in Hyderabad in the IT hub of Hitec City. The 267-room hotel has been built at an investment of Rs 205 crore and also houses its sister brand Red Fox Hotel.
Lemon Tree presently has hotels with 1,500 rooms across 11 cities, including Delhi, Gurgaon, Chandigarh, Mumbai, Ahmedabad, Aurangabad, Bangalore and Kumarakom. It plans to take its capacity to 2,800 rooms in 20 hotels in 15 cities in the next two years.
“Till 2016, we will saturate the cities in the north, west and south, which are expected to grow at 12 per cent, and will move to those in the east from 2017, when growth is expected to pick up,” said Patu Keswani, chairman and managing director, Lemon Tree Hotels.
He said, the hotel industry was now in a situation similar to the one being faced by the airline sector before low-cost carriers entered the market.