The first Aloft to open in India is the 130-room Aloft Chennai OMR-IT Expressway. A second hotel under Aloft is slated to open in Bangalore in early August. Further expansion of the brand is planned via Urbanedge Hotels, a special purpose vehicle (SPV) of Auromatrix Hotels Private Limited, with Starwood stating it plans to set up several Aloft properties in India over the next few years.

 

“India is a key focus of Starwood’s expansion efforts in large part because it is a market that today is relatively ‘under-hoteled’. India is one of the most promising markets within Asia Pacific, with GDP estimates topping 7% for the next two years and a consumer market expected to rank as the world’s fifth biggest by 2025,” said Starwood vice chairman and CFO Vasant Prabhu. “The market is especially ripe for mid-market products like Aloft and we look forward to opening several more Aloft hotels in India over the next few years.”

 

Starwood first launched Aloft in June 2008, and subsequently took an aggressive expansion strategy with the brand growing it to more than 40 hotels worldwide within a couple of years. The Chennai property will be its 42nd hotel globally.

 

Starwood claims that the brand, which it describes as tech-savvy and design-led, has had the fastest expansion of any brand in hotel history.