Choice Hotels to add four properties by 2014-end

Choice Hotels India, a leading lodging franchiser, is adding three to four hotels by the end of this year to increase room capacity to 3,000 in the country, a top official of the company said.
The company, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Choice Hotels International, would also add another 10 hotels, which are under construction at present, in the next two to three years.
"We are growing steadily here. We would add 3 to 4 hotels by the end of this year. Moreover, 10 other hotels which are under construction at this stage would also be added in the next 2 to 3 years," Choice Hotels India CEO Vilas Pawar told PTI.

The company would expand total room capacity to 3,000 by the end of this year from its present capacity of 2,200.
Choice has a chain of 26 franchise properties spread over 19 places in India.
"We are very optimistic over our growth in India. The hotel industry is growing here. It could be better but given the industry outlook, it is ok," Pawar said.

Choice Hotels, which primarily has budget hotels under its fold, also demanded that the government should extend benefits given to big luxury hotels to small ones also.
"The government is granting benefits to hotels above Rs 200 crore, but it should also extend these (sops) to small budget hotels of Rs 25-30 crore and that would bring the real growth in the industry," he said.

The growth in budget hotels would come from tier 2 and tier 3 places as real estate prices are shooting up, he said.
Choice Hotels International is an 85-year-old group and has around 6,300 hotels world wide under 11 brands.