Keys Hotels aims to add 1,500 rooms in 3 yrs; focusing on

Keys Hotels, a brand of Berggruen Hotels, is looking to add 1,500 rooms in three years and wpuld hire 1,050 persons to support the expansion, a senior company executive has said.

"We have 1,500 rooms in pipeline in next three years but number of hotels is not specific as it will all depend on the properties we will get to manage," Berggruen Hotels CEO Anshu Sarin told PTI here.

The hospitality group currently has 21 hotels in operations with 1,900 keys, of which seven are owned by the company, seven are franchise-based and seven are under contract management.

"Going forward we are focusing on asset light model and are open to both contract management and franchises for growth. We are also looking at leasing properties in select strategic locations," Sarin added.

For expansion, the company is focused in the north region, where it does not have a strong presence.

Berggruen Hotels operates under the KEYS brand, which has three sub-brands - Keys Prima Hotels, Keys Select Hotels in midscale category and economy brand Keys Lite.

"We are looking for expansion under all three brands, depending on the kind of properties that we sign on," Sarin said.

The company, she said, has 1,202 employees on roll and after three years with the targeted expansion it will hire another 1,050 work force, Sarin said.