Chalet Hotels has announced its first Ritz-Carlton property – a 330-room development in Madhapur, Hyderabad – marking its formal entry into the ultra-luxury segment and the most significant escalation of its Marriott partnership to date.
The company’s board has approved the development in Madhapur, which will also include approximately 36,255 square feet of commercial and retail space. The property will be built on the Mindspace Madhapur campus under a warm shell arrangement: Mindspace REIT’s asset special purpose vehicle will construct the building envelope, while Chalet Hotels will manage interior fit-out, operations and hotel management.
The Mindspace Madhapur business campus spans over 13 million square feet of premium IT and ITeS office space and already houses two Westin-branded hotels and the Inorbit Mall. The Ritz-Carlton will become the third on-campus hotel, deepening what is already one of India’s most integrated business-hospitality ecosystems.
The financial structure reflects how both parties have calibrated risk. Under the arrangement, Mindspace REIT’s special purpose vehicle will develop and deliver the core and warm shell structure, while Chalet Hotels will undertake all interior fit-outs and operationalisation of the hotel and associated facilities. Chalet’s managing director and chief executive Shwetank Singh stated the company will invest approximately ₹630 crore, funded through a mix of internal accruals and debt. Mindspace’s investment stands at ₹350 crore, with completion expected by the fourth quarter of FY28.
The deal reinforces the strategic logic of Chalet’s long-standing Marriott relationship. Chalet’s portfolio includes eight Marriott International hotels, and these eight hotels account for 20% of the fees Marriott earns from its Indian operations – leverage that Singh has indicated secured favourable terms for the Ritz-Carlton development.
Part of the K Raheja Corp group, Chalet Hotels is an operator, owner, developer and asset manager of high-end hotels in key metro cities including Mumbai, the National Capital Region, Hyderabad, Bengaluru, Pune and Rishikesh. The company’s portfolio currently comprises 11 fully operational hotels representing 3,389 keys across mainstream and luxury segments. The Ritz-Carlton project would be its clearest move upmarket, entering a price tier where inventory remains thin across most Indian cities.
Hyderabad’s particular appeal for this investment is rooted in its commercial profile. The Madhapur–HiTec City corridor has emerged as one of India’s densest concentrations of global capability centres, technology firms and pharmaceutical multinationals. Mindspace Madhapur is Hyderabad’s largest Grade A integrated business campus, and Ramesh Nair, chief executive of K Raheja Corp Investment Managers, said that adding luxury hospitality was aimed at enhancing the campus’s premium positioning and long-term competitiveness while diversifying its tenant mix.
Chalet’s recent financial performance supports the strategic confidence underpinning this investment. For the third quarter of FY26, the company’s consolidated revenue surged 27% year-on-year to ₹5,892 million, with EBITDA growing 29% to ₹2,726 million, translating to a margin of 46.3%. That momentum makes a large capital commitment more defensible, though a project of this scale will test the company’s execution capacity alongside its balance sheet.
The timing also aligns with broader industry momentum. In 2025, Marriott opened 109 properties across Asia Pacific excluding China and marked a portfolio milestone with its 700th regional property. India sits at the centre of that expansion, with Marriott identifying the subcontinent as a primary growth market across luxury and premium segments. For Ritz-Carlton specifically, Hyderabad would represent a meaningful addition to what remains a selective India footprint.
For HR and workforce leaders in hospitality, the project carries specific implications. Building and retaining a team capable of delivering Ritz-Carlton service standards in a market where ultra-luxury hospitality talent is scarce requires lead times that match the development timeline. Chalet has received the Great Place to Work certification for six consecutive years and ranked 11th among India’s Great Mid-Size Workplaces in 2025 – credentials that will matter when it competes for senior operations, culinary and guest experience professionals ahead of opening.
Singh has indicated the company may complete construction ahead of the 36-month target. Whether it does will depend on execution against design approvals and statutory clearances that remain pending. What is already clear is that the project repositions Chalet Hotels within the Indian luxury landscape – and that Hyderabad, long seen as a reliable corporate performer, is now being asked to sustain a level of ultra-luxury demand that the market has not previously been tested against at this scale.
