Chic Sikh Chatwal Opens Dream Hotel
What do you call hot or ‘haute’ boutique hotels that attract trendy, upscale crowds?
How about ‘hautels’? That’s the moniker used by hotelier Vikram Chatwal, whose latest ‘hautel couture’ venture—Dream Cochin—had a splashy opening in India recently. Unsurprisingly, reactions to this five-star hotel run the whole gamut. All 151 luxury rooms and suites have been done up in bright white and neon blue, giving the place a hip, chic look for the fashionable set. Apparently, the idea is to create a dreamy, clouds-in-the-sky ambience. Dream Cochin has three restaurants, an Ayurvedic spa, a state-of-the-art gym, and a 24-hour concierge. There’s a sister Dream Hotel in Bangkok, and Chatwal aims to extend the franchise in India and the United States.
Dubbed the Chic Sikh, the 37-year-old Vikram Chatwal likes to cultivate a flamboyant, playboyish image. He is the son of Sant Singh Chatwal, a New York-based hotelier who received an Ellis Island Medal of Honor this year. Columnist Namrata Zakaria attended the opening of Dream Cochin. “At Ava, the nightclub, Vikram gets behind the bar and pours everyone a tequila shot, before getting us on the floor,” she writes in the Indian Express. “In minutes everyone’s grooving to Gainda phool, including Ursula, a stunning, statuesque Slovenian model, also Vikram’s ‘minder’?Dream Cochin is also open for pleasure.”
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