“The second quarter will be slightly better than the first quarter, both in terms of occupancy and average room rate (ARR),” Keswani said. He acknowledged that Aurika, being in a low season period during the first and second quarters, will need more time to reach its full potential. However, he stressed, “In the second half, as I said earlier, it will pick up to where we expect it to stabilise.”
Keswani noted that Aurika Mumbai is a large hotel with 670 rooms and achieving high occupancy levels will take time. If you look at an earlier 300-room hotel in Mumbai, which took seven months to reach 75% occupancy and is now around 90%, the expectation for Aurika is to reach 70% occupancy in the second half of this year.
For next winter, he expects the hotel to reach an occupancy rate of 80-85%, with the aim of exceeding 70% this winter.
is investing heavily in renovations, focusing on high-value Lemon Tree Premier properties and the entire Keys portfolio, which have not been updated since before the COVID-19 pandemic.
Keswani said that most of these renovations will take place in the first half of this year and next year. This strategic restructuring is expected to significantly improve the company’s performance, and the second half of this year is expected to be much stronger than the first. By the end of next year, the company aims to position itself as a revitalized hotel brand.
He noted that the company is spending approximately Rs 100 crore annually on these renovations, and expects to recover the investment within two years. This investment is expected to generate an additional Rs 50 crore in EBITDA annually, beyond normal expectations, after the renovations.
The company, which has a market capitalisation of ₹9,772 crore, has seen its shares rise 17% over the past year.
Read also | Lemon Tree expects average room rent and occupancy to improve this year
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