Dream hautel

Dream Cochin, the first Indian hotel by Vikram Chatwal, inaugurated with a big bash on Sunday, has nothing 'as usual' about it. Sanchita Guha chats with the hotelier-actor...

Being both an hotelier and an actor, it is apt that Vikram Chatwal would put a lot of drama in his business hotels. Dream Cochin, the first Indian hotel by Chatwal, inaugurated with a big bash on Sunday, has nothing 'as usual' about it. This is a hotel with as much style, surprise and personality as it has functionality.

HT Image

The NCR will soon get a taste of this, too. "Work is on, and in about two years, a Dream hotel will open its doors in Noida," says US-based Chatwal, speaking to HT City just before the inauguration. Going by the plans he showed us, this will be one huge hotel, much bigger than the Kochi property. "It will have three towers and a large landscaped outdoor space," he adds. Dream hotels in Jaipur and Goa are coming up, too, joining those in New York, Miami and Bangkok.

Blue and white - colours that are calming, versatile and unfussy - dominate Dream Cochin. The whole appearance is of a very leisure-oriented boutique hotel; even the common areas where visitors can talk shop invite you to put your feet up. It has quirky touches like beautiful faces looking at you from very pale blue posters on wall; concealed LED lights that bathe a room in a blue glow at the touch of a switch; and a library that doubles as a bar.

In Chatwal's book, these are 'hautels', not just 'hotels' - he defines the Dream concept as 'hautel couture', something like 'haute couture'. Like the spectacular Aman Resorts that recently opened in the Capital, Dream Delhi, when it does come up, could become a destination in itself.