Sant Singh Chatwal | |
|---|---|
 Sant Singh Chatwal at Asian American Human Rights watch event inNew York City | |
| Born | 1946 (age 79–80) |
| Occupations | Founder and chair, Dream Hotel Group |
| Children | Vikram Chatwal, Vivek Chatwal |
| Awards | Padma Bhushan |
Sant Singh Chatwal is anIndian American businessman and founder of the Dream Hotel Group where he is chair of the board. He has founded numerous hotel brands includingThe Chatwal, Dream Hotels, Time Hotels, and Unscripted Hotels, which operate in theUnited States and internationally.[1][2]
Born to aSikh family, Chatwal's family were refugees that fledWestern Punjab inBritish India during thePartition of India in 1947.[3] He was one year old when the family left with his four brothers and three sisters. They settled inFaridkot, Punjab, India where the family became smallmerchants. He joined theIndian Armed Forces at the age of 18 where, according to Chatwal, he served as a fighter pilot on the country's first and only aircraft carrier,INS Vikrant.[3] Chatwal grew up on theSikh traditions of his family.[4]
Chatwal left India in 1967 forAddis Ababa, Ethiopia, to work for the country's commercial airliner.[5] When he arrived he was told he would be required to take off his turban, cut his hair, and remove his beard.[6] He declined due to hisSikh heritage.[3] He then became a teacher in a local public school and became friends with the owner of a restaurant who asked him to fill in for a few months when he became ill.[1] He improved the business and was later asked to become a partner, later buying out the other owner.[6] In the course of time he became the owner of two restaurants servingIndian cuisine.[7]
In 1975, he left the country with some of his savings and opened a restaurant inMontreal, Quebec, Canada.[6] Chatwal also entered the hotel business while inCanada, purchasing his first hotel in 1976.[1] In 1979, he opened Bombay Palace, the first fine-dining Indian restaurant inMidtown Manhattan.[8] Chatwal expanded Bombay Palace internationally, opening restaurants inLondon,Hong Kong, and Canada, and eventually becoming a publicly traded company.[9]
He continued to acquire hotels, adding properties inFlorida in 1980 andNew York in 1982. He later combined all his properties into Hampshire Hotels & Resorts. He suffered from the real estate crisis in the 1990s and was forced to file Chapter 11 bankruptcy. It was then he began to bring in investors as partners and focused on lifestyle branding of hotels, opening properties in New York,Los Angeles, and internationally.[9] By 2006, he was the largest independent owner of hotels in the United States, operating 13 hotels with 3,000 rooms valued at $750 million.[10]
Chatwal was close to former US PresidentBill Clinton and his family, and made substantial financial donations to his election campaigns, as well as to other causes and campaigns of theDemocratic Party, engaging prominent representatives of the party. He has accompanied the Clintons on journeys to India, and was a Trustee of theWilliam J. Clinton Foundation. In April 2014, he pled guilty to giving illegal campaign contributions to three federal candidates, including Clinton, between 2007 and 2011.[7] He was fined $500,000 and sentenced to probation and community service.[11]
Hampshire Hotels & Resorts rebranded in 2015 to Dream Hotel Group.[12] Chatwal remained as the chairman of the board and a new CEO was appointed to the group[1][13]
In 2010, then Indian PresidentPratibha Patil awarded Chatwal thePadma Bhushan, India's third-highest civilian honor.[9]