Vikram Chatwal

Vikram Chatwal (born: November 1, 1971) is a former actor and an American hotelier. He was born in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. Along with his family, he moved to Montreal, Canada in the 1970s and in the 1980s to New York Click to look into! >> Read More... . His father Sant Chatwal invested in hotels and fine dining.

Chatwal inherits Indian Sikh heritage; he even learned to recite the Sikh prayers. Chatwal graduated from Wharton School of Business, New York in 1994. Chatwal's father founded Bombay Palace restaurant chain and Hampshire Hotels and Resorts.

After completing graduation, he determined on a different career path and started working for Morgan Stanley. He worked as an actor and movie producer. He played his roles in films such as Zoolander and Honeymoon Travels Pvt. Ltd. He is the first Sikh model to show in Vogue magazine.

In 1999, Chatwal came back to family business and opened the Time Hotel, a luxury hotel positioned in the New York City. This was the first of six independent luxury hotels of his own company Vikram Chatwal Hotels. BBC television program the magazine Radar once named him one of the world's most eligible bachelors. Chatwal expanded his hotel management operations to New York City, Miami and overseas. The primary expansion occurred with the opening of the Chatwal Hotel, in 2010.

It was a $100 million venture in the New York Theater District. These expansions led to the growth of the Chatwal brand to the extension of including additional properties in Manhattan, Miami, Bangkok and Cochin, India. In the year 2005, Vikram Chatwal achieved the title of Entrepreneur of the Year at the first South Asia Media Awards held in New York.

Forbes Asia featured him on the cover of the issue of June 19, 2006. He is also accredited for invigorating the hotel industry in Manhattan.