The Dream Fades For Vikram Chatwal
Playboy hotelier Vikram Chatwal is the owner of several properties around town, including Midtown's Stay and Dream hotels. He says another property will be added to his portfolio in September when The Chatwal opens its doors on East 44th Street, which is also supposed to house the Lamb's Club, a restaurant by chef Geoffrey Zakarian with a bar by nightlife impresarios David Rabin and Will Regen. Whether Chatwal's plans stand any chance of panning out, though, is anyone's guess.
Since it was first announced eons ago, the opening of The Chatwal has been pushed back on a handful of occasions, although as recently as last week Chatwal's hotel company was still suggesting the hotel would debut in September.
Elsewhere, though, Chatwal's empire appears to be falling to pieces. There have been reports of financial difficulties at the Dream Hotel in Midtown. And now it looks like his money problems extend beyond New York, too. A reader sent us photos of the dilapidated Dream in Miami, which still sports several signs proclaiming it will open in 2008, and has been an abandoned construction zone for weeks now. The pics of Chatwal's latest mess are below.