[1][2] Chatwal was born in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia and his family moved to Montreal, Quebec, Canada in the 1970s and then to New York City in the 1980s, where his father invested in fine dining and hotels.

[4] After graduating from Wharton in 1993, Chatwal decided to try a career path different from the family business and began working for Morgan Stanley.

[10] The initial expansion came in 2010 with the opening of the Chatwal Hotel, a $100 million project in the former Lambs Club building in the Theater District of Manhattan.

[10] Through his expansions, Vikram has helped grow the Chatwal brand to include additional properties in Manhattan, Miami, Bangkok and Cochin, India.

It was attended by more than 600 people from 26 countries and included notable guests such as steel magnate Lakshmi Mittal,[20] model Naomi Campbell,[20] Patricia Velásquez,[5] rapper P Diddy,[20] Prince Nikolaos of Greece,[5] Bill Clinton,[20] and several Indian celebrities.

[21] In April 2013, Chatwal was arrested at Fort Lauderdale–Hollywood International Airport in Florida while trying to board an aircraft with cocaine, marijuana and prescription pills.