Chitra Stern

Chitra Stern is an entrepreneur, business builder, hotelier and real estate developer based in Portugal, and co-founder and owner of the Martinhal hotel group in Portugal. Together with her husband and business partner, Roman Stern, she has built Martinhal into one of Portugal’s leading luxury family hospitality brands, alongside a growing portfolio of branded residential and commercial real estate ventures.

Of Indian heritage and born and raised in Singapore, Chitra studied Electronic Engineering at University College London before qualifying as a Chartered Accountant with Price Waterhouse (now PwC), where she worked in audit, business advisory and management consulting. She later completed her MBA at London Business School.

Chitra and Roman moved to Portugal in 2001, initially developing Martinhal Sagres, which opened in 2010. Their activities have since expanded across Portugal into hospitality, branded residences, real estate and education, including the forthcoming Marvila Studios, a new hybrid hospitality concept scheduled to open in 2027.

They also founded United Lisbon International School and are developing the adjacent spaces in the Edu Hub Lisbon - a growing education and innovation ecosystem in East Lisbon. The Global Learning Hub is set to bring innovation in education to new heights in Lisbon.

Chitra has served on numerous business and advisory boards, including Portugal IN, the Portuguese Government task force created to promote foreign direct investment between 2017 and 2020.

In 2024, Chitra received the Medal of Tourism Merit from the Portuguese Government in recognition of her contribution to Portuguese tourism. Her other distinctions include London Business School’s Deloitte Institute Accomplished Entrepreneur Award in 2014.

Chitra and Roman have four children, all born in Portugal.