Boutique resorts with celebrity chefs: For the ultra-rich who are tired of luxury accommodation

It also has a luxury restaurant that serves only locally sourced plated food and can only seat 16 guests at a time, just like a Michelin-starred restaurant. Minimum charges for this boutique luxury resort are approx. $40,000 per night. However, Amaya, about two hours’ drive from Chandigarh, sees enough guests.

Today’s ultra-wealthy vacationers aren’t averse to splurging on intimate, high-end boutique resorts with fewer than 50 rooms and meals prepared by renowned chefs that blend exclusivity with luxury.

Deepak Gupta, owner of Amaya Homes, worked in senior consulting roles in the corporate sector before embarking on his dream project. Villas in Amaya rent at high prices, starting from $37,000 and rising to $75,000 yuan per night (excluding tax). A private villa that sleeps six will make you feel right at home $123,000.

These hotels are redefining luxury vacations in India. charm? Small investment, high returns. New-age hoteliers like Gupta are looking to capitalize on the growing demand for customized experiences.

The 12-villa hideaway on Varca Beach in Goa also fits the same bill.

Originally a redevelopment project for the Binani Cement family in Varca, the project on 3 acres of family-owned land with beach access is scheduled to launch on 1 November. House prices are higher than $50,000 per night.

Shradha Binani, one of the company’s founders, is in no rush to make profits. The 12-room Amaraanth resort in Goa will have celebrity chef Ritu Dalmia as its culinary director.

“We started this project in 2022 with the idea that discerning travelers in the country would start taking vacations and spend money on their health during the pandemic. Places like Goa became their regular haunts. But for the wealthy For travelers, there is something missing from the luxury travel experience,” Binani told Mint.

“Most of them find five-star hotels and resorts underwhelming with a lack of personalization. That’s the gap in the market we want to fill and create something different from the cookie-cutter five-star hotel experience Something. We are creating a destination within a destination and building a property that people can enjoy.”

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Navneet Nagpal, principal consultant at Gurgaon-based Spectra Hospitality Services, said there is growing interest among second- and third-generation descendants of business families who want to move away from the shackles of traditional businesses. build such a project.

Some of these boutique luxury resorts are located in remote areas or near major cities, where land is often cheaper. In some cases, investors already own the land on which they want to build a boutique resort, which may cost $50-70 Crores, the development cost is approx. $13,500 sq. ft., Rs 12 Crore space per room.

Rich Millennials

Boutique resorts often appeal to the elite with more experience-focused accommodations, sometimes partnering with well-known chefs.

“These boutique hotels are looking for experience-oriented Millennial and Gen Z consumers. They don’t want a regular hotel room and have high disposable income,” said Achin Kha, managing partner of strategic consulting at Hotelivate, a hospitality consultancy. Achin Khanna said.

Khanna also owns and operates Anamiva Goa, a 22-room art-themed resort.

These luxury boutique resorts are very different from the private villas available on platforms like Airbnb. Airbnb style villa guest payment $50,000 per night for 3-4 bedroom villas, boutique resort charges $25,000-50,000 per room per night.

Hotelier Himmat Anand, founder of boutique hotel chain Tree of Life resorts and pet resort brand A Dog’s Story, said the upcoming hotels in the high-end luxury resort business will be mainly located in hilly areas such as Himachal Pradesh and Coorg.

“The wealth created in this country is staggering. Earlier, people thought luxury goods were only the domain of millionaires. Today, people in their 30s and 40s are not necessarily millionaires but behave the same way and There is a need to brag on social media or to friends that their desires need to be fulfilled no matter the cost and that is why resorts like this are doing well,” said Anand.

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Khanna added that another factor attracting a new wave of hotel owners to build such niche resorts is that they pay 35-40% less for partnerships or brand compliance with large hotel management companies. Branded resorts also tend to be larger.

Khanna expects more such boutique resorts to come up in places like Himalayas, Goa, Sindhudurg, Assam and Coorg.

Companies such as The Postcard Hotels, Tamara, Storii by ITC, Niramaya and many other single-owner unbranded hotels have found success in this model.

Excellent product. No brand.

Spectra Hospitality is currently advising on a 30-40 room luxury boutique resort in Ranthambore with an average room rate of $60,000-70,000 per night. It is involved in several upcoming projects with 50-60 rooms in places like Shillong, Cuttack, Jaipur and Varanasi.

The consultancy is also developing a 35-room luxury hotel at Valpoi near the wildlife sanctuary in north Goa and a 50-room resort at Tadoba in south Nagpur. Similar projects are planned in Bhopal, Bareilly, Bhimtal, Mukteshwar and Gompalgarh in Almora.

“If the location is right and the investment is ideal, without investing in land, such monetization can provide a yield of 18-22 per cent in just 4-5 years,” Nagpal said of Spectra Hospitality. The country will have 300-400 of these boutique hotels have been completed, and this number is expected to grow as these are fast-turnover hotel assets. “

The situation is no different for Naaz Hotel Consultants in Delhi. The company went from having just one or two such prospects a year to now working on four to five such projects. Business for boutique luxury resorts has never been better, said Ishaan Koul, director of the company.

“With people working long hours, two-income families, there’s a huge need for wellness. That’s what these resorts cater to,” he said. “Before the pandemic, there were far fewer of these developments, but now they have grown significantly.”

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Naaz has built such a resort just a few hours away from Delhi.

All these developments make sense as India’s hospitality sector is growing at a rapid pace, driven by strong domestic demand, favorable demographics and rising investments, while supply is struggling to keep pace.

According to ratings agency CareEdge, the domestic hotel industry’s revenue per available room (RevPAR, a key metric used by hoteliers) grew by 14% in fiscal 2023-24 and is expected to grow by another 8-9% in fiscal 2025.

Although independent boutique resorts are not counted in organized hotel supply, there are still hundreds of such hotels in the country, the company said. India has approximately 200,000 branded hotel rooms.

big gun

Larger hospitality companies are not far behind in pursuing this opportunity.

Take Radisson Hotel Group, for example. In response to the changing market dynamics, the Indian company launched the Radisson individuals and Radisson individuals Retreats brands in the boutique hotel segment about two years ago.

Nikhil Sharma, managing director and country head, Radisson Hotels India, said the company has set a target of opening 20 new hotels this year, one-fifth of which will be leisure resorts such as Jawai in Rajasthan. ) and Nainital in Uttarakhand. “The average daily room rate for organized hotels in India is approx. $7,000. Exclusive resorts can request any of the above $Ten thousand a night,” he said.

Marriott International has partnered with luxury vacation home rental company Lohono Stays, now part of Homes & Villas by Marriott Bonvoy.

Last year, Kolkata-based Ambuja Neotia Group acquired Himmat Anand’s hotel ownership and management company Tree of Life Resorts and Hotels for $70-800 million. Taj Mahal Hotels, a subsidiary of Indian Hotels Ltd., has since managed the brand.

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