CHECKING INTO LUXURY

GLOBAL AND HOMEGROWN BRANDS ARE RACING TO CASH IN ON INDIA’S ROCKETING\ DEMAND FOR LUXURY EXPERIENCES BY OPENING A WAVE OF OPULENT HOTELS

- SMITA TRIPATHI

WHEN THE FAIRMONT Udaipur Palace opened its doors this April, it did not slip quietly into Rajasthan's backdrop of havelis, becoming another palace hotel. The sprawling 327-room Rajput-style structure built into the Aravallis and spread across ballrooms, gardens and terraces, launched with a spectacle: a 700-guest wedding. The hotel was sold out on Day 1.

Over the next few weeks, it hosted 19 more weddings through the summer months (considered off season), each generating ₹5-6 crore. Starting October and all the way to March, when the high season begins, the property is booked for seven-eight weddings a month, with bills exceeding ₹10-11 crore per wedding. In India, the peak wedding season is between November and February, when business is brisk.

"What Udaipur lacked was scale," says Somesh Agarwal, Chairman and Managing Director of ROCKWOOD Hotels & Keystone Hotels that owns the property. "Most luxury hotels here are in the 80- to 130-room range. We brought in scale, which is The Fairmont Udaipur Palace, managed by Accor, is the third Fairmont in India, coming on the heels of Jaipur (2012) and the 446-room Fairmont Mumbai, which opened around the same time.

The launch of two Fairmonts in quick succession is a turning point in India's luxury hospitality industry—the beginning of a nationwide boom driven by wealth creation, domestic demand, lifestyle shifts, and the ₹10 lakh crore wedding economy.