Hilton signs two hotels for GMR Aerocity, New Delhi
The properties include India’s second Waldorf Astoria, after Jaipur opens in 2027
Hilton Worldwide Holdings signed two hotels—a Waldorf Astoria and a Hilton Hotels & Resorts—in GMR Aerocity, New Delhi, to be developed within three to five years with GMR Group-led Delhi International Airport Ltd.
Vishnu Rageev R is a journalist with more than 15 years of experience in business journalism. Before joining Asian Media Group in 2022, he worked with BW Businessworld, IMAGES Group, exchange4media Group, DC Books, and Dhanam Publications in India. His coverage includes industry analysis, market trends and corporate developments, focusing on retail, real estate and hospitality. As a senior journalist with Asian Hospitality, he covers the U.S. hospitality industry. He is from Kerala, a state in South India.
What luxury Hilton hotels are opening in India next?
HILTON WORLDWIDE HOLDINGS recently signed two new hotels—a Waldorf Astoria and a Hilton Hotels & Resorts property—in partnership with GMR Group-led Delhi International Airport Ltd. The greenfield projects will be developed in GMR Aerocity, New Delhi, over the next three to five years.
This will be the second Waldorf Astoria in India, following the Jaipur property set to open in 2027, Hilton said in a statement.
“The signings underscore Hilton’s long-term commitment to India,” said Chris Nassetta, Hilton’s president and CEO. “As we accelerate growth in South Asia, these properties and partnerships play a pivotal role in expanding Hilton’s portfolio. This signing marks a significant step forward and reinforces our role in shaping the future of the Indian hospitality market.”
The Waldorf Astoria will offer 150 rooms and suites, event spaces, and wellness amenities, while the 350-room Hilton will be the brand’s first Hilton Hotels & Resorts property in New Delhi.
Kiran Kumar Grandhi, GMR Group’s corporate chairman, said the partnership with Hilton reflects its commitment to bringing global brands to Aerocity and positioning it as a force multiplier for Delhi’s tourism and business sectors.
“Hilton’s standards align with our ambition to position GMR Aerocity as a strategic destination setting new benchmarks in urban and hospitality infrastructure,” he said.
Hilton’s luxury brand portfolio in India will quadruple to include Waldorf Astoria, LXR and Signia by Hilton, alongside two existing Conrad properties in Bengaluru and Pune. In May, Hilton announced that LXR Hotels & Resorts would enter India with The Den, Bengaluru.
The company is regionalizing its brands and expanding its portfolio in India to cover different price points and stay occasions for Indian travelers, the statement said. It will double its current five brands—Conrad, Hilton Hotels & Resorts, DoubleTree, Hilton Garden Inn, and Hampton—to 10 by adding Waldorf Astoria, LXR, Signia, Curio Collection, and Spark over the coming years.
“The introduction of Waldorf Astoria and our flagship Hilton Hotels & Resorts brand to GMR Aerocity marks a major milestone in our India growth strategy, bringing luxury and modern hospitality to the capital,” said Alan Watts, Hilton’s president of Asia Pacific. “This signing advances our goal to grow our India portfolio tenfold in the next decade, supported by infrastructure investment and rising travel demand.”
The company recently opened its 1,000th luxury and lifestyle hotel globally, with nearly 500 more in the pipeline, including in India. It plans to open 29 hotels with 5,252 keys in India over the next five years.
IHCL expands portfolio past 550 hotels by through acquisitions and partnerships.
Promoters of ANK, Pride and Brij come from the Clarks Hotels family.
ANK and Pride operates midscale hotels, Brij focuses on the boutique and experiential segment.
THE INDIAN HOTELS Co. Ltd acquired a controlling stake in ANK Hotels Pvt. Ltd and Pride Hospitality Pvt. Ltd and signed a distribution agreement with Brij Hospitality Pvt. Ltd. The deals expand IHCL’s portfolio to more than 550 hotels, increase its midscale presence to over 240 properties and add the Brij brand.
The promoters of ANK Hotels, Pride Hospitality and Brij Hospitality come from the Clarks Hotels family, IHCL said in a statement.
“India’s hospitality sector has witnessed sustained demand momentum over the last three fiscal years, reflective of the country’s growing economic prominence and rising discretionary spends,” said Puneet Chhatwal, IHCL’s managing director and CEO. “The outlook for the sector remains buoyant as demand outpaces supply and India continues to be an under-served hospitality market, especially in the mid-market segment. Our partnership with ANK, Pride and Brij Hospitality is a multipronged approach addressing India’s heterogeneous market landscape and is in line with IHCL’s five-year road map ‘Accelerate 2030’ of unlocking India’s tourism potential.”
ANK Hotels and Pride Hospitality operate 135 midscale hotels across 110 locations under The Clarks Hotels & Resorts brand, the statement said. These will be integrated into IHCL’s portfolio, mainly under the Ginger brand. Brij Hospitality’s 19 properties will add to IHCL’s presence in the boutique and experiential segment.
“Furthering IHCL’s presence in the midscale segment with the transformation of Ginger, this partnership doubles our portfolio to over 240 hotels addressing the needs of the aspirational traveller,” Chhatwal said. “Expanding our brandscape, the strong brand equity of Brij Hotels in India’s cultural and historical centres extends our offering in the experiential boutique luxury segment. With their legacy and hospitality expertise, the key managerial personnel of ANK, Pride and Brij Hospitality will continue to oversee the running of the respective companies, providing business continuity and enabling future growth.”
The transaction supports IHCL’s asset-light strategy, with most new properties under management contracts or operating leases. It advances the company’s ‘Accelerate 2030’ goal of expanding India’s tourism potential and broadens its presence from midscale to boutique luxury.
Ankur Dalwani, IHCL’s executive vice president and chief financial officer, said the company will fund the investment through internal accruals, supported by strong cash flows.
“The primary investment will be used to unlock value in existing assets and fuel future growth opportunities,” he said.
Meanwhile, Tata Sons recently launched a hospitality platform to support IHCL, allowing it to operate group-owned hotels on a revenue-share model while remaining asset-light. The first project is a 195-room Ginger hotel under construction near Kolkata airport.
“Together with IHCL, we carry forward the shared vision of our respective founders, Jamsetji Tata and Babu Brijpal Das Ji, in shaping and propelling India’s tourism journey," said Anant Apurv Kumar and Udit Kumar, founders of Brij Hotels and promoters of Clarks Group. "IHCL’s legacy of showcasing Indian hospitality to the world resonates with our core objective at Brij Hotels – to immerse travellers in the spirit of India’s most storied destinations. Together, we will blend IHCL’s century-old tradition with our experiential approach, creating journeys that honour our shared heritage, nurture local communities and reveal India in its most significant form. We extend our gratitude to Vijay Thacker from Horwath HTL for helping facilitate this strategic alliance.”
“It is with great enthusiasm that we move forward to new vistas with India’s largest hotel group,” said Anoop Kumar, founder of ANK Hotels. “Our forefathers, who sowed the seeds of the hospitality sector in India in 1947, will be proud.”
IHCL and Ambuja Neotia Group recently announced plans to open 15 hotels across West Bengal, Sikkim and Himachal Pradesh over the next five years.
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MHRIL targets 10,000 rooms by 2030, up from 5,700.
It is exploring new models to become more competitive.
It calls the goal “conservative” amid India’s post-COVID tourism boom.
MAHINDRA HOLIDAYS AND Resorts India Ltd., a subsidiary of Mahindra Group, is aiming to have 10,000 rooms by 2030. The company is expanding beyond vacation ownership into the travel and tourism sector, Anish Shah, Mahindra Group CEO and managing director, said in an interview with PTI Videos.
MHRIL, led by Managing Director and CEO Manoj Bhat, had 5,794 keys as of June 30, 2025, and plans to add about 1,000 rooms this fiscal as part of its target to increase its room count to 10,000 by the 2030 fiscal, according to PTI.
Shah said the target of 10,000 rooms by 2030 is "conservative" given the boom in domestic tourism after the COVID-19 pandemic.
"So my response to that is that you're right,” Shah told PTI. “It should be much more. It is a good target right now, as a business looks at various options to go beyond vacation ownership."
The company is exploring new models to become more competitive, moving beyond its Club Mahindra business.
"As those options are thought through, further developed and combined with 'here's what the model is going to be' that will then give us a better sense of how we can play this in a much bigger way,” Shah said. "Our goal is very clear, to be the number one leisure hospitality player in India and that is something that we have been able to show, as we've seen from all the feedback we get from customers who go to our resorts. The experience has always been fantastic, and that is one that we've been able to deliver for families in leisure destinations, and we want to do that on a much larger scale."
Asked why the group has stayed away from conventional hotels and restricted itself to Club Mahindra, Shah said.
"That has been the model of the past but the business is looking at various options now, and is exploring, what are models that make sense, and how can we expand beyond just vacation ownership that we are doing (now)," he said.
India received 9.95 million foreign tourists in 2024, up from 9.52 million in 2023.
U.S. led India’s inbound and outbound travel in 2024 with 1.8 million American visitors.
The UAE was the top overseas destination for Indians, hosting 7.7 million travelers.
THE U.S EMERGED as India’s largest inbound tourism market in 2024, sending 1.8 million visitors, according to the India’s Ministry of Tourism. The U.S. also ranked among the top destinations for Indian travelers, welcoming more than 2.1 million visits last year.
Union Minister for Tourism and Culture Gajendra Singh Shekhawat said these figures signal strong momentum in both inbound and outbound travel, The Tribune reported.
India received a total of 99,51,722 foreign tourists in 2024, up from 95,20,928 in 2023 and 64,37,467 in 2022. Bangladesh followed the U.S. in inbound arrivals with 17,50,165 visitors, while the United Kingdom ranked third with 10,22,587.
On the outbound side, more than 30 million Indians traveled abroad in 2024, the report said.
Bureau of Immigration data showed the UAE as the most popular destination, attracting 7.7 million visitors from India, followed by Saudi Arabia with 34,23,711 and the United States with 21,43,909.
Earlier in July, Minister of State for External Affairs Kirti Vardhan Singh outlined plans to further strengthen India’s tourism profile through global trade fairs, roadshows, B2B meetings, familiarization trips and digital campaigns.
Rubix Data Sciences projected India’s hospitality industry will grow steadily despite regional tensions, with revenue reaching $12.8 billion by 2027.
Marriott and BHVL plan six hotels with 940 rooms in four Indian markets.
Bengaluru-based BHVL is a subsidiary of Brigade Enterprises Ltd.
BHVL recently launched a $101.2 million IPO, including a $14.4 million pre-IPO placement.
MARRIOTT INTERNATIONAL AND Brigade Hotel Ventures Ltd will open six hotels totaling 940 rooms across four markets in India. The projects will be developed under five Marriott Bonvoy brands: The Ritz-Carlton, JW Marriott, Marriott Hotels & Resorts, Courtyard by Marriott and Fairfield by Marriott.
Bengaluru-based BHVL, a subsidiary of real estate firm Brigade Enterprises Ltd or BEL led by Executive Chairman M.R. Jaishankar, signed the agreement as part of its nearly 15-year partnership with Marriott, which has produced several large projects.
The six hotels, said Jaishankar, include the Courtyard by Marriott Chennai World Trade Center; Fairfield by Marriott Bengaluru International Airport; Fairfield by Marriott Bengaluru Brigade Valencia; The Ritz-Carlton Vaikom Island, Kerala; JW Marriott Chennai OMR; and Thiruvananthapuram Marriott Hotel World Trade Center.
“Each of these projects reflects our belief in the long-term potential of the Indian hospitality industry and our commitment to bringing thoughtfully designed hotels to both business and leisure travelers,” Jaishankar said. “With Marriott’s brands and global standards, we are confident these hotels will set benchmarks in their respective markets.”
BHVL is the second-largest owner of chain-affiliated hotels and rooms in South India among major private hotel asset owners as of March 31, according to the Economic Times. With the six upcoming hotels, along with the Sheraton Grand Bangalore at Brigade Gateway and Four Points by Sheraton Kochi Infopark, BHVL’s Marriott portfolio will total eight hotels with 1,388 keys.
“Our growth strategy focuses on being present where our guests want us to be, as we continue to meet the demand for luxury travel and hospitality services,” said Rajeev Menon, Marriott’s president, Asia Pacific excluding China. “Today’s agreement underscores our relationship with the Brigade Group and leveraging our brand portfolio, we are confident these developments will meet the needs of travellers for every trip purpose.”
Upcoming projects
Courtyard by Marriott Chennai World Trade Center, Chennai, Tamil Nadu – 45 rooms, opening fiscal year 2027.
Fairfield by Marriott Bengaluru International Airport, Bengaluru, Karnataka – 224 rooms, opening fiscal year 2028.
Fairfield by Marriott Bengaluru Brigade Valencia, Bengaluru, Karnataka – 151 rooms, opening fiscal year 2028.
The Ritz-Carlton Vaikom Island, Kerala – 70 villas, opening fiscal year 2029.
JW Marriott Chennai OMR, Chennai, Tamil Nadu – 250 rooms, opening fiscal year 2030.
Thiruvananthapuram Marriott Hotel World Trade Center, Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala – 200 rooms, opening fiscal year 2030.
BEL has a pipeline of about 16 million square feet of new launches in the residential and commercial segments and plans to add 1,700 keys to its hotel portfolio. BHVL operates nine hotels in Bengaluru, Karnataka; Chennai, Tamil Nadu; Kochi, Kerala; Mysuru, Karnataka and GIFT City, Gujarat, with 1,604 keys. The hotels are managed by Marriott, Accor S.A. and InterContinental Hotels Group. They are in the upper upscale, upscale, upper-midscale and midscale segments.
BHVL recently launched a $101.2 million initial public offering, including a $14.4 million pre-IPO placement, Business Standard reported. Hospitality revenue in the first quarter of fiscal year 2026 was $16.1 million, up 19 percent from the same period in fiscal year 2025, while EBITDA rose 34 percent to $5.5 million.
Separately, Bengaluru-based Prestige Hospitality Ventures recently secured Sebi approval for a $308 million initial public offering.
Prestige Hospitality Ventures received SEBI approval for a $308 million IPO.
It operates hotels under multiple Marriott International brands.
As of December 2024, its portfolio included seven hotels with 1,445 keys.
PRESTIGE HOSPITALITY VENTURES recently received approval from the Securities and Exchange Board of India for a $308 million, or ₹2,700 crore, initial public offering. The company develops and operates luxury to upper midscale hospitality assets and is part of Bengaluru-based Prestige Group, promoted by Prestige Estates Projects.
The offer comprises a $193 million fresh issue of shares and an offer for sale of up to $114 million by promoters Prestige Estates Projects, Economic Times reported.
Prestige Hospitality Ventures, led by CEO Suresh Singaravelu, plans to use $128 million from the fresh issue to repay $45.34 million in debt incurred by itself and its subsidiaries, Sai Chakra Hotels and Northland Holding Co., while reinvesting $83 million into these subsidiaries.
Additional funds will support growth through acquisitions, strategic initiatives and general corporate purposes, the Times said.
As of December 2024, its portfolio included seven hotels with 1,445 keys—1,255 operating and 190 under renovation. It also has three ongoing projects with 951 keys and nine planned projects adding 1,558 rooms, making it the largest hotel chain in South India. The portfolio spans Bengaluru, Delhi-NCR, Mumbai, Goa, Hyderabad and Chennai, covering convention centers, business hotels, extended stay residences and golf resorts.
The company operates hotels under several Marriott International brands—St. Regis, Edition, W Hotels, JW Marriott, Marriott Marquis, Sheraton, Autograph Collection, Tribute Portfolio, Moxy, Aloft and Marriott Executive Apartments—as well as Conrad by Hilton and Angsana Resorts & Spa by Banyan Tree.
Marriott-managed keys account for nine percent of the group’s portfolio, the largest share under any brand. Meanwhile, revenue from hospitality services rose to $91 million, or around Rs 796 crore, in the previous fiscal year, up from $73 million, Rs 636 crore, in fiscal 2023.