Hilton, a global hospitality leader, has taken a significant step in its luxury expansion strategy by acquiring a majority controlling interest in Sydell Group, specifically to grow the NoMad Hotels brand worldwide. The MoU signed between the two entities marks Hilton’s entrance into the fast-growing luxury lifestyle hotel market, introducing an exquisite brand known for its exceptional food and beverage, interior design, and service standards.
Sydell Group, under the leadership of founder Andrew Zobler, has earned acclaim for its innovative hotel concepts, including NoMad, The Line, Freehand, and The Ned. The collaboration entails Sydell managing design, branding, and operations for NoMad, while Hilton leads the development initiatives. This integration will see NoMad seamlessly integrated into Hilton’s commercial platforms, including Hilton Honors, ensuring a cohesive experience for guests.
The partnership anticipates the development of up to 100 NoMad properties globally, with discussions already underway for approximately 10 locations. The synergy between Sydell’s expertise in design and branding and Hilton’s commercial prowess is expected to drive significant growth in the luxury lifestyle segment.
“We are thrilled to be announcing Hilton’s highly-anticipated entry into the luxury lifestyle space with the NoMad Hotels brand. This offers yet another exciting dimension to our growth story in India, as we look to build on our growing momentum with our existing luxury and lifestyle brands such as Waldorf Astoria, Conrad and Curio Collection by Hilton. With the thriving Indian economy and increasing expectations of discerning travelers, this new brand will provide even more opportunities for exceptional experiences in desirable destinations across India and Asia Pacific,” said Alan Watts, president, Asia Pacific, Hilton.
Chris Silcock, President of Global Brands and Commercial Services, Hilton, expressed excitement about the addition of NoMad to their brand portfolio. He emphasized the unique luxury experiences NoMad offers, perfectly aligning with Hilton’s commitment to meeting evolving guest needs and expanding their offerings.
NoMad Hotels are renowned for their blend of luxury and lifestyle experiences, offering guests a sense of being part of vibrant neighborhoods worldwide. Each NoMad property will showcase unique local art collections, creating a distinctive ambiance for guests.
The upcoming 246-key hotel is a collaboration with SunnyRaj Properties and is scheduled to open its doors in 2027. This announcement reflects Hilton’s dedication to expanding its luxury offerings in India, following the success of Conrad properties in Pune and Bengaluru, and the signing of India’s inaugural Waldorf Astoria in Jaipur last year.
The flagship property, NoMad London, will soon be available for booking through Hilton’s channels, with plans for further expansion in top global markets. However, NoMad Las Vegas is excluded from this agreement and will undergo rebranding in the near future.Andrew Zobler, CEO, Sydell, expressed enthusiasm about the partnership with Hilton, highlighting NoMad’s dedication to accessible luxury, exceptional design, and award-winning food and beverage experiences. He anticipates NoMad’s expansion into coveted neighborhoods worldwide, bringing Hilton travelers sophisticated luxury stays.
This strategic move by Hilton underscores its commitment to offering diverse stay options across luxury and lifestyle segments, complementing its existing brands like Waldorf Astoria, Conrad, LXR, and Signia by Hilton. The addition of NoMad, along with Hilton’s exclusive partnerships and planned acquisitions, reflects the company’s strategic growth trajectory and customer-centric approach.
Financial details of the transaction remain undisclosed at this time.
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On September 27, boutique hospitality chain in India, Brij Hotels, opened its newest retreat, Brij Anayra, in Dharamshala, marking the brand’s 8th property in India and its second resort in Himachal Pradesh.
The brand has been on an expansion spree with it developing three sites in north India, the other two being in Bhowali, Nainital (Uttarakhand) and Bandhavgarh (Madhya Pradesh).
“Brij Anayra is a 161-year-old heritage property, spread over 10 acres of lush green landscape with 12 well-appointed suites and rooms. The Bowali property – Brij Atmanya – is a 12-key property, about 25 minutes drive from Bhimtal and Naini lake and the Bandhavgarh property is to be an 8-key property set in almost 20 acres of land with 5,000 trees,” shared Anant Kumar, co-founder, Brij Hotels.
As part of its destination stewardship efforts, Hilton has launched a ranger academy program to increase the pool of qualified rangers in Sri Lanka, offering meaningful employment and conservation opportunities for the local community. The program, conducted by a Field Guides Association of Southern Africa-certified trainer, may provide successful graduates with employment opportunities at Hilton Yala Resort.
A bespoke luxury segment from the well-established hospitality brand, Clarks Hotels and Hotels, Brij Hotels is driven by local experiences. “We are looking at building only 50 assets in India over the next five years,” said Kumar defining the brand vision. “And, those 50 assets could be achieved in two years or in five, there is no set timeline. We are not in a hurry,” he said.“But each asset has to speak for itself. It has to speak for the locality and basically ‘Brijwasis’. Every experience at Brij hotels must be better than the other,” he added.
Having hosted the likes of Jeff Bezos, Tony Robbins, Hillary Clinton, Gerard Butler, Brooke Shields (to name a few), the brand has already carved a niche for itself in bespoke experiences.
“For business, we follow two models – either we take the assets on variable lease or on management. We do not do Franchise,” stated Kumar, who founded this company along with his brother Udit Kumar in 2021.
“Brij hospitality is an asset light company. We prefer to be in total control of the asset. So, most of our assets will be on variable lease,” he shared. The brand has a very strong footprint in Rajasthan with properties in Kukas, Pali, Jawai, Bikaner and Jaipur. Brij Bageecha in Kukas makes for a perfect weekend getaway from Delhi and Jaipur and is an all villa pet friendly resort.
“We truly believe that luxury is intimate. And therefore, each location caters to a different target audience. Our Jawai and Bandhavgarh properties are meant for nature lovers and Varanasi or Bikaner properties would appeal to those looking to explore local culture. What we focus on is to add on to the local experiences and give something that our guests have never experienced before,” said Kumar.
For marketing, direct promotions have worked the best for Brij Hotels. “The highest producing domestic travel agent for us is our own website. 20% of our online business is coming to us through our website,” said Kumar, adding, “But soon, we will be launching our own experiences app.”
Within India, most of these bookings are from Tier 1 and Tier 2 cities. “Currently, most bookings are coming from up north plus Mumbai, since most of our properties are in the north,” he shared. Internationally, the USA is number one, UK is number two and Europe is third in terms of inbound bookings.
Going forward, the brand is typically looking to develop properties around the beaches to fit in the seasonality mix. “We are looking at a few properties in Goa. And, because we are typically doing smaller sized assets, we would like to do 3-4 properties in the same customer segment/region,” he shared.
Beyond India, Brij Hotels has set its eyes on regional expansion mainly in south Asia. “We are building a hotel in Pokhara, which is due to open in 2025. That would be one of the most beautiful assets,” he said.
“Likewise we are also looking at Bhutan and Sri Lanka. We are well aware of our strengths and would like to build on the same. For us, our guest is as important as the community that we engage with locally. The idea is to build a sustainable product that would be remembered as different and special,” he concluded.
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The Maharashtra Tourism Development Corporation (MTDC) on Thursday re-launched luxury train Deccan Odyssey after a gap of nearly four years. Maharashtra Assembly Speaker Rahul Narvekar flagged off its inaugural run between CSMT in south Mumbai and Panvel in the presence of state tourism minister Girish Mahajan, principal secretary (tourism) Radhika Rastogi and MTDC managing director Shraddha Joshi.
Joshi said the train will embark for its journey from Mumbai to Delhi for a seven-night-eight-day trip with stops at Vadodara, Jaipur, Jodhpur, Udaipur, Agra, Sawai Madhopur. She said 20 seats have already been booked for this commercial run.
Six itineraries are planned for the train, namely ‘Maharashtra Splendor‘ ‘Indian Sojourn’, ‘Indian Odyssey’, ‘Maharashtra Wild Trail‘, ‘Heritage Odyssey’, and ‘Cultural Odyssey’, the MTDC said.
The cost for this experience is fixed at INR 6.5 lakh per person, while the same for a couple (two seats) will be around INR 9 lakh, officials said.
In a release issued after the function, MTDC claimed the train, which is “very popular globally”, has undergone major refurbishment and it is now “rejuvenated” and ready to run in its new form.
“In the renovated luxury train, a fire extinguisher has been installed in each coach of the train, while induction has replaced LPG gas in pantry cars. The gangway of all the coaches had been changed for making moving from one coach to another more convenient, besides the replacement of flooring of all coaches,” the release informed.
The ICF is also developing a new type of Vande Bharat train called the Vande Metro. The Vande Metro will be a 12-coach train that will be used for short-distance travel. The train is expected to be rolled out by January 2024.”Vande Metro will be rolled out by January which will have 12 coaches,” added BG Mallya
“Old conventional trollies of the train have been replaced with new air suspension trollies for more comfortable ride and the toilets of all the coaches have been installed with bio tanks, which was not the case in earlier version of the train,” the release added. Deccan Odyssey is equipped with intercom and Wi-Fi facilities, music system, furniture, bed, air conditioning system to give the tourist a “royal experience”, MTDC said, adding that it has 21 coaches with four deluxe cabins each in 10 coaches and two presidential suites each in other two coaches.
The other coaches include two coaches each for the dining room, staff quarters and for generator cars and storage houses, while one coach each houses a conference house, a health spa, and a bar. It is a five star hotel on wheels, Mahajan told reporters.
The train was built in 2003 at the Integral Coach Factory and former prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayeej flagged it off in 2004. As per MTDC, the train received huge response from tourists between 2004 and 2020, but it was stopped due to the corona epidemic in the year 2020-21.
“An operator has been appointed for Deccan Odyssey on a turnkey basis. It will be mandatory for the operator to run 40 tours in Maharashtra and then cover other premium tourist destinations across India,” MTDC officials said.
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