Given that the virus’s spread has been far more extensive, one of the consequences of the Omicron variant on small luxury properties around the country.
Anant Kumar, the co-founder of Brij Hotels and Resorts, said that January showed a 50% fall in business while December was extraordinary. While the smaller homes were performing well, their Ganges-facing Varanasi property had suffered a significant loss.
“From the Brij perspective, it’s all HNI travel. So, what hit us the most was the news of 100 positive cases on an aircraft, which meant our customers from places like Ahmedabad, Mumbai, Delhi and other major cities were reluctant to get to us,” he said.
The hotel business, started by brothers Udit and Anant and is named after their grandfather, who founded the Clarks Group, operates across Himachal Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, and Rajasthan.
Kumar gave a general overview of the company’s aims to grow its current portfolio to 15 hotels by the end of 2022. He said the group was aggressively seeking partnerships with asset owners and investors.
“This year the two projects which we will be launching are in Bandhavgarh and Kukas—the Bandhavgarh property will have six rooms, each with a heated pool set in 15 acres of land with 15,000 sal trees designed by a top naturalist. Kukas is going to have 20 keys in seven acres, with courtyard pools and set on a lake,” he said, adding that their Kukas property will have a definite health and wellness tilt.
“We are keenly inclined in investing our time and resources in our asset light division. We have incoming interest from our clients wanting to invest in the brand and are raising some capital to take us through our targeted growth over the next five years,” he said while not divulging figures when asked about the future. Brij Hotels and Resorts’ business model was asset-light, relying on management contracts and revenue-share agreements.
“We are EBITDA positive; we have no debt—the primary reason for raising capital is to hire good talent. We have got a huge amount of interest from people who have experienced our hotels and want to give their properties for us to run,” he explained that the aim was to raise the capital by June 2022.
Kumar determined that the financing would allow them to embrace the potential to expand up their business fully.
