Don’t have a weekend booking yet? You’re probably too late

New Delhi: While Delhi’s hotels are packed to the rafters because of the G20 summit, people who live in the National Capital Region are headed out in large numbers, given the long weekend and the central part of the city being shut during the period. Hotels in nearby destinations in northern India are sold out or close to it across segments.

Properties of chains such as the Taj Group and Lemon Tree Hotels in locations such as Corbett and Rishikesh are full as is The Oberoi Rajvilas in Jaipur.

“We are pretty much sold out across our major properties. For example, in Nainital, both our properties are sold out. Bhimtal is sold out. Corbett is almost sold out and our Aloha on the Ganges property in Rishikesh is also sold out,” said Shahzad Aslam, head of sales at Leisure Hotels Group.

“Our property in Haridwar is sold out. We are pretty much doing 100% occupancies during September 8-10. In Varanasi, we are currently at 70% occupancy, but hopefully by tomorrow, we will be touching between 90% and 100% occupancy. Prices have gone up by about 20-25% on an average for this weekend.”
The G20 summit is being held in Delhi on September 9-10, with road closures and office shutdowns having started on Thursday and even before in some instances. Areas in central Delhi won’t allow deliveries or traffic movement, prompting residents to leave town for the duration.Lemon Tree Hotels has seen a “big” surge in bookings across all destinations that are within driving distance from Delhi due to the extended weekend, said president Vikramjit Singh.Ajay Sharma, general manager, Taj Corbett Resort & Spa, said occupancies had drastically dropped in the hills because of the heavy rains.“This is the first weekend that will be a full house,” he said. “We are sold out because of the Janmashtami holiday and G20 in Delhi.”

Wyndham properties in Mussoorie, Dehradun, and Neemrana are completely booked, said Nikhil Sharma, market managing director, Eurasia, at Wyndham Hotels & Resorts.

“There is a rise in consumer demand for destinations such as Udaipur and Agra,” he said. “Our hotels in Jaipur have seen a surge in occupancy, reaching 90%, and we anticipate it to be 100% during the weekend.”

Manbeer Choudhary, CMD, Jewel Classic Hotel, which owns the five-star Noormahal Palace Hotel in Karnal, said the property has seen “remarkable” demand. “The high demand has increased tariffs by about 15%. Noormahal Palace is upbeat about the expected sold-out weekend,” he said.

Santosh Kumar, country manager, India, Sri Lanka, Maldives and Indonesia at Booking.com, said it’s seen an increase in searches for accommodation options close to Delhi such as Jaipur, Varanasi, Amritsar, Agra and Mussoorie over the past few days.

‘G20 Delhi holiday’ was among the top searches on Google Trends on Wednesday. Ajay Bakaya, managing director, Sarovar Hotels & Resorts, said Agra is seeing about 70-80% occupancy, while Lucknow has seen a 10% uptick in occupancy rates because of the G20 break.

There’s been an uptick in demand for alternative accommodation options as well.

“The biggest rise in numbers is for Kashmir where we are at 100% occupancy for this weekend,” said Amit Damani, cofounder of villa and bungalow rental company StayVista. “We are still getting several last-minute bookings for Kasauli, Bhimtal and Mussoorie.”