Now, get lavish palace weddings at discount

The big fat Indian wedding, royal style, just got cheaper. As fewer foreign couples with their guests come in for Indian-style wedding extravaganzas, heritage palace hotels in Rajasthan are offering discounted packages to help them say, “I do”.

Depending on the palace and the degree of lavishness asked for, a wedding can be organised at a cost 10 to 25 per cent cheaper than what it was last year.

“Yes, it is more affordable to arrange a wedding in a castle, fort or a palace now,” says Shivarjun Singh Mandawa of Mandawa Hotels. “Americans and Britons are not spending lavishly on weddings any more.”
His Jaipur-based company, with four heritage properties, used to arrange up to six weddings annually. This year he expects fewer bookings.

Indian-style royal weddings became a rage with rich celebrity couples from abroad deciding to tie the knot in Rajasthan’s palaces- turned- hotels. Elizabeth Hurley and NRI tycoon Arun Nayar took their wedding vows at Umaid Bhawan Palace hotel in Jodhpur. So did New York-based hotelier Vikram Chatwal and Priya Sachdeva. Indians at home were quick to take the cue. Bollywood actress Raveena Tandon married director Anil Thadani in a palace in Udaipur.

Palace hoteliers laid out the red carpet for them – and any other couple willing to spend a sinful amount. The cost of a three-day-long wedding and associated merry-making for 100 guests begins at Rs 75 lakh and can go up to Rs 1.5 crore.

The hoteliers -- maharajas of all kinds – now find that even the super rich have become tight-fisted. Occupancy rates at these hotels have plummeted to about 55 per cent from a peak of 90 per cent. There are tariff discounts galore – ranging from 15 to 45 per cent – one reason why weddings in royal palaces cost less now.

“These packages are now not as exorbitant as before. For hoteliers, it makes good business sense to have entire hotels booked for two or three days at a discount,” said Vinit Chhabra, general manager of Devi Resorts, which runs the premium Devigarh Fort hotel near Udaipur.

At the fort, a choice hotel for lavish weddings, the discount offered is 20 to 25 per cent on the rack rates for rooms. The fort hotel has 39 rooms let out to guests. Next year the company will have a property in Jaipur as well.

At one point, resident Indian weddings at palaces were outnumbered by foreigner weddings 1:99. The ratio has evened out a little at 30:70, largely because the royal hoteliers are seeking out rich Indians and enticing them to get married in the heritage hotels. “The focus is on Indian clientele now. They have the money and are big on weddings,” said Chhabra.

Weddings in India have always been recession proof. This appears to hold true for palace weddings also. Though they offer discounts, there is no significant drop in the number of weddings they host.

“Last year we organised over 20 weddings all across our 15 properties. We don’t see any major impact on the number of bookings this year,” said an executive of Neemrana Hotel, which, nevertheless, still offers higher discounts.

Ranjit Singh Parmar, chief executive officer of the Palaces of India, which manages several properties across India, said, “Staying in a heritage hotel costs half as much as in a five-star hotel.” The loss of tourist traffic from Britain and America is offset somewhat by tourists from Australia, Central Europe and Canada, who are still coming in. “I think we just need to increase the awareness,” he said.

Advertisement

Related Posts