Weekend hotel getaways from Delhi cost a bomb
NEW DELHI : Many national capital region (NCR) residents seeking a quick getaway to nearby resorts to take advantage of the long weekend and escape the G20 summit-related curbs were left stranded at home as their preferred properties were either fully booked or offered only a few rooms at exorbitant rates. Check-ins at Gurugram’s ITC Grand Bharat resort this weekend will cost approximately ₹40,000, including taxes a night for a room for two, while Heritage Village Resort & Spa in Manesar-Gurugram will charge above ₹19,000.
Neemrana Fort-Palace is sold out, and The Gateway Resort Damdama Lake, owned by Taj Hotels, is selling a room for ₹17,000 a night, including tax. Work-from-home mode in NCR due to the G20 Leaders’ Summit, as well as the Krishna Janmashtami holiday on Thursday, prompted many Delhi residents to explore weekend getaways.
The rise in rates reflects a 30-40% jump in demand for both drivable destinations and other locations like Goa, Port Blair, Chandigarh and Kochi as well, said Indiver Rastogi, president and group head of global business travel at travel company Thomas Cook (India) and SOTC Travel. The country has about 18 long weekends this year, a few of which have been extended weekends where several travellers take off by combining holidays over Friday and Monday to make it a four or five-day weekend.
Two such weekends were in March and April, and one in August over the Independence Day weekend. This year’s Independence Day weekend room rates were 10% above last year’s and 35% above the rates in the last pre-covid year of 2019.
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