Travellers hankering to splurge after months of pandemic shut-in have reason to cheer. Seven of the world’s 10 cities with the least expensive five-star hotels are in India, according to a new survey by LuxuryHotel.com. The hotel curation platform compared cities on Euromonitor’s 2019 Top 100 City Destinations (ranked by the most tourist arrivals) for the number of five-star hotels and nightly cost per room, using data from Booking.com. While Chennai offers the world’s most affordable five-star hotel rooms, Jaipur is the eighth least expensive Indian city in the top 10.
To top it all, seven Indian cities feature in the top 50 cities with the highest percentage of five-star hotels. Abu Dhabi ranks first with 32% luxury hotels (47 of 146 properties are five-star stays; the average night's stay is GBP137/Rs14,190). At #17 is Agra (7%, with 15 five-star hotels among 214), followed by Jaipur at #26, Mumbai at #30, Chennai at #35, Bengaluru at #38, Kolkata at #47 and Delhi at #50 (3.13%, with 53 five-star hotels among 1,693). Scroll to the end for the full list.
Here are the top 10 cities with the most affordable luxury stays
Chennai is the least expensive city for a five-star stay in the world, the results declared, with the starting price of an upscale hotel room at GBP34/Rs3,530 per night. The city has some terrific business hotels, with several top-voted hotel restaurants at the Top Restaurant Awards. There’s lots to sightsee, and if you have more time on your hands, Chennai also has many sweet deals from farmstays to quick getaways.
Bengaluru nabs the third spot after Malaysia’s Johor Bahru. The baseline for a five-star stay is the same in both cities, and about Rs1,000 more than Chennai, at GBP41/Rs4,260. India’s IT hub has super business hotels of course, many top-voted restaurants. (Incidentally, ITC Windsor recently became the world’s first hotel to receive the LEED Zero Carbon Certification.) Plus for those getting out of the city, there are amazing homestays, wonderfully offbeat getaways nearby, and even more great stays to consider if other South Indian cities are on your itinerary.
Agra comes in at #4, at GBP42/Rs4,360 per night. With the Taj Mahal in the neighbourhood, it’s a popular choice for a destination wedding of course though there’s plenty else to do too including restored Mughal gardens.
Kolkata follows at GBP50/Rs5,200 per night, the same as Delhi at #6. Here’s a quick comparative hotel guide, plus the most recent entry from CNT’s annual Hot List in Kolkata and in West Bengal, top-notch restaurants and some beautiful weekend escapes from Kolkata.
Delhi has stellar hotel deals not to mention star restaurants and ample getaways: here’s a big fat hotel guide to road trips from the capital.
Mumbai comes in at #7 at GBP52/Rs5,400 per night. Visitors to India’s cultural capital are spoiled for choice when it comes to city hotels, superb restaurants and beautiful weekend resorts.
Jaipur is the eighth least expensive city for a plush stay at GBP56/Rs5,800. Two of the city’s newest hotels made it to the 2021 Hot List. Both have excellent dining options, alongside the city’s more established eateries, and they’re only the latest in a slew of great hotels in Jaipur and Rajasthan (which has many lesser-known gems).
Thailand’s Phuket and the Philippines’ Cebu take the last two spots at GBP57/Rs5,920 per night.
Now is the best time to plan for a dream vacation for when travel fully opens up again. Here are the 2021 Hot List and the coolest destination wedding resorts for some inspiration.
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