One of the golden rules when I started writing for STR, now part of CoStar, for Hotel News Now, now CoStar News Hotels, was that we’d only write about a hotel transaction, or some similar piece of industry news, if the price tag attached to it was $100 million or more.
That “rule” has changed a little since we became part of CoStar and work more closely with CoStar News, which writes news, articles and opinions on all the other real-estate classes.
It might be somewhat foolhardy to hang on too rigorously to that number.
Years ago, I wrote for a hotel-review print publication that had a star-rating system, from, if I remember correctly, one to five.
It also awarded “super stars.”
That is where confusion came in, as it was assumed super stars were the equivalent of six stars or more, but no, we gave super stars to all hotels that warranted it, and there were not too many of them.
A one-star superstar was deemed to be a perfect or near-to-perfect hotel, and the star rating of one only meant that it did not have certain hotel offerings, facilities and appurtenances.
If a hotel did not have a spa or a restaurant, it could not possibly be a 5-star hotel, but it could be a superstar as it was judged in its class simply to be sublime, and certainly better than its peers.
This came to my mind last week when I read that India’s Samhi Hotel Investments has acquired a 70% stake in brand RARE India, which operates “heritage hotels and experiential stays,” according to Hindu Business Line. It acquired the branding and control, and the price tag — although it looks impressive at first glance — was only 470 million Indian rupees, approximately $5.1 million.
A deeper look, though, reveals that this is publicly listed Samhi’s first asset-light excursion into the hotel industry and that the deal adds 67 hotels to its current portfolio of 31, which it franchises to such branded hotel firms as Hyatt Hotels Corp., IHG Hotels & Resorts and Marriott International.
Ashish Jakhanwala, Samhi’s chair, said the investment is a “small financial commitment with asymmetrical return potential.” It is, he added, a technology, distribution and marketing play, with the RARE hotels continuing to be operated independently by the brand’s founder, management and team.
A small amount of cash, but a large play in burgeoning India, and in hotels that make the eyes widen.
Just like one of my superstar hotels from all those years ago.
I have been to India only once, to New Delhi and Rajasthan in December 2023 and January 2024, but I see on looking at RARE’s portfolio that I have stayed in two of its hotels, both of them delightful — RAAS Chhatrasager, near the village of Nimaj and with 16 luxury tents, and Chanoud Garh in the village of Pali, a 300-year-old palace with seven suites.
Both have resident nature guides, which I would add to the possible criteria nudging a hotel into superstar status.
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