Delhi to soon get branded residences in five-star hotel premises

Five-star hotels and builders of branded homes that offer a premium lifestyle just got another impetus from the government.

A report in the Economic Timespoints out that the Delhi governmenthas allowed hotels to use 20 percent of the total built-up space, where they are permitted to set up a commercial and retail wing, to build and sell apartments, the owners of which will be able to use all the facilities that a hotel offers, including daily housekeeping, dedicated concierge and a 24-hour room service, spas, restaurants and banqueting facilities.

The move is expected to bring in the global trend of offering branded residenceswhich are flats managed by hotel chains and are part of the hotel compound.

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Basically,the hospitality brand will lend its name, do the interiors, furnishing and render services, while the developer will develop and market the apartments.

[caption id=“attachment_925633” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] Representative Image. Source:Knight Frank[/caption]

Such residences enjoy all the amenities and services of a five-star hotel. Buyers, however, will have to pay a fee to the hotels for using these services.

The USP these residences offer are extremely evolved amenities and facilities, a designer brand address and in many cases superior project management and as Armani-themed homes or popular architect Binoy of London’s creations make an appearance in the India, the clamour for such associations have only been getting louder.But the buyers need to have deep pockets, as these apartments do not come for less than a few crores. Starting at Rs 3 crore, it goes up to Rs 25 crore, depending on the type of luxury services and the hotel brand.

The concept has already caught on in India with The Leela Palaces, Hotels and Resorts launching its first branded residences project in Bangalore last month. The Four Seasons too has about 110 branded residences in Bangalore, located near Hebbal and currently selling over Rs 4 crore.

Leela is launching a a second 258-room luxury property in the city, a decade after it launched the landmark property on Old Airport Road. Bhartiya Urban, the real estate arm of the diversified lifestyle group Bhartiya, is developing the hotel and the residences, according to this Times of India report.

Residents of such apartments will be able to avail amenities like 24-hour concierge, valet parking and direct-dial access to the services of the Four Seasons hotel - which includes in-room dining and even a limousine service, available for a separate fee. Leela’s 100-apartment project in Noida, meanwhile, will offer housekeeping, laundry pick-up and drop-off and facilities to organise banquets on request, says this Business Standard report.

According to a report by real estate consultancy firm Knight Frank, branding of residences creates an aspirational model anda reflection of luxury and prestige associated with that brand, helping developers to stand out in a competitive market. “They also have moreattention paid to design, botinternally and externally. Of course,all this comes at a cost, with higherservice charges,“says Liam Bailey, Head of Residential Research, at Knight Frank.

The consultancy firm believes branded developments are priced at a premium to non-branded developments becausefrom housekeeping and valet services to gourmet dining and dedicated concierge, you’ll enjoy five-star living.

But what are the drivers for this premium?

The Wealth report lays down three fundamental reasons for this:

1. By fusing the best of hotel and other services into a residential template - this innovation attracts buyers who are looking to buy into the latest trends.

2. Secondly, the benefits and convenience of the service offer is prized by buyers to the extent that they are happy to pay for the higher service charges associated together with the uplift in headline capital value. They are buying into a lifestylethat will enable them to meet like mindedpeople.

3. The third factor is design and identity. That purchasers are attracted by good design is not especially ground-breaking. What is important is that they are attracted by the opportunity to associate themselves with the designer or architect involved in the scheme.

After tying up with Hyatt Hotels for Grand Hyatt Hotel and Residences in their upcoming 700-acre integrated Ireo City development project in Sector 59 in Gurgaon in NCR, Ireo, India’s largest private equity fund dedicated to real estate development, recently announced another major hospitality tie-up with Ascott Ltd, for managing the proposed service apartments project in the same Ireo City development project.

The Ascott Ireo City Gurgaon will offer 220-service apartment units in the configurations of studio, 1 BHK and 2 BHK, out of which 160 will be serviced residences, and remaining 60 will be private residential apartments.Costing between Rs 11 crore and Rs 25 crore or more, they would allow apartment owners to enjoy services such as valet, concierge, laundry, in-residence dining and housekeeping.