India’s luxury hotels are exploring ways to capitalize on their brands by going beyond room bookings and food and beverage sales. Chains such as Taj, Marriott, Leela, Oberoi and Sarovar are increasingly moving into branded residences and serviced apartments to diversify their offerings.
The trend, which has been around for a few years, gathered pace in FY26, with at least half a dozen projects signed and launched across Mumbai, Gurugram, Noida and Greater Noida as hospitality companies looked for more asset-light revenue streams tied to real estate.
Indian Hotels Company Ltd, which runs the , signed an agreement to manage 74 Taj serviced apartments with the Gulshan Group in Noida last month. The development on the Noida Expressway will include a five-star hotel, with the developer investing ₹1,000 crore.
Indian Hotels already operates residences through Taj Wellington Mews, which has 80 fully furnished apartments in Colaba, Mumbai, and 112 apartments in Chennai.
Branded residences, on the other hand, are privately owned homes linked to a hotel brand, offering concierge and other services. There’s a significant upside for hotel management companies, which can earn an upfront fee for branding a residential development, in addition to recurring income from management and services in both these and serviced apartments.
“What’s happening now is tokenization,” said Ajay K. Bakaya, chairman of Sarovar Hotels and director of Louvre Hotels India. “In many of these projects, the hotel brand’s name is used to sell the units, and that comes with an upfront fee, usually around 3-5% of the sale value, which is very significant. After that, if it is a serviced apartment format, the hotel can operate it much like a hotel apartment.”
He said developers are increasingly selling individual units while using a hotel brand to market the project and, in some cases, operate it.
Extension of business
Bakaya said such deals have picked up in the past two fiscal years. Sarovar itself has signed a project for 400 serviced apartments in Greater Noida and a similar 191-room project in Ghaziabad.
“These become a great extension of the hotel business. The marketing, operations and distribution are all familiar to and give hotels another way to earn beyond rooms and food and beverage,” he said.
In July, Kalpataru and Ahluwalia Contracts tied up to build Westin Residences Gurugram, a 20-acre, ₹2,000-crore project. The Leela Palaces, Hotels & Resorts expects its luxury residences in Mumbai, to be ready by the end of 2026. Consultants said this is a win-win.
“For hotel companies, branded residences open up a new revenue stream beyond rooms. They earn through brand fees, commissions on sales and recurring service income, while staying asset-light,” said Akash Datta, managing director for South Asia at hospitality consultancy HVS ANAROCK. “Branded units can command 30-35% higher prices than non-branded homes (for developers). In many cases, what they make during the project’s sales phase can rival the lifetime earnings of a traditional hotel management contract.”
Industry studies, according to HVS ANAROCK, show that almost three-quarters of branded residential developments in India are linked to non-hotel brands. But hotel companies are increasingly entering the segment.
Other recent and existing collaborations include Four Seasons with Provenance Land, Mumbai and Trident Residences by BI Luxury Residences in Delhi with the Oberoi Group.
The broader shift is beginning to show up in company pipelines and earnings expectations. Leela expects to recover its investment through unit sales in Mumbai over the next two to three years, while its 25% stake and management contract are projected to generate ₹180 crore in stabilized earnings.
Status products
Branded residences are increasingly being sold as both status products and investment assets. Units can often be leased back into the hospitality pool, generating income for the owner while benefiting from the hotel brand’s ability to support pricing and long-term value.
Penny Trinh, vice-president of mixed-use development at Marriott International, told Mint that branded residences are gaining ground as buyers seek more trusted, globally recognized service standards. Trinh said India remains one of Marriott’s most active markets for branded residences, with two projects in the pipeline and more opportunities under discussion across cities and leisure destinations.
The Marriott Executive Apartments in Bengaluru offers 190 serviced apartments.
Changing travel habits are helping drive demand for serviced apartments. Travellers are staying longer, mixing work with leisure, and increasingly seeking larger, more flexible spaces, especially when travelling with family or for extended periods.
“Serviced apartments and branded residences—while they have been around for a decade—have now become a natural extension of hotel businesses in the country,” said Achin Khanna, managing partner, strategic advisory at Hotelivate, a Gurugram-based hospitality consultancy. “As travel becomes more frequent, flexible and lifestyle-led, there is growing demand for accommodation that sits between a conventional hotel room and a private home.”
Space, flexibility
Fully furnished apartments run by hotels for long-stay guests typically offer larger rooms along with housekeeping, front-desk support and kitchenettes. The format is increasingly being pitched at travellers who want more space and flexibility than a standard hotel room, especially for longer work or family stays.
“ have changed a lot. People are travelling for work and leisure far more than before. The frequency of travel has increased, and so has the duration,” said Sandeep Ahuja, chief executive of Atmosphere Living, which recently tied up with M3M India for its ONE Atmosphere residences.
It is also exploring other serviced apartment projects across the country. This market for serviced apartments goes beyond metros as they are increasingly being seen as viable in larger cities, residential neighbourhoods and even hill stations, where longer stays and family travel are more common.