India, Mon Amor
Relais & Châteaux, which presents an unparalleled showcase of emotions, beauty and passion, eyes expansion in the “land of heritage and heart”.
By Suman Tarafdar
Imbibe the gorgeously designed heritage at The Malabar House. Experience luxury at Sujàn The Serai amidst the gilt-edged Jaisalmer desert; the spirit of a 1920s safari at SUJÁN Sher Bagh camp at Ranthambhore; the magic of the mountains at 8,200ft. above the Kullu Valley at Sitara Himalaya; the life of the erstwhile maharaja of Patiala at Ran Baas. Or savour the best of gastronomy at Masque. Jaipur-based Sarvato restaurant is the most recent addition to the portfolio, part of the nine new additions announced in July 2025. For decades, Relais & Châteaux has symbolised elegance imbued with luxury, and its outposts in India are no exception to this rule.
Room to grow in India: However, India’s presence in the global Relais & Châteaux portfolio is just about 10-odd in a global strength of 580. “We have room to grow,” says Laurent Gardinier, President, Relais & Châteaux, expressing optimism about the prospect of growth in India. “We are very optimistic that in the next five-odd years, we could double the number of properties in India.” India’s recent clout as a thriving economy has been mirrored in the leaps and bounds with which domestic and outbound tourism has grown in the post-Covid-19 period, points out Gardinier. “A lot of Indians have discovered Indian Relais & Châteaux properties, and this trend continues.”
Tracking the Indian traveller: Gardinier has been tracking the fast-growing Indian outbound market, which neared about 30 million in 2024, about half the population of Italy. “Regarding the destination market, the more properties we have, the more we will have foreigners, including Relais & Châteaux guests coming to India. For the source market, depending on the channel, Indians make up three to five per cent of travellers. The number of Indians travelling has increased post-Covid-19. Currently, most Indians go to France and Italy. They go to Paris, the south of France, along with Tuscany, Roma and Umbria. In our system, we have about four per cent Indians travelling. In comparison to the size of the country, this is quite low.”
Expanding with meaning and soul: A recent R&C business survey revealed that over 82% of Indian, Thai, and Sri Lankan customers of the association were booked for Europe, with France (28%), Italy (23%), Switzerland (9%), and the UK (6%) the most popular destinations, according to booking data from Relais & Châteaux channels.
While Gardinier is not fixated on the type of property, certain parameters are paramount. “We can be any kind of property—the style can be anything. Thirty to 50 rooms are a very good number for a very individual way of welcoming guests. These properties have to mean something, whether through heritage and design, whether through architecture or gastronomy.”
What makes R&C stand out: With 650 applications annually from hotels and an approval rate of just about 20, exclusivity is a byword for this association. Most of its members are in western Europe, USA, and Japan, though now it is looking to plug the gaps, including in India. While there are several platforms that cater to boutique hotels, including Preferred Hotels & Resorts, The Leading Hotels of the World, Small Luxury Hotels of the World and others, these are all platforms rather than an association, which, according to Relais & Châteaux, makes a telling difference.
“You join not a company but a family. Then we want the best of each country. We have to convince, but a lot of the time, we also have to refuse. Once you become a Relais property, it's a sign that you have arrived. I say that you always know when somebody owns a Relais & Châteaux property because they find a way of telling you in the first 10 minutes or the first 10 seconds of meeting you! It's really one of those great marks of hospitality,” says Gardinier.
Ran Baas, an 18th-century palace in Patiala, Punjab, joined Relais & Châteaux this year.
SUJÁN The Serai offers multiple guest experiences, including this meal in the desert.
The pursuit of passion and perfection: “We are very, very focused on quality control. But we don't have any universal charters of quality. We don't say you have to answer after four ring bells. We don't say you need to have a uniform that is the same all over the world. We say you need to have the best uniform, the most locally meaningful uniform. We say you need to have the best local food, you need to have the best of the design, of the crafts, of everything. So this is a matter of passion, the passion of the owner or the general manager that is seen through the expression of their soul. It's very difficult to find that in a hotel.”
Balancing growth with integrity: Gardinier is confident about the quality standards. “Of course, I don't see all the hotels. So you need to have the inspectors that are fully connected with the DNA of the brand, not to miss the good property and not to affiliate the property. That could be a mistake. So it's not a perfect silence. We make some mistakes sometimes. We say no to beautiful properties all the time. We accept ones that turn out to be average. But globally speaking, among the 580 properties worldwide, we can say that we achieve a huge margin of what we have to do regarding the respect we owe to guests. So this is something that we are absolutely passionate about. This is where you find emotion, you find beauty and you find passion.
Human touch in a digital age: Gardinier is hesitant to predict the future. “It is always difficult to estimate demand for the next 10 years. Sustainability will be obvious—if we don’t address that, we will be very much behind. AI will bring a lot of changes in the way the industry will work and operate. We are at the end of the chain and need to provide human intelligence. The more AI will be a gamechanger in the way the industry operates, the more we have to focus on the way we provide service—with humanity, smile, and care. The level of gastronomy required will not change though. When we are forecasting, we need to see what will change and also what won’t change.”
Laurent Gardinier, President, Relais & Châteaux.
I say that you always know when somebody owns a Relais & Châteaux property because they find a way of telling you in the first 10 minutes or the first 10 seconds of meeting you! It's really one of those great marks of hospitality.
Laurent Gardinier
President, Relais & Châteaux
Relais & Chateaux in India
Even though Relais & Châteaux has over 500 properties around the globe, just 10 of them are in India.
HIMACHAL PRADESH
Sitara Himalaya
PUNJAB
Ran Baas, Neel
RAJASTHAN
SUJÁN Jawai
SUJÁN Sher Bagh
SUJÁN The Serai, Jaisalmer
Dining Tent
The Sarvato Jaipur
MAHARASHTRA
Masque
KERALA
The Malabar House
The Malabar Junction
Scenic backdrop at The Sarvato, Jaipur, the newest R&C property in India.