'Delhi hotel room rates hovering around ₹60k/night, mirroring demand'

The Hotel Association of India (HAI) Wednesday said weighted average room rates in the national capital are ranging between ₹40,000 and ₹60,000 per night during February 16-20, coinciding with the AI Impact Summit that will feature several top global attendees.

The clarification from the industry body follows a wider debate on spiralling hotel room tariffs and a crippling shortage of good quality rooms. The summit dates will also clash with several wedding dates, fuelling a surge in demand for hotel rooms.

ET was the first to report on February 6 that the AI Impact Summit and an ongoing wedding season was causing sharp fluctuations in hotel room rates in Delhi due to a demand-supply mismatch, with some key hotels in Central Delhi selling rooms at substantially higher rates. Key attendees at the summit include Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman, Microsoft cofounder Bill Gates, and Google and Alphabet CEO Sundar Pichai.


Earlier this week, tourism and culture minister Gajendra Singh Shekhawat held a meeting with the hotel industry association to discuss the matter.

HAI said on Wednesday that global events such as the AI Impact Summit have created a "surge" in demand, especially at a time when there is a shortage of hotel rooms in certain categories.

It pointed out that as Delhi is approaching full occupancy, with a dozen auspicious wedding dates and the T20 World Cup during the month, demand remains strong across all categories, including suites, resulting in many hotels being sold out.

Consequently, reported rates figures often reflect luxury rooms, deluxe, luxury, and presidential suites, which command higher rates due to additional services and inclusions.

As per rates published on a popular travel platform on February 5, a night's stay at The Imperial hotel in Delhi on February 16 was priced at ₹197,049 plus ₹35,469 in taxes. The hotel is now sold out for February 16.

As of February 11, The Leela Palace Delhi was charging ₹73,200 plus ₹13, 176 in taxes for a single room on February 16.