Move Over, Maharajahs

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Even travelers who ordinarily make their own arrangements may welcome help in India. Keeping tabs on the new small hotels and knowing which ones have experienced declines in service require frequent visits. We loved one of the chic co-owners of Barwara Kothi, a new guesthouse in Jaipur. The food was delicious, and the Art Deco home where her in-laws' family entertained a maharajah has a good ambiance. However, it was noisy, though the owners have since planted barriers and reinforced windows. Also, be warned that some large travel operators snub the small hotels because the commissions paid are smaller than those of the big chains and booking rooms requires more legwork.

The small luxury hotels represent just a corner of the overall market in India, where business is booming. For the luxury and five-star categories, the occupancy rate is 88% during the peak October-to-March tourist season, and it's close to 100% in the largest cities, says Javed. With a total of 89,000 hotel rooms, India is far behind other markets: New York City alone has more than 72,000, and in Asia, Bangkok, for example, counts nearly 100,000.

To close the gap, the big hotel groups are currently focused on no-frills hotels in booming economic centers like Bangalore, as well as leased residence hotels. The Indian government, concerned about the shortage driving up prices and eager to create more options by 2010, when India will host the Commonwealth Games, is pushing for families to turn their homes into bed-and-breakfast operations. Faiz Dadarkar, a Jaipur entrepreneur who set up the Jaipur Pride network to match travelers with homestays, was astounded when 4,500 people responded to his billboards in 2005. He organized five training seminars. "We covered all the basics: how to clean a toilet and how not to hover," he says, laughing. The 75 homes currently on his roster are priced from $13 to $203 per day. Most are simple, but he has a seventh-generation miniature painter renting out rooms and a house with a private theater and pool.