Building a versatile portfolio

With 49 properties in its kitty, Sowmya Rao Vijaymohan, Partner, RARE India talks about the company’s expansion plans in the country and abroad while announcing the dates for Très RARE 2019.

Manas Dwivedi

rom four properties to 49 now, Rare India has grown by leaps and bounds over a period of time, believes Sowmya Rao Vijaymohan, Partner, RARE India and is hopeful to add a few more properties onboard by the end of 2018. She says, “We have recently announced a few additions to our portfolio. Taking the list to 49 brands, we have taken up Suryagarh in Jaisalmer and Narendra Bhavan in Bikaner. While taking up Wild Mahseer in Assam, we have also got our hands on another property called Anahata Retreat on Ashvim beach in Goa. We have also taken up The Lodge at Wah in Palampur, Himachal Pradesh, a six-room property run by a young couple. Our acquisitions are geographically varied with presence in different parts of the country. We have also got a wellness Ayurveda boutique retreat known as Mekosha near Trivandrum, which makes our Southern portfolio very strong.”

Set to be held on March 29 & 30, 2019, Très RARE aims to bring together all the small boutique experiential properties

Announcing the dates for Très RARE 2019, Vijaymohan says, “Set to be held on March 29 and 30, 2019, Très RARE aims to bring together all the small boutique experiential or transformational properties in the Indian subcontinent under one roof. Going ahead, Très RARE is branching off not as part of RARE but as a show in itself; we will be inviting many more non-RARE hotel partners to participate.”

Expressing joy over RARE India’s growth in the last six months, Vijaymohan shares, “Everyone talks about the growth that India is witnessing in terms of tourism. But I hear of lot of people talk about struggling to match up to last’s year’s numbers. Fortunately for us, most of our properties have witnessed a jump in numbers. If not, some of them have seen a steady growth but it’s been the growth nevertheless, which is good news for us.”

Eyes on Lanka

• With a presence in neighbouring countries, RARE India is now keen on expansion
• With a property each in Bhutan and Nepal, the company is looking at Sri Lanka too. By the end of this year, new properties are also expected on board