No room: Luxury hotels booked till March!

If you want a room in Bangalore's Leela Palace Kempinski, the country's most expensive hotel, you will have to wait till March next year. The hotel, with an average room rate of Rs 18,000, is full till February, when the Air Show is scheduled to be held in the city.

The Oberoi Rajvilas, Jaipur, the second most expensive hotel with an average room rate of Rs 15,000, is also booked till March. The Oberoi Rajvilas has rooms in two categories -- premier and luxury tent -- available at Rs 26,750 and Rs 31,200, respectively. Despite its high prices, its booking have been soaring.

"By the end of this season, we expect to close with a higher occupancy compared with the same period last year," said an Oberoi spokesperson. Even when the Oberoi Rajvilas' average room rate touched Rs 20,000 during January, no rooms were available.

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The Taj West End, Bangalore, which reached an average room rate of Rs 14,500, is the next most expensive hotel in the country. Though the hotel did not divulge booking figures, a spokesperson said it was booked through March.

Welcome to the great Indian hotel boom. The Leela Palace Kempinski is investing Rs 40 crore (Rs 400 million) to add 132 rooms to its sprawling six floors of 256 rooms and suites in Bangalore.

Analysts say hotel room rates in India are among the highest in the Asia Pacific, rising by 20 per cent annually. Yet Indian hotels maintain an average occupancy rate of over 70 per cent. The reason is shortage.

There are an estimated 105,000 hotel rooms in India, compared with 135,000 in Shanghai alone, and only a quarter of these are in the branded segment. Another 100,000-125,000 rooms will be needed over the next five years to meet demand.