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It’s the sort of thing you associate with the Censor Board and a Hindi film, not with the hospitality industry. The Park Hotel Goa Baga River is a boutique hotel, for “adults-only” — guests below the age of 18 are not welcome. In this case, however, the restriction is not because of any adult content, but because the hotel caters exclusively to couples and the just-married.
The concept may not be exceptional in the global context but, in India, it is indeed rare.
According to TripAdvisor, there is only one other hotel in the country with entry restrictions — ‘Ananda - In the Himalayas’, in Rishikesh. But Ananda is not an ‘adults-only’ place, it simply doesn’t allow children below 14 “in order to maintain its tranquillity”.
The Park is quick to emphasise that its ‘adults-only’ tag must not be equated with ‘adult-entertainment’. It is targeted at “couples and honeymooners”, and expects to host parties for young adults apart from offering regular services like fine dining.
“We received quite a number of queries from young adults for such a hotel and thought there was an addressable market,” Saurabh Khanna, General Manager of The Park Hotels, Goa, told BusinessLine .
Magic tag
But the adults-only tag has clicked. The 28-room luxury hotel, about three months old now, is already running at 60 per cent occupancy. “Considering the average tariff of ₹12,000-15,000 a night, this is a good number,” says a hotel industry executive.
Other hoteliers are watching the development closely but are not ready to comment on it, or commit themselves to similar plans. This is partly because the adults-only tag is a taboo in India; also, Indian travellers have strong reservations against such restrictions.
“Indian families hardly travel without kids and such restrictions are generally looked down upon,” said a luxury hotel owner on condition of anonymity. He thinks The Park has taken a “bold move”.
Major brands such as The Taj, Oberoi and ITC categorically say they do not have hotels where the entry of kids is barred.
Market sources say hotels are wary of implementing child-free policies for fear of bad press. For instance, Wildflower Hall, Shimla, in a clarification to queries on TripAdvisor, claimed to have revoked its policy of not allowing kids below 10.
Globally, however, the line between family and adults-only hotels is getting sharper. Germany, for one, has a host of hotels that disallow children.
German travel company Tui, considered a global leader, has an international network of over 200 adult-only hotels under the Sensimar brand.
The portal www.travelwithoutchildren lists properties across the world that have a no-child policy in place.
Apart from numerous such properties in Africa, the Americas, Europe, the Caribbean, Australia and Oceania, it lists properties in West Asia (Egypt, Oman, Saudi Arabia, the UAE and Israel) and Asia (China, Maldives, Bali, Sri Lanka and Thailand).
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