Luxury villas network Vista Rooms to add 150 properties in India

Luxury villas network Vista Rooms is looking to add 150 properties in India by the end of this year as part of its expansion plan, a top company official said. The company currently manages over 150 properties in the country.

"The target is to double the number of villas to at least 300 across India by the end of this year. We will be adding around 150 properties in 2019," Vista Rooms Co-Founder Amit Damani told PTI. The boutique villas will be at all the popular destinations pan-India, he added.

"While we started with Maharashtra and Goa and have a strong presence in western India, now we are also present in many locations in north and south India. This year we are looking at more growth in the north and south India. We are also looking at select destinations in eastern parts of India," Damani said. In the east, it will be mainly in Darjeeling and Sikkim, he added.

Asked about the business model the company follows, Damani said: "We manage and operate the properties." He said an increasing number of people are heading for shorter trips away from the cities and they are travelling in groups. On the other hand, there are many properties which are used just for a couple of weeks in a year by their owners, after which they lie vacant.

"This is when we saw the opportunity and stepped in. There is a high demand for good homes. Demand has not been a challenge for us," Damani noted. As the company essentially provides a leisure experience, it is very important to give users good service to generate repeat customers, he added.

"Over 40 per cent of our guests are either repeat or referred by the earlier guests," Damani said. Vista Rooms was founded in October 2015 by Amit Damani, Ankita Sheth and Pranav Maheswari.

(With inputs from agencies.)