In 1986, the late Captain C. P. Krishnan Nair had laid the foundation of The Leela (Hotels, Palaces & Resorts) brand, deeply rooted in the traditional Indian hospitality belief of atithi devo bhava (The guest is God). Four decades later, The Leela Hotels is one of the largest luxury hospitality companies by number of keys in India (Source: HVS Report), comprising 3,553 keys across 13 operational hotels, as of 31 March 2025.
Today, Schloss Bangalore Ltd, which acquired The Leela in 2019, is the only institutionally owned and managed pure play luxury hospitality player in India. Since acquiring The Leela Hotels brand, hotel portfolio and hotel management business, Brookfield (a global alternative asset manager with over $1 trillion of assets under management and operations in over 30 countries as of 31 March 2025) has leveraged its global experience in asset management to focus on improving its revenue and profitability, enhancing guest satisfaction and increasing commitment to environmental sustainability. Schloss Bangalore Ltd is the entity that operates The Leela, while Brookfield is the investor who owns a stake in that company.
“Brookfield complements The Leela Hotels by bringing a disciplined culture on capital expenditure and global insights with respect to existing and future asset investment and acquisition strategies,” says Ankur Gupta, managing partner, head, real estate, Asia-Pacific & the Middle East, Brookfield. “Going forward, we intend to continue to strategically undertake future expansion across the luxury hospitality sector within India and internationally. We intend to pursue this by developing our existing land assets, pursuing accretive asset acquisition opportunities, hotel management agreements with third-party hotel owners, and optimisation of under-utilised space in our operating hotels. We will also pursue selective partnerships, acquisitions and development of brands that complement our Portfolio,” he adds.
The Leela Hotels, Palaces & Resorts portfolio comprises luxury palaces, hotels & resorts, encompassing 3,553 keys with further pipeline of 678 keys. Its pan-India portfolio comprises iconic modern palaces, hotels and resorts with strong pipeline of new properties of six new locations across 11 cities and 13 properties (including seven in the pipeline).
The Leela Hotel’s iconic modern palace hotels in Bengaluru, Chennai and New Delhi are recognised hospitality landmarks and benefit from high barriers to entry. “Our properties are a luxury ecosystem, comprising of luxurious accommodations, curated experiences, wellness programs and award-winning food and beverage (F&B) options,” affirms Anuraag Bhatnagar, whole-time director & CEO, The Leela Hotels. “This ecosystem caters to the evolving travel preferences of consumers towards differentiated experiential journeys, which has allowed us to drive superior total revenue per available room, in comparison to the luxury hospitality segment in India”.
During 2024-25, the average room rate (ARR) and eight airport cities – Bengaluru, New Delhi, Chennai, Jaipur, Udaipur, Mumbai, Kochi and Ahmedabad – cater to the 10 key Indian business and leisure destinations covering 80 per cent of international air traffic and 59 per cent of the domestic air traffic in India in 2024-25.
The Leela has a proven track record of delivering guest centric luxury experiences with compelling performance including being among the top three hospitality brands in the world in 2020, 2021, 2023 and 2024. It claims a superior RevPAR (Revenue per Available Room) to Indian luxury hospitality. It also posted industry leading EBIDTA margin of 48.92 per cent for 2024-25 through an active asset management approach. Its premium market positioning comes with industry leading NPS, direct channel access and global appeal. It has an attractive international domestic customers’ mix of 46.8 per cent: 53.2 per cent.
The Leela Hotel’s growth pipeline includes expansion in new segments such as wildlife, spiritual and heritage tourism, diversifying geographical footprint across additional cities and tourist destinations. This includes a modern palace hotels in Agra and Srinagar, resorts in Ranthambore (Rajasthan) and Bandhavgarh (Madhya Pradesh) and serviced apartments in Mumbai’s international airport district. Recently, the company entered into hotel management agreements for two properties: a new hotel that is located in Gangtok (Sikkim) (140 keys), as well as luxury serviced apartments (63 keys) in Mumbai. Emerging as the highest bidder for lease of commercial plots based on the evaluation of the financial bid conducted by MMRDA on 4 April 2025, the company intends to develop a mixed-use project, including a 250 key luxury hotel in Bandra Kurla Complex, Mumbai.
Schloss Bangalore Limited’s initial public offering of equity shares aggregating up to Rs3,500 crore is the largest-ever hospitality public offer in the country. The company intends to utilise the net proceeds from the public offer primarily for the repayment, prepayment, or redemption – either fully or partially – of certain outstanding borrowings, along with associated interest and prepayment penalties. The adjusted net debt will be Rs2,567.68 crore as of 2024-25 and, post offer, this will decrease to Rs1,608.75 crore.