The Claridges, New Delhi
A storied house rebuilt after 2020: the commercial engine, five F&B concepts, wellness and the redevelopment master plan.
Read →GOOD TO GREAT · A GROWTH STORY · 2016–2020
The hotel that everyone drove past.
The Lodhi, New Delhi — the Kerry Hill-designed icon, formerly Aman New Delhi — and the four years that made it India's #1 and the world's #2.
MANDATE LED BY VIKRAMADITYA SINGH · VICE PRESIDENT & GENERAL MANAGER · FOR DLF, REPORTING TO THE BOARD
3.5×
REVENUE — RS 34.77 CR TO RS 123.76 CR, NO EXPANSION OF KEY COUNT
5×
REVPAR GROWTH — THROUGH BRAND, PRODUCT, DISTRIBUTION, JOURNEY AND CULTURE
No. 2
WORLD'S #2 HOTEL, INDIA'S #1 — CONDÉ NAST TRAVELER US READERS' CHOICE, 2017
700
ELITE MEMBERS AT THE LODHI ATHLETIC CLUB — THE HOTEL'S STANDING PROMOTERS
I · THE INHERITANCE
A masterpiece with a compromised model.
Perched on the corner of Lodhi Road — one of New Delhi's most sought-after addresses — Aman New Delhi opened in 2009 as an architectural marvel by the legendary Kerry Hill: 40 extraordinarily large rooms with private plunge pools, 28 apartments, an eight-treatment-room spa, three tennis and three squash courts, the country's first tapas bar, a cigar lounge — and more than 400 staff for an intimate house with no event space.
The essence was exquisite; the business model was not. It was Aman's first urban foray, and the ultra-exclusivity that defined the brand kept the city out: club capacity ran below 20%, the target audience never identified with the house, and vision and branding never translated into a relevant guest experience. Prime real estate, best-in-class facilities — and no realistic path to a return.
It had become the hotel that everyone drove past. Aman exited by 2012; a soft refurbishment and a rebrand made it The Lodhi. By early 2016 the owner — DLF, one of India's largest real-estate companies — wanted the asset to finally make sense. The mandate: turn it around without significant capital, judged the way a real-estate owner judges — per square foot, yield, return on assets.
II · THE LODHI 2.0
Six steps, one vision.
The vision — “one of India's top luxury hotels,” measured by revenue per key — was mapped onto a Balanced Scorecard across four perspectives: financial, customer, process, and learning. Every strategic objective carried measurable initiatives; every initiative carried a name.
1
Establish the vision and strategy map
Stakeholder interviews first — the expected outcomes in ROI and positioning — then the Balanced Scorecard that binds every department to the same destination.
2
Distil the brand and create a culture to live it
From a nebulous identity to an uber-luxe urban resort woven into the daily life of the city's high achievers. Brand essence: Live Bespoke. The 25 Commandments made the promise enforceable — every colleague, every day.
3
Understand the target audience
The Achievers — successful, private, experienced travellers for whom time is the luxury; who pay for expertise, convenience and the unique; who associate with people who share their values and want products fitted to them with a human touch.
4
Create a unique customer journey
A touchpoint map from brand awareness to post-stay loyalty — each touchpoint with expected outcomes, SOPs, and LQA-benchmarked standards attached. The stay designed as a living canvas, discovered rather than delivered.
5
Tweak the product to deliver the journey
Rooms re-arranged and refitted to the revised operating philosophy; signature suites created; the entire F&B product relaunched. Investment only where the guest could feel it.
6
Engage the customer emotionally
Digital, word of mouth, advertorial and print — a single elevated story, told consistently until the market repeated it back.
III · THE BRAND ESSENCE
Live Bespoke.
THE 24-HOUR HOTEL
Check-in and check-out on the guest's clock, not the hotel's. Breakfast anytime, anywhere — even on the meal plan. Spa, salon and gymnasium open round the clock. A premium commanded over the comp set because there was nothing to negotiate.
ACTIVE PERSONALISATION
An elaborate preference form with every confirmation: the guest chooses the level of service — pampering, unobtrusive, discreet — the servicing hours, the amenities, the pillow. The hotel that lets you live as you want.
CONSTRAINED DEMAND
The Lodhi Athletic Club rebuilt as the country's best fitness and sports club — membership at a premium, some seven hundred of Delhi's elite, each one a standing promoter of the house.
OBJECTIVE BENCHMARKS
Leading Hotels of the World membership restored international standing after Aman's exit; twice-yearly LQA mystery audits benchmarked every touchpoint — functionally and emotionally — against the world's best.
IV · THE WORK
Five fronts, one plan.
Brand & standing
The Lodhi became The Lodhi, New Delhi — new identity and stationery; Leading Hotels of the World membership, unlocking the Leaders' Club cohort; a best-in-class website at thelodhi.com; one brand strategy aligning every commercial decision.
Product
Every room category rebuilt to LQA standard — Sealy Posturepedic beds, PLOH linen, TOTO washlets, in-room Gymbox, full-size premium spirits at market price, Illy and TWG. The Sultan Suite introduced as the presidential product; new Signature Terrace and Lodhi Signature categories; apartments moved to strategic nightly selling.
Food & beverage
The portfolio re-authored venue by venue — Elan and its courtyard, Perbacco with Chef Adriano Baldassarre, the Safari Lounge, the Electric Room, the Pool Café and The Lodhi Bakery — alongside Indian Accent, one of the world's best Indian restaurants, resident with priority reservations.
Wellness
The Lodhi Spa and Athletic Club rebuilt as a destination layer — Technogym Artis throughout, the OMNIA Functional Zone, Group Cycle Connect spinning studio, Bisazza-tiled saunas and hammams.
Journey & discipline
India's first Personal Preference Menu — twelve categories of pre-arrival personalisation on the Guestfolio CRM; Knowcross for paperless housekeeping and closed-loop glitch recovery; the '25 Commandments'; the 4P operating format; and a week-by-week Sales & Marketing Activity Calendar with a named owner, cost and status on every line.
V · THE HOUSE, AFTER
The product, as the guest now finds it.
PHOTOGRAPHY FROM THE GOOD TO GREAT GROWTH STORY, THE LODHI, NEW DELHI · REPRODUCED FOR CASE-STUDY PURPOSES
VI · THE OUTCOME
No longer driven past.
Revenue at 3.5× and RevPAR at 5× on the same keys, with no significant capital spend. World's #2 hotel and India's #1 — Condé Nast Traveler US Readers' Choice, 2017. Hotelier of the Year and General Manager of the Year, 2019. The hotel lived its brand promise, and the market repeated the story back.
The strategy was later codified in Driving Hotel Performance, the final assignment of the founder's MBA at the Ecole hôtelière de Lausanne (2020) — and its instruments, from the Balanced Scorecard to the Personal Preference Menu, the 25 Commandments and the named-owner marketing calendar, are now part of the Excelsior doctrine, applied on every mandate.
“When stewardship is honest, the numbers follow.”
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