Unlocking Luxury in Overlooked Havens

For most travellers, India’s great urban magnets—Delhi, Mumbai, Jaipur, Bengaluru—tend to overshadow the quieter charms of its smaller towns. Yet, beyond the familiar circuits lie a parallel India where history hasn’t been polished into museum sheen, where local flavours dominate over branded sameness, and where the pace of life still invites you to pause. These emerging destinations, tucked away in tier II and III cities, offer some of the most enriching travel experiences, drawing even luxury seekers today, thanks to pioneering hotel chains like The Postcard Hotel that establish intimate properties there. Elaborating on this trend and its impact, AKANKSHA Lamba , Co-Founder and Senior Vice President - Operations explains how improved connectivity and a shift toward authentic, slower travel are unlocking these hidden gems.

Even as the travel quotient among Indians rises with more people using disposable incomes to explore popular locations, India still boasts extraordinary destinations that haven’t reached their true potential simply because they never had the right hospitality lens. The scenario, however, is changing. Tier II and III cities and towns are emerging, bolstered by a shift in Indian luxury travellers who now seek quietude, character and discovery over standardised city hotels. “When a destination offers authenticity, culture and natural beauty, luxury hospitality doesn’t just fit in; it elevates the place,” opines Akanksha.

Three tailwinds strengthen this conviction: improved connectivity to remote regions, rising domestic affluence and a growing appetite for slower, immersive travel. These make smaller, less-developed destinations viable and aspirational, particularly those where nature, culture, and heritage remain intact, such as tea and coffee estates, wildlife regions, Himalayan retreats, and serene coastal or temple towns that remain true to their roots. “For us, these are perfect landscapes to craft intimate, meaningful ‘postcard’ experiences where the land and community remain at the heart of the storytelling,” Akanksha says.

New Guest Priorities

These evolving travel segments don’t just influence the choices of those in the hospitality business but also shape the core of their development philosophy. Longer stays, wellnessfirst travel, adventure, nature-based experiences, spirituality, and sustainability all point to a guest who wants depth, space, and emotional connection. “So we choose locations where the environment already sets the stage: mountains, forests, coastal stretches, plantations or spiritual centres,” Akanksha adds.

Design then enhances this context with generous suites, contemporary comfort, privacy, abundant light, local materials and a restrained aesthetic that lets surroundings lead.

Tackling Challenges

Operating in emerging regions brings challenges like limited skilled talent, inconsistent infrastructure, supply-chain issues and the responsibility of preserving local culture while delivering luxury but these are also opportunities to build something more meaningful and futureready. For most in this business, the starting point is people: “We invest heavily in identifying and nurturing local talent because they bring authenticity, cultural intelligence and long-term commitment,” Akanksha elaborates.

For instance, at The Postcard Hotel, a central learning and development team runs immersive training programmes that combine the fundamentals of luxury hospitality with a deep understanding of the region, specifically the community. “We supplement this with a strong hub-and-spoke leadership model where experienced managers anchor new properties, mentor local hires and ensure service consistency while allowing each hotel to maintain its own character,” Akanksha informs.

Continuous training, cross-property exposure, and structured growth paths help create a motivated, homegrown workforce that sees hospitality as a long-term career, not a transient job. In essence, such hotels prepare by building capability from within the community, supported by a robust training ecosystem. This not only ensures consistent luxury standards across varied geographies but also strengthens their connection to the places they operate in, something considered indispensable to their brand ethos.

About The Postcard Hotel

The Postcard Hotel is a collection of intimate luxury hotels hidden in holiday destinations across India and the world. These hotels recall an era when holidays were sun-kissed and still, where the days were spent idling and flipping through old magazines against the backdrop of charming, quiet neighbourhoods. In that spirit, The Postcard Hotel combines luxury with simplicity, helping its guests retreat to a simple, unhurried life filled with rich, little discoveries.

Discipline Behind Expansion

Scaling to over 50 hotels without compromising boutiqueluxury identity requires discipline in standardisation and even more in what to avoid. “We don’t believe in replication. Instead, each of our hotels is treated as a standalone creation shaped deeply by its land, community, architecture and cultural narrative,” Akanksha states. What remains non-negotiable are the core principles like privacy, exquisite design, deep comfort, intuitive service and emotional resonance. Within those guardrails, each hotel is given the freedom to express its personality through materials, cuisine, wellness rituals, landscaping and the stories it tells.

“As we grow, we are not building copies, we are building a collection. A proudly Indian, globally relevant luxury brand defined not by uniformity, but by the integrity and individuality of every hotel,” Akanksha says. This guided freedom approach, integrated with sustainability in construction, sourcing and operations, ensures luxury that is elevated yet grounded, indulgent yet responsible; always rooted in its sense of place.