₹30 lakh a night: Luxury hotel rates soar as Delhi awaits global AI elite

Around 35,000 delegates from across the world are likely to attend India AI Impact Summit on February 19-20

Delhi’s top luxury hotels are heading for a windfall, powered by the government’s India AI Impact Summit 2026 on February 19-20. The event will bring some of the biggest names in artificial intelligence to the city, including Meta’s Alexander Wang, Alphabet’s Sundar Pichai, Google DeepMind’s Demis Hassabis, and Nvidia’s Jensen Huang.  Hund­reds of senior executives from global firms are also expected to attend.

 

Demand for luxury hotel rooms, and nightly rentals for the entire week beginning February 16, has surged sharply. In several cases, premium suites are being quoted at as much as ₹30 lakh a night. At The Oberoi, the closest luxury hotel to the summit venue, Bharat Mandapam, the starting price for a basic room has jumped to about ₹5.6 lakh a night, from around ₹1 lakh currently, including taxes, according to Makemytrip. A luxury suite overlooking Humayun’s Tomb is priced at roughly ₹29.5 lakh a night.

 

The Taj Mahal Hotel on Mansingh Road, around 4.5 km from the venue, is sold out on most dates. A basic room for February 16 starts at ₹55,000, while the Presidential Suite is listed at about ₹22.5 lakh a night, according to the company’s website. At The Leela in south Delhi, basic rooms are being offered at around ₹3.3 lakh a night, with suites priced at ₹14.5 lakh. The suite rates for the coming couple of days are around ₹3-5 lakh.

 

According to industry sources, the rates can even go higher. 

 

“The upcoming India AI Impact Summit has led to exceptionally high demand for hotel rooms, as about 35,000 delegates from across the world are likely to attend. This has resulted in a sharp spike in room rents in luxury and premium-end hotels,” said Rajiv Mehra, general secretary of the Federation of Associations in Indian Tourism and Hospitality, which represents 10 national hospitality and tourism bodies.

 

Ravi Gosain, president of the Indian Association of Tour Operators, which facilitates bookings for overseas travellers to India, said: “We are seeing a strong surge in last-minute bookings around the AI Summit, especially from corporate and official delegations. While the G20 was on a much larger scale, this event is also creating visible pressure on premium hotel inventory in key business zones. As expected during such peak periods, room tariffs have moved up due to limited availability.”

 

Luxury hotel chains including Indian Hotels Company Ltd, The Leela Resorts and Palaces and ITC Hotels, as well as travel portals such as Makemytrip and Cleartrip, did not respond to queries.

 

Industry executives, however, pointed to a broader constraint: The limited supply of luxury hotel rooms in the city, even as Delhi hosts a growing number of global-scale events, many backed by the government.

 

“The spike in hotel tariffs in Delhi around the AI Impact Summit is largely a function of supply-demand dynamics. The city has a relatively limited inventory of high-quality rooms, with roughly 21,000 branded keys in the organised segment. When a large global event concentrates high-spending delegates within a short time window, pricing inevitably moves upward,” said Mandeep Lamba, president and chief executive for South Asia at research firm HVS Anarock.

 

Lamba said such events, while delivering short-term gains for luxury hotels, also underscore a structural opportunity. Delhi, he noted, is steadily positioning itself as a global convention hub, supported by large-scale venues such as Bharat Mandapam and Yashobhoomi.

 

Sharp spikes in room rents, or hotels closest to venues selling out entirely, are not unique to Delhi. Cities such as Las Vegas and Barcelona, which host marquee conventions and technology gatherings -- the annual CES conference and Mobile World Congress respectively -- routinely see hotels sell out early, with rates climbing steeply as events approach.

 

“Government-backed summits and international events are likely to become a more consistent, high-yield demand segment for the city’s premium hotels. Over time, this could evolve into a stable business stream rather than occasional spikes, provided the city continues to attract large-scale international events while addressing challenges such as pollution and urban infrastructure bottlenecks,” he added.