Hilton, Olive sign India's first 10 Spark hotels; two to open this year

Partnership targets India's growing mid-market hospitality segment, with plans to open two Spark by Hilton hotels this year across key business and leisure hubs

Olive, the hospitality arm of real estate developer Embassy Group, on Tuesday announced the signing of their first ten Spark by Hilton hotels in India.

 

The company, which had signed a partnership with the global hospitality major, last year, aims to open two of these Spark hotels later in the year. These hotels will come up across key business and leisure corridors including Bengaluru, Goa, Jaipur, Nashik, Mathura, Pune, Rajkot, and Hyderabad.

 

“Earlier international brands were only looking at the five-star brands. However, the rising middle class, the urbanisation story in India, the growth in the major metros, multinationals coming into the country are all bringing in a lot of demand in the mid-segment hospitality space,” Kahraman Yigit, co-founder and chief executive officer, Olive Hospitality told Business Standard.

 

“Not everyone has the five-star budgets, but people are actually looking for reliable stays and a consistent product across the board,”he added, underlining the potential of the mid-market hospitality segment.

 

With 5,000 keys under its fold already, the company aims to double this to 10,000 by FY28, “of which, we hope 5,000 will be operational,” he added.

 

In financial year 2026 (FY26), the company’s realised total sales were Rs 107 crore, while the business on the books grew to Rs 514 crore.

 

“The next we are looking to double the business on the books to about Rs 1,000 crore and the realised revenue is projected to double to nearly Rs 200 crore,” Yigit said.  

 

The company, which also operates AI-powered hotel brand Open Hotels, is also in talks with online travel aggregators for partnerships.  

 

“Open Hotels is aiming to become partners to online travel agents, where we become their local business development and operating partner, wherein we bring offline properties online, improve the digitasation, and enable owners to operate their properties better, hence improving unit economics,” he added.

 

Meanwhile, Hilton’s partnership with Olive Hospitality builds on its broader expansion, including strategic agreements with NILE Hospitality for 75 Hampton by Hilton Hotels and Royal Orchid Hotels for a further 125 Hampton hotels.

 

“Together, these agreements and Hilton’s existing pipeline put the company on track to exceed 400 trading hotels in India in the coming years,” the compnay stated in a release.