Anant Ambani-Radhika Merchant Wedding Can Cost You Lakhs

Anyone living in India is well-versed in the itinerary of Anant Ambani and Radhika Merchant's wedding, and how could we not be? Especially when everyone in the world is treating it like the event of the decade! And though the collective guilty pleasure of the nation seems to be staying updated with the wedding, judging what everyone is wearing, and knowing what outlandish level of luxury the next pre-wedding celebratory event will touch, we somehow think of ourselves as unaffected by this marriage. However, that is not the case.

Pay Lakhs Just for a Room

Though Mumbai, ringing with the music of the wedding procession, has seen various discomforts (traffic jams, road closures etc.) due to the wedding, the biggest inconvenience seems to be the soaring prices of hotels in the Bandra-Kurla Complex (BKC) area.

According to reports, the rates of 5-star hotels in the area, which usually are somewhere around ₹13,000 per night, have now surged up to almost ₹1 lakh per night for the July 11-18 timeframe. Big names like Trident BKC, Sofitel BKC, Holiday Inn, ITC Grand Central, The Oberoi, Taj, JW Marriott, and Leela have all implemented dynamic pricing which makes the same hotel room more than 5 times expensive than its usual rate.

Four Seasons has even hiked the price of its presidential suite to a whopping ₹5 lakh per night, which excludes the ₹90,000 tax. Trident BKC is asking guests to pay ₹16,750 + tax for a room which used to be ₹10,250 plus tax per night. Sofitel has also increased its prices from ₹13,000 + tax to ₹40,590 + tax.

Speaking to The Hindustan Times, a hospitality expert commented, “Most hotels are sold out during such events. These also sometimes have a rub off effect on flight rates and last mile transport such as cabs. Hotel rooms are either sold out or are available at a 30% to 50% premium. Flights and taxis also charge a premium during such events.” 

The wedding is set to take place on July 12 at the Jio World Convention Centre in BKC, and though the actual guest list has not been made public, the who’s who of all prominent industries are said to be there. Further celebrations for the next few days after the wedding are also planned, indicating that the general public and tourists in the area can only find relief after July 20.