How HNIs travel: Rs 99 lakh per person packages, and other uber luxury trips

Africa's Rovos Rail starts from Victoria Falls on the Zambia and Zimbabwe border, and goes up to Pretoria in South Africa, a city that straddles Apies River and extends eastward to the Magaliesberg mountains. (Photo courtesy The Q Experiences)

What defines luxury travel? Is it the extravagant cost of the journey? Is it the bespoke service? Is it the meticulously planned itinerary? Or perhaps, the lavish accommodations? Luxury travel encompasses all these facets and more, extending far beyond the conventional parameters to embrace unique and unforgettable experiences - obviously with irritants like flight delays and cancellations, refunds, long lines and wait periods, and shoddy service from taxi companies, hotels, restaurants even in foreign countries, all mostly removed.

Ultra luxury travel, often synonymous with opulence and exclusivity, transcends monetary considerations. While it encompasses personalised service, curated itineraries, and lavish accommodations, its true essence lies in offering extraordinary experiences.

The destination

The destination has to be exclusive. Think Arctic, Antarctica, Mongolia, Costa Rica, Georgia… If a destination is popular with tourists (such as New Zealand, Brazil, or even Ladakh) the series of experiences on that journey has to be stellar.

Bhavna Lulla Bahroos, head of operations at The Q Experiences, says, “For luxury travellers, and I mean the top end of that segment, we curate unique travel experiences that are not available to most others. For instance, taking a group of like-minded people to Antarctica, a continent not many Indians travel to. Our trips include a journey to see the migration of polar bears. The travellers are High Networth Individuals who have travelled extensively, have been to London or New York or Singapore multiple times and are looking for extraordinary experiences.”

A new luxury trip curated by The Q Experiences, which will launch in November 2024, will have people go on an Around-the-World journey in a private Boeing 757 jet. They will fly across six continents and nine countries. The cost: Rs 99 lakh per person.

The Q Experiences' Around-the-World journey will begin in Africa.

But the story, says Bahroos, is one of adventure rather than the expense. “The first stop,” she says, “will be the African continent from where they will embark on a rail journey. They will travel from Victoria Falls, on the Zambia and Zimbabwe border, right up to Pretoria in South Africa, a city that straddles Apies River and extends eastward to the Magaliesberg mountains.”

If this reminds you of the train journeys that Agatha Christie wrote about (without the whodunit twist, of course), we don’t blame you. From Pretoria, the journey moves to Saudi Arabia’s AlUla, once a crossing point for caravans on the incense trade route that connected Asia to Africa and Europe. Today, AlUla has been re-imagined as a luxury destination, a region of yellow sand panoramas, sandstone canyons, black lunar volcanic plateaus, red-shaded landscapes, and natural arches, but also interesting stay and dining options.

Saudi Arabia’s AlUla, once a crossing point for caravans on the Incense trade route that connected Asia to Africa and Europe. (Photo courtesy The Q Experiences)

The Around-the-World journey takes travellers to Lofoten Islands in Norway, known for its dramatic scenery with peaks like the Svolværgeita pinnacle jutting up into the sky and brilliant northern lights; Mexico City where the stay at The Ritz Carlton affords views of leafy treetops of adjacent Chapultepec Forest that seem to stretch to the surrounding mountains which they view from a hot air balloon; to Amazon river cruising from Peru; Eastern Island to explore the volcano-transformed landscape; to Tahiti and Vanuatu, a South Pacific Ocean nation made up of roughly 80 islands offering scuba diving at coral reefs, underwater caverns and wrecks such as the WWII-era troopship SS President Coolidge; and then to Kyoto in Japan, where travellers stay at The Hotel Mitsui Kyoto, a luxury hotel with an onsen (public bath) with natural spring water from an underground thermal spring.

“We charter the train in Africa, cruise ships in some destinations, cars in other destinations,” says Behroos. “It is all very exclusive and private.”

Vanuatu, a South Pacific Ocean nation made up of roughly 80 islands, offers scuba diving at coral reefs, underwater caverns and wrecks such as the WWII-era troopship SS President Coolidge. (Image courtesy Diveplanit Diving/The Q Experiences)

All about the journey

While many other journeys are not as expansive as these, the destinations that most luxury travel purveyors take their guests to, are nothing short of outstanding. Embarq, founded by Sujal Patwardhan and Medha Joseph, two women with a passion for road travel, takes its travellers through rarely explored countries such as Mongolia and Costa Rica, and their 2024 debut is on the Trans-Siberian highway.

The first journey they organised a decade ago was a road trip through Kyrgyzstan, a landlocked country in Central Asia, lying in the Tian Shan and Pamir mountain ranges. Since then, Embarq has taken travellers road-tripping across the rugged expanses, including in the Gobi Desert, to experience the rugged terrains and the nomadic culture of land from where emerged one of the most famous conquerors in history, Genghis Khan, founder of the Mongol Empire. Their journeys include off-roading in Peru and Spain, and in 2024, a 4x4 drive across the gorges and mountain streams of Costa Rica.

Embarq founders Sujal Patwardhan and Medha Joseph on the Great Wall of China (Photo courtesy Embarq)

Besides, of course, the Trans-Siberian Highway, a network of federal highways that spans the width of Russia from the Baltic Sea of the Atlantic Ocean to the Sea of Japan. The Embarq journeys cost anywhere between Rs 2.5 lakh in India to Rs 9 lakh internationally per person and don’t include the air ticket.

Patwardhan says, “Our road trippers are looking for non-touristy experiences. But travelling with us is also about meeting like-minded people and bonding with them. We get a lot of solo travellers and a lot of beautiful friendships are formed on the road. Through many of our trips, such as Mongolia and Kyrgyzstan, we are trying to break myths about the Central Asian countries as being isolated and remote. The people are warm, they love Indians, and our strong local partners help us build bridges with them and curate interesting experiences. While Indians don’t travel to these destinations often, others do, and there is a tourism infrastructure in place.”

One of their biggest challenges when they started, she says, was wariness about being in a convoy led by two women. “A lot has changed and the traveller today is far more open and we often have solo women travellers who are fantastic drivers,” she adds.

In Morocco (Photo courtesy Adventures Overland)

To be sure, road trips can be done on many budgets. But for those looking to indulge in a spot of luxury travel, there are tested routes and packages.

Tushar Agarwal, co-founder of Adventures Overland, takes travellers on self-driven road trips across destinations as far apart as Namibia, Iceland, Morocco, Mongolia, and Jordan, and their signature trip, Road to London, where travellers drive from India to London.

“Most travellers drive their cars and are supported by the lead cars from our company, paramedics and even chefs sometimes. While our signature drive is from India to London, one of our popular drives is a Super Car Drive, where we use eight supercars, ranging from Mercedes, Range Rovers, Land Cruisers and such,” says Agarwal, who is now expanding his business to the Gulf countries. “We are working on creating a journey that will take people across the world on a private jet. In different countries and continents, they will experience 10 of the best road journeys known to the world.”

While Adventures Overland’s Iceland road trip costs Rs 5.75 lakh per person, the two-month-long Road to London is pegged at Rs 25 lakh per person, including the cars which are provided by them.

Private jets are a regular feature in some ultra luxury tour packages. (Image courtesy The Q Experiences)

The experiences

While the journeys are about the destinations, it is also about the experiences. The Q Experiences, on some of its journeys, have flown chefs such as Atul Kocchar, Vicky Ratnani and Vinit Bhatia to cook special meals for the guests who travel with them.

On their Mexico City tour, a private dining experience is organised at an anthropological museum. On their trip to Beirut, the travellers are sometimes hosted by the Prime Minister of Lebanon for the first-night dinner. On one of their trips, the second-night rendezvous was with designer Elie Saab. Travellers have enjoyed private screenings of movies by an Oscar-nominated director, and have attended a private concert by a French musician.

In Tahiti, French Polynesia (Photo courtesy The Q Experiences)

In Mongolia, Embarq’s travellers have met the Ambassador in the Gobi Desert, hunted with the eagles and dined on delicacies made by local chefs; have been treated to private evenings full of music by local musicians in Kyrgyzstan, who have introduced them to native instruments; and experienced a Maori performance in New Zealand.

“Most people are happy to explore local cuisine. In Mongolia, the chef, who also drives, goes ahead of the caravan, scouts for a location, and cooks a meal. Sometimes, they also cook Indian food or cook local vegetarian delicacies, especially if a traveller has dietary restrictions,” says Patwardhan. On one trip, a few guests got together with a Mongolian chef and cooked an Indian meal of mutton curry, chicken curry, potatoes and rice.

On luxury road trips with Adventures Overlander, travellers have stayed in boutique properties, driven luxury cars, and dined in expensive restaurants, but have also enjoyed home food experiences. “Our experiences include cross-country drives, on which travellers encounter the real countryside. In Jordan, they have driven through Wadi Rum, a protected area with red dunes, which resemble the surface of Mars. Many movies such as Star Wars have been shot here. Their stay is in luxury Bedouin Camps, where they learn how to cook meat under the sand, the way Bedouins cook,” says Agarwal.

Local experts are hired to teach travellers how to drive across the dunes in Jordan and across the glaciers in Iceland. “One of our unique experiences is a stay in glass mountain huts in Iceland, from where the northern lights are a constant companion."

Northern lights in Lofoten Islands (Photo courtesy The Q Experiences)

How does India stack up in the ultra luxury travel market?

While The Q Experiences only looks at outbound travel, Adventures Overland and Embarq also explore the Indian countryside. The road and highway infrastructure has vastly improved, making such journeys possible.

Both Agarwal and Patwardhan say that Ladakh and Northeast India are popular driving destinations with luxury travellers.

“While India may not be perceived as a luxury destination (by domestic travellers), there are many who are interested in exploring the country. They look for destinations with a pristine natural environment. The luxury element comes from properties they stay in, the cars, the service,” says Patwardhan, who has taken travellers to Arunachal Pradesh, Kaziranga in Assam, and Nagaland.

Ladakh road trip (Image courtesy Adventure Overland)

Adventures Overland has developed routes across Lahaul and Spiti, Ladakh, Uttarakhand, and now the North-East. “Our travellers stay at properties that charge Rs 50,000 a night in Ladakh. We help organise exclusive lunches and picnics outdoors, folk singers who serenade them, and trails across isolated landscapes,” says Agarwal.

While the Himalayas are a favourite with luxury travellers, he says they are developing road-tripping trails across the Konkan, Karwar and some pockets of south India, which offer equally interesting experiences.

Not on every journey do you get excellent hotels.

“Sometimes, we have to stay at simple home stays. We ensure it is comfortable, warm and clean. We have helpers to help them with changing the sheet if necessary, carrying their bags, and ensuring their comfort,” says Patwardhan.