SaffronStays Expect 65% Growth Over Last Year

As the world looking at travel in newer ways and exploring flexible, offbeat travel and travel to work remotely, stay homes and homeowners are also looking at innovative systems to cater to its clientele. Devendra Parulekar, Founder, SaffronStays, talks to T3 and mentions that SaffronStays has seen a jump in May in terms of bookings due to school vacations during the FY23 Q1. There has been an increase in large group bookings as well as long stays given that a lot of families are doing their annual getaways and holidays.

On 31st March 2022, they had 123 villas and on 31st March 2023, it was closed at 217 villas which is a 76% increase over the previous year. “By the end of FY23, we aim to close between 350-370 homes with a majority of the share in the luxury segment”, he adds.

Parulekar considers that June-August are the best times to travel in Maharashtra with the perfect monsoon season and expects that the bookings are only going to increase. “We expect a 65% growth over last year, both in terms of supply and revenues. Furthermore, we expect SaffronStays to achieve Company level profitability towards the end of the calendar year 2023”, Parulekar opines.

When asked about the priority markets, Parulekar refers to Maharashtra, Uttarakhand, Himachal Pradesh, Goa, along with the rest of South India. Last year, the focus of SaffronStays was primarily aimed at building the North portfolio with some stunning villas in the hills. Further, it plans to replicate that supply of inventory aggressively in Goa, Bangalore & South India. With regards to the Signature villas and estates, an enhanced focus to extend the experiences of the guests is anticipated such as incorporating an ATV ride in SaffronStays SanvinaFarm Karjat; a pizza-making session in SaffronStays Ekam, Chail; an authentic Kerala style massage in SaffronStays Amaya, Kannur.

For the new-age travelers, SaffronStays aims to go pocket-friendly with homes within drivable distances with facilities revolving around music, BBQ and bonfire and other similar. With the notion that every home and homeowner have a story, and with the intent of bringing that to the forefront, SaffronStays tries to build the essence of storytelling in all its homes. Parulekar mentions that “We’ve seen people engage a lot more with us when we share with them what is not obvious – the story”. SaffronStays looks to ensure stories like that of SaffronStays SanvinaFarm Karjat, where a homeowner builds a bigger home in the memory of his deceased mother, with refurbished interiors & exteriors, artifacts and antiques collected over several years, are shared and communicated with the guests.

“Apart from this, we want to give our guests a chance to be storytellers too. We’ve created a section ‘Real Moments’ on our page listings which showcase our guests’ pictures, videos. So, post a stay, a guest is shared a link where they can upload their pictures and videos, we do a QC and S&P and voila, you’ll have it visible on the front end. From a marketing perspective, the credibility of those real moments works 10x to drive consideration”, Parulekar expresses.

Talking about OTAs and travel agents, Parulekar considers both to be important. He believes that OTAs tend to look more attractive to guests due to the various campaigns and promotions the platforms offer. But on the other side, loyal and repeat patrons book directly through the website due to the benefits of being a part of the Club Infinitum Loyalty program or getting in touch with the sales agents for a more personal touch. Currently, the website contribution is 60% of overall bookings.