Luxury Hotels Atlas / The Maison / Brij Hotels
Brij Hotels hotels
Restored forts, hunting lodges and bungalows become small Indian hotels shaped by regional craft.
Brij restores Indian buildings with strong local histories, from an 1812 fort palace on the Ganges to a Rajasthan hunting lodge and a bungalow above a Himalayan valley. Founded by brothers Udit and Anant Kumar in tribute to their great-grandfather Babu Brijpal Das, the collection lets regional architecture and craft shape each small hotel.
13 Brij Hotels hotels in 2 countries on the Luxury Hotels Atlas (2 not open yet), each placed on the six LHA Tiers.
- Owned by IHCL (Tata Group)
- Worldwide: Around 22 hotels and resorts across India, with further growth planned in Nepal
- On the atlas: 2 High Luxury, 6 Core Luxury, 5 Accessible Luxury
History
Udit and Anant Kumar built Brij as a tribute to their great-grandfather’s work in hospitality and civic life. The hotels restore forts, hunting lodges, tea estates, and bungalows with regional materials and local craftspeople, keeping the buildings’ character in view. IHCL’s 2026 investment gave the collection a new partnership for growth.
Timeline
- 1947 — Babu Brijpal Das, the founders' great-grandfather and a leading textile exporter and mayor of Varanasi, acquires the Clarks hotels, later expanded across India.
- 2021 — Brothers Udit Kumar and Anant Kumar found Brij Hotels, naming it after their great-grandfather, and open BrijRama Palace, a 214-year-old fort palace on the Ganges in Varanasi, as the brand's first property.
- 2022–2025 — The brand expands across North and West India: Lakshman Sagar (an 1858 hunting lodge in Rajasthan), Paraiso and Casa Susegad (Indo-Portuguese houses in Goa), Villa (a 1930s bungalow in Dalhousie), Anayra (a tea planter's house from about 1864 in Dharamshala), Bageecha and Nest Suites (Jaipur), and Pola, a tented camp in Jawai with 2,500-square-foot tents.
- 2026 — The Indian Hotels Company Limited (IHCL) acquires a 51 percent stake in Brij Hospitality for roughly $25 million, its third boutique acquisition in six months, as part of its push toward 700 hotels by 2030; the founding team stays in place.
The houses to know
- Brij Pola, Jawai, India — Four tents of about 2,500 square feet in the leopard hills of Jawai.
- Brij Lakshman Sagar, Pali, India — An 1858 hunting lodge of the Thakur of Raipur, rebuilt as 12 mud-and-stone cottages.
- BrijRama Palace, Varanasi, India — The brand's first hotel: a fort palace of 1812, with the Ganges under the walls.
- Brij Villa, Dalhousie, India — A 1930s bungalow, once Silverton Estate, on Moti Tiba above the deodars, reopened in 2024.
- Brij Sone Bagh, Bandhavgarh, India — Five villas at Tala, on the edge of Bandhavgarh Tiger Reserve.
- Brij Bageecha, Kukas, India — Twenty villas of about 1,250 square feet on 11 acres, opened in March 2023.
- Brij Atmanya, Bhowali, India — Twelve rooms of stone and wood at about 5,000 feet, opened in June 2024.
- Brij Nest Suites, Jaipur, India — Sixteen suites in Durgapura, seven minutes from the airport, opened in 2023.
Newest openings
- Brij Paraiso, Saligao, Goa, opened in April 2025: nine rooms in an Indo-Portuguese house, each named for a nearby village.
- Brij Casa Susegad, Loutolim, Goa, opened in 2025 after about three years of restoration by founder Aditya Gupta. Seven rooms in a mansion of two or three centuries.
- Brij Atmanya, Bhowali, opened in June 2024: twelve rooms of stone and wood at about 5,000 feet, 18 kilometres from Nainital.
- Brij Villa, Dalhousie, reopened in 2024: a 1930s bungalow, once Silverton Estate, with six rooms on Moti Tiba.
Opening next
- Brij Karnataka — Coorg, India — The project has been announced; further details have not been confirmed in the sources reviewed.
- Brij Nepal — Kathmandu, Nepal — announced, the brand's first international expansion.
- Brij North East Retreat — Shillong, India — The project has been announced; further details have not been confirmed in the sources reviewed.
- Brij Ranthambore — Ranthambore, India — The project has been announced; further details have not been confirmed in the sources reviewed.
Every Brij Hotels hotel on the atlas
India
- Brij Lakshman Sagar — Pali · High Luxury
- Brij Pola — Jawai · High Luxury
- Brij Atmanya — Bhowali · Core Luxury
- Brij Bageecha — Kukas · Core Luxury
- Brij Nest Suites — Jaipur · Core Luxury
- Brij Sone Bagh — Bandhavgarh · Core Luxury
- Brij Villa — Dalhousie · Core Luxury
- BrijRama Palace — Varanasi · Core Luxury
- Brij Anayra — Dharamshala · Accessible Luxury
- Brij Casa Susegad — Loutolim · Accessible Luxury
- Brij Paraiso — Saligao · Accessible Luxury
- Brij Tara, Ranthambore — Ranthambore · Accessible Luxury · Opening soon
Nepal
- Brij Pokhara — Pokhara · Accessible Luxury · Opening soon
Open The Maison in the atlas for Brij Hotels's full dossier, with prices and maps.