India, Oct. 30 -- Can a hotel be very large and still be luxurious? Yes it can. Many of the grand hotels of Europe are large. And even in India, the country's most famous hotel, the Taj Mahal Palace in Mumbai, is huge.

But can a hotel be very small and still be luxurious? There are two answers to that question. The first is that it's very difficult to deliver a luxury experience without scale. You need staff to pamper guests and most small hotels can't afford too many employees.

The second answer is a little paradoxical: The future of luxury is small places that deliver personalised experiences. It's hard to pull off. It can be expensive to hire enough staff. But well-heeled travellers are now demanding a different kind of luxury, and s...