India, Aug. 30 -- When a hotel room costs more than a small car, hospitality inflation becomes an infrastructure warning.

I am not among those who believe luxury should apologise for being expensive. A fivestar hotel is not an essential commodity, nor should the government decide what the presidential suite at a premium hotel must cost. Hotels have shareholders, wage bills, and land costs, and the same right as airlines to price according to demand. Rising room rates are, in one sense, a sign of India's economic success: Indians are travelling more, global businesses are coming here, weddings have become destination economies, and our cities are hosting events of genuine international consequence. I say this not as a distant observer of ...