The Blue Kite by Vianaar took its Goa villa model into Indian cities (interview)

In an interview with ET HospitalityWorld published on 9 October 2026, founder and CEO Caroline Mulliez describes how The Blue Kite, the holiday-villa management arm of Goa developer Vianaar, expanded beyond its home market into Indian cities. Founded in 2017, the company says it now manages 320 properties: 290 in Goa concentrated between Reis Magos and Siolim, and 30 in Delhi, Gurugram and Bengaluru, with 20 units opened in Delhi NCR over the last two years. She says the company has been profitable from day one in every market it has entered.

Mulliez says the pitch is reliability and consistency: housekeeping staff are Blue Kite's own employees rather than a homeowner's caretaker, and guests get curated 'wow moments'. The company keeps about 300 staff on rolls for Goa and teams of five each in Delhi and Bengaluru, and is recruiting as it targets Hyderabad and Pune next; she calls Mumbai a tougher market given its real estate landscape. In cities, she says, nobody has offered a standardized apartment proposition outside expensive options like Hyatt Residency.

A density rule governs the pace — she says a market needs density in one area before moving to the next — and the company intends to stay a brand rather than become a platform with infinite value propositions. Around 5,000 people stay with the company every month, she says, many returning without ever using the loyalty points the website offers.

320 properties under management, 30 in Delhi, Gurugram and Bengaluru; profitable from day one in each market; about 5,000 stays a month (self-reported in the interview).

The Goa villa business had proven demand and repeat guests, giving the company a playbook it could carry into city markets at its own pace.

Mulliez judged that standardized, reliably serviced apartments were an open lane in Indian cities, where the alternatives were aggregators or costly branded residences.

Employing its own housekeeping staff rather than relying on homeowners' caretakers is the operational core of the brand promise, and it scales only with density.

Entering a new market only after one area reaches density keeps each city profitable from day one, in the company's telling.

Expand market by market and only after one area reaches density — profitability in each market from day one is the check that the model travels.

As of the October 2026 interview the company was recruiting aggressively in Delhi and Bengaluru and preparing entries into Hyderabad and Pune, while viewing Mumbai as tougher because of its real estate landscape. Mulliez said the company would keep offering the same kind of homes rather than become a platform, and would keep growing at the pace set by density in each market. Stays ran at about 5,000 guests a month with heavy repeat business, she said.