Best Credit Card for Travel and Hotels in India (2026)

Flight rewards get most of the attention in travel credit card marketing, but hotel spending often adds up faster, and the right card can return anywhere from 6% to 25% in value on that spend, whether through a hotel loyalty tie-up, a booking-platform multiplier, or a flat discount at checkout.

This guide focuses on cards that reward hotel spending specifically, alongside flights. For pure flight-earning cards, see our best credit card for air travel guide; for the full picture, start with our main best travel credit card guide.

Quick Picks for Travel and Hotels

1. HDFC Marriott Bonvoy: Best Dedicated Hotel Co-Brand

If you stay at Marriott properties (which includes JW Marriott, Westin, Sheraton, Le Méridien, and others under the Bonvoy umbrella in India), this is the most direct way to earn loyalty value on those stays specifically.

• 8 Bonvoy points per ₹150 spent at Marriott properties, vs. 4 points per ₹150 elsewhere
• Complimentary Marriott Bonvoy Silver Elite status
• 15% off food and beverage at Marriott properties, plus room upgrade eligibility
• 4 domestic + 2 international lounge visits/year

Annual Fee: ₹3,000 + GST (waived on ₹3,00,000 annual spend)

2. MakeMyTrip ICICI Bank Credit Card: Best for Booking Both Flights and Hotels

If you book most of your travel, flights and hotels both, through one platform, this card converts that habit into the highest combined value-back on this list.

• 6 myCash per ₹200 on hotel bookings (effectively 6% back) and 3 myCash per ₹200 on flights
• myCash is valued 1:1 with rupees, redeemable directly on MakeMyTrip
• MMTBLACK Gold Membership and an ₹1,000 MMT voucher on joining
• 0.99% forex markup, useful if some of those hotel bookings are international

Annual Fee: ₹2,999 + GST (waived from year 2 on ₹3 lakh annual spend)

3. HDFC Diners Club Black: Best for Hotel Benefits Plus Everything Else

Diners Club Black doesn't focus exclusively on hotels, but the bundled Club Marriott membership plus a strong SmartBuy hotel multiplier make it a genuinely strong hotel card wrapped inside a broader premium travel card.

• Up to 10X reward points via SmartBuy on hotel bookings
• Club Marriott membership (typically a separate paid membership otherwise)
• Unlimited domestic and international lounge access
• 20% off on additional partner hotels outside the Marriott network

This is also one of our top picks in the best credit card for business class travel guide if luxury hotel and lifestyle benefits matter to you beyond just hotel rewards.

4. DBS Vantage: Best for Choosing Your Own Hotel Club

Most hotel-co-branded cards lock you into one chain. DBS Vantage instead lets you pick one premium hotel club membership at issuance:

• Choice of Taj Epicure, ITC Culinaire, or Club Marriott
• 4 complimentary golf sessions/year alongside the hotel benefit
• Unlimited lounge access via LoungeKey
• 8 Vantage Points per ₹200 on international spends

This flexibility is genuinely useful if your hotel preference doesn't map cleanly to Marriott specifically.

5. ICICI Bank Emeralde: Best Flat-Rate Hotel Discount

If you don't want to commit to one hotel loyalty program, Emeralde's straightforward 15 to 25% discount on hotel bookings (alongside flights) applies regardless of which chain you book.

• Flat 6 reward points per ₹200 on every spend, including hotels
• Unlimited domestic and international lounge access
• Concierge services included
• 1.99% forex markup

6. PSB SBI Card ELITE: Best for Trident/Oberoi-Adjacent Hotel Access

Co-issued through Punjab & Sind Bank, this SBI Card variant includes Trident Privilege Red Tier membership (1,000 welcome points plus 1,500 bonus points on your first stay) and exclusive benefits across 900+ luxury hotels worldwide via its Visa Signature network. We cover this card and other SBI-affiliated options in our best SBI credit card for travel guide.

A close relative, Axis Bank Reserve, offers a 15% discount specifically at Oberoi and Trident properties plus Club ITC membership, for travelers who prefer that hotel group.

7. HSBC Taj Credit Card: Best Ultra-Luxury Hotel Card (For a Very Specific Traveler)

This card deserves a mention purely for the depth of its Taj/IHCL benefit: 25% off the Best Available Rate at Taj, SeleQtions, Gateway, Vivanta, and amã Stays & Trails properties, plus unlimited room upgrades and a dedicated IHCL concierge line.

The catch: a ₹1,10,000 annual fee and a ₹3,33,333/month income requirement put this firmly in ultra-HNI territory. Unless you stay at Taj properties often enough and at a high enough spend to offset that fee, the cards above offer far better value-per-rupee.

How to Choose a Travel-and-Hotel Card

1. Identify your hotel chain loyalty first, if you have one. A Marriott Bonvoy or Taj-specific card only pays off if you actually book that chain regularly.
2. If you book hotels and flights through one app, MakeMyTrip ICICI Bank's combined 6%/3% structure is hard to beat for that specific use case.
3. If you don't have a fixed hotel preference, a flat-discount card like ICICI Emeralde or a choose-your-own-club card like DBS Vantage offers more flexibility than a single-chain co-brand.
4. Check whether the hotel benefit replaces a membership you'd otherwise pay for. Club Marriott and Trident Privilege both have standalone membership fees outside these cards. That's real value if you'd have bought the membership anyway.

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This guide is part of our travel credit card series. For the complete comparison across 100+ cards, start with our best travel credit card guide. Card terms are revised periodically by issuers. Confirm current details on the bank's website before applying.