New Delhi, Nov. 8 -- Amit Damani remembers his grandmother's 80th birthday because his extended family gathered for the celebrations in a rented villa in Lonavala, near Pune. Everyone was up past midnight as the octogenarian regaled them with stories.

"Those (kind of gatherings) don't happen at home because if you're at home, everyone has to leave by a certain time," says the co-founder of luxury villa rental company StayVista (formerly known as Vista Rooms). "But (on holiday) there's no restriction on what time you have to be up till, what time you want to go to sleep, etc."

Damani, 37, narrates this story as an illustration of what family holidays mean in India, the joys of group travel and why their company is riding high on a growin...