Priya Paul, Chairperson, Apeejay Surrendra Park Accommodations
On this unique interview with Breaking Journey Information, Priya Paul, Chairperson of Apeejay Surrendra Park Accommodations, discusses her position in reshaping Indian hospitality by way of design, tradition, creativity and up to date luxurious.
Paul displays on the evolution of THE Park Hotels from conventional metropolis accommodations into vibrant social locations identified for artwork, nightlife, meals, vogue and native cultural engagement. She additionally discusses the opening of Ran Baas Patiala, a restored palace resort that celebrates Punjab’s royal heritage whereas providing a contemporary interpretation of luxurious.
The dialog additionally explores the group’s enlargement plans, together with new initiatives in Mumbai and Kerala, its development goal of 85 accommodations by FY2030, the impression of the corporate’s 2024 IPO, and its sustainability roadmap in the direction of carbon-neutral operations by 2032.
The interview provides perception into Paul’s imaginative and prescient for Indian hospitality, her Padma Shri honour, girls in management, and the way forward for Indian design-led luxurious.
BTN: You stepped into management very younger and went on to reshape one in all India’s most recognisable resort teams. When did you realise you needed to do issues otherwise?
Priya Paul: I began working very younger, at 22. On the time, I didn’t know I’d spend so a few years in hospitality. My household’s pursuits have been very assorted, and my father felt hospitality can be a great coaching floor for me.
Once I entered the enterprise, I checked out it with contemporary eyes. I didn’t come from a standard hospitality background, which allowed me to take dangers and assume otherwise.
I’ve all the time been serious about artwork, design, music, meals, vogue and tradition, and I needed to deliver these pursuits into accommodations. Within the early Nineteen Nineties, only a few accommodations in India have been talking that language. At present, many manufacturers describe themselves as boutique, design-led or life-style accommodations, however we have been exploring these concepts in 1992, 1993 and 1994.
At that time, we had accommodations in Kolkata, Visakhapatnam and Delhi, and we have been already taking a look at the best way to reinvent and redesign them. I took that concept a lot additional.
BTN: What did you are feeling was lacking from Indian accommodations on the time?
Priya Paul: Accommodations within the Eighties and Nineteen Nineties have been typically very formal. Lots of the high accommodations had brass, marble and standard luxurious finishes, however there was little that felt thrilling or expressive.
After the financial liberalisation of the nation in 1991, a brand new era of Indians had cash and needed locations to exit, socialise and spend time. In most cities, the choices have been both formal golf equipment or conventional luxurious accommodations. There was little or no that felt relaxed, trendy and enjoyable.
That’s what I needed to construct: areas I’d wish to spend time in myself. We engaged with native communities and made our accommodations in Kolkata, Delhi and Visakhapatnam hubs of nightlife, tradition, meals, music and leisure.
BTN: The Park Accommodations have all the time had a definite power – design, artwork, nightlife, meals and tradition. Was your ambition to create accommodations, or social and cultural locations?
Priya Paul: That’s what made the accommodations totally different. Budgets have been tight, there was little or no promoting and no social media, so we needed to create moments folks would discuss.
We hosted artwork exhibits, vogue exhibits, cultural occasions, talks, comedy and theatre. A few of the first vogue exhibits by a lot of India’s high designers occurred at our accommodations in Kolkata and Delhi. We have been and are very linked to the artistic neighborhood.
That’s how the accommodations grew to become referred to as buzzy, taking place locations the place folks needed to spend time, not simply locations to sleep. We carried that power into different cities, together with Bengaluru, Chennai and Goa.
BTN: In such a aggressive market, how do you outline the distinctive area of interest of The Park Accommodations?
Priya Paul: We reside our model values very persistently. We concentrate on differentiation, creativity and making our areas satisfying locations to spend time.
Wherever we go, we have a look at how we are able to interact with native communities by way of meals, nightlife, tradition and design. Our accommodations are in metropolis centres, and so they have all the time had a powerful social facet. Individuals come as a result of they need power, not formality.
Our persons are additionally one in all our biggest strengths. I typically say creativity is in our DNA. Our groups are inspired to create occasions, innovate and ship service in their very own method.
The corporate began in 1967, so we now have been round for nearly six a long time, and over that point we now have constructed a loyal buyer base.
BTN: How do you construct loyalty round a model that’s particular person and unconventional?
Priya Paul: For us, loyalty isn’t just about rooms. It’s about the entire model expertise: the occasions, eating places, nightlife, design and the sensation of being a part of one thing.
We have now clients for all times. Some folks met in our bars or golf equipment and later received married in our banquet halls. That journey issues.
We’re not merely saying, “Come and sleep.” We’re saying, “Come and expertise one thing.” Whether or not somebody is native or visiting from one other metropolis, there are numerous causes to interact with us. Our loyalty programme now has greater than 250,000 members, and it continues to develop.
BTN: How do you outline luxurious at the moment?
Priya Paul: I don’t assume there’s one definition of luxurious anymore. Each model and each section has its personal interpretation.
Luxurious can imply a really hands-off expertise or being in nature, or it might probably imply being intently sorted with all the pieces taken care of. For us, it means up to date Indian luxurious: five-star service and services, however delivered in a method that feels partaking, unstuffy and related.
I like to explain it because the attentiveness of white-glove service, with out the white gloves.
BTN: You appear to strategy accommodations nearly like portraits of cities. What do you search for when coming into a brand new vacation spot?
Priya Paul: Each resort wants its personal id. That begins with analysis, and for me, which means energetic analysis. I go to, learn, speak to folks, meet folks from the vacation spot and perceive its historical past and tradition.
When planning a resort, I could go to the vacation spot many occasions and keep in several accommodations, as a result of each resort provides you a distinct view of a metropolis. Then we have a look at how our model will be expressed by way of that place – by way of meals, wellness, enterprise services, design, artwork and the broader visitor expertise.
I’m not a designer, however I do know what the transient ought to be. Quite a bit depends upon selecting the best collaborators to interpret that transient.
BTN: Ran Baas in Patiala isn’t just a resort; it’s the revival of a historic palace. What was the emotional second once you realised this constructing might reside once more?
Priya Paul: We bid for it and received the bid from the Authorities of Punjab throughout Covid. Regardless that I’m Punjabi, I had by no means been to Patiala and didn’t know the palace nicely.
It felt like a homecoming, however the enormity of the venture solely actually hit me after I first visited. I keep in mind pondering, “This can be a very large job.”
The extra I researched it, the extra I understood how vital the fort advanced and palace are to Punjab, to Patiala’s royal historical past and to the state. I really feel that accountability very deeply.
Since opening, the response from the Authorities, the Chief Minister, the diaspora and Punjabis throughout India has been phenomenal.
BTN: Punjab has such a robust cultural id. What did you most need worldwide company to really feel at Ran Baas?
Priya Paul: I felt the enjoyment of Punjab wanted to be celebrated in Punjab. Many individuals go to for gurdwaras, household or mates, however not essentially for tourism. Ran Baas is a method of showcasing all the pieces that’s vibrant, beneficiant and culturally vital about Punjabi tradition.
We used embroidery, art work, pictures, work and craft, and wherever attainable labored with Punjabi expertise – from the uniforms to the graphic design and conservation structure. The thought was to deliver folks with a deep connection to the place into the venture and assist revive that spirit.
BTN: Ran Baas has been described across the concept of “palace life, trendy dwelling.” What does that imply in apply?
Priya Paul: From the start, I used to be clear that I didn’t wish to recreate every room precisely as it could have been.
There have been only a few archival pictures, so we didn’t have sufficient proof to revive each room in a literal method. That gave us the freedom to reinterpret.
In the event you have been a Maharaja, you’d select the most effective merchandise accessible to you – chandeliers, tiles, marble, furnishings – from totally different locations. So I requested: what would a modern-day Maharaja do?
The result’s a mixture of outdated and new. You’re very a lot in a palace, surrounded by arches, home windows, scale and historical past, however the expertise is up to date by way of consolation, fittings, showers, baths, mattresses and design. As a result of we signify up to date India, the resort additionally needed to really feel up to date and opulent.
BTN: Are luxurious travellers changing into extra curious and adventurous?
Priya Paul: Completely. Inside India and internationally, persons are trying past the plain locations.
Ran Baas is thrilling as a result of it’s a actual palace resort in a vacation spot many individuals know of, however could not have actually skilled. Patiala is an ideal two- or three-day vacation spot. It has palaces, royal gardens, purchasing, an vital gurdwara, the Kali Temple and a powerful cultural id.
The resort itself can be a spot to chill out. The spa is ready within the outdated royal kitchens, which provides it a really distinctive ambiance.
BTN: You’re increasing into locations akin to Kerala and Mumbai. How are these initiatives creating?
Priya Paul: One in every of our subsequent main openings is The Park in Mumbai. We have already got a resort in Navi Mumbai, near the brand new airport, and this can be a property we acquired final yr. It is going to open in the midst of subsequent yr, with round 90 rooms, and will likely be an thrilling version to Mumbai.
In Kerala, we now have added three properties to The Park Assortment, together with a really particular property that’s a part of Relais & Chateaux, in addition to smaller properties on Vembanad Lake.
BTN: What’s your long-term imaginative and prescient for The Park Accommodations?
Priya Paul: We presently have 42 resort properties throughout 32 cities, with 2,677 keys throughout The Park, The Park Assortment, Zone by The Park and different manufacturers.
By FY2030, we count on to have 85 accommodations with 6,635 keys. We’re rising by way of our personal initiatives in cities together with Kolkata, Visakhapatnam, Navi Mumbai, Pune, Jaipur and Juhu, Mumbai, and likewise by way of our asset-light Zone by The Park mannequin.
Zone by The Park continues to develop in locations together with Mashobra, Dharamshala, Manali, Ayodhya, Ujjain and Mathura.
We even have Flurys, our 100-year-old confectionery model from Kolkata, which now has 110 retailers and is a vital a part of our development story.
BTN: The IPO in 2024 marked a serious new chapter. How do you stability development and investor expectations with creativity?
Priya Paul: Buyers are serious about us due to our creativity and differentiated merchandise. That’s the reason our model stands aside.
We had personal fairness within the firm from 2007, so good governance has been embedded for a very long time. The IPO has strengthened our stability sheet and given us the flexibility to spend money on our personal portfolio and future development.
The problem is to develop whereas staying true to what made the corporate distinctive within the first place.
BTN: What makes Indian design so thrilling proper now?
Priya Paul: I’ve been concerned in up to date artwork and design because the mid-Nineteen Nineties, and it’s thrilling to see how a lot the sphere has modified.
Once we created The Park Hyderabad, which opened in 2010, we labored with about 24 worldwide and Indian designers. At the moment, Indian design was starting to return of age. Since then, the sphere has expanded enormously, with extra design schooling, extra practitioners and extra platforms.
We have now supported India Design ID present for a few years as a result of I consider Indian design must be seen and heard. Yearly, we collaborate with a designer to create a café pop-up, and we additionally run a pupil design competitors to present younger designers publicity.
For me, design is just not ornament. It’s a method of expressing tradition, id and up to date India.
BTN: What did receiving the Padma Shri imply to you personally?
Priya Paul: It was fully surprising. It was a shock and a terrific validation of the work I had been doing with the corporate.
I used to be additionally fairly younger after I acquired it, which made it much more shocking. It’s a implausible honour, but in addition a accountability.
BTN: You have got been a distinguished girl chief in Indian enterprise for many years. What has modified most for ladies in management?
Priya Paul: India has had girls political leaders, so girls’s management is just not solely uncommon, however folks come to management in several methods.
During the last 15 years, there have been extra girls in company life, and there’s now mandated illustration on boards. However girls’s participation within the organised sector continues to be solely round 25 to 27 per cent, so there’s a lengthy technique to go.
That doesn’t imply girls don’t work. Many work within the casual sector, run smaller companies or handle unpaid work. The query is how alternative is structured and recognised.
Amongst youthful generations, it’s way more accepted that ladies will work, obtain and pursue totally different careers. I see girls changing into DJs, cooks, restaurateurs, pilots and entrepreneurs. That change may be very encouraging.
BTN: Has your work with organisations akin to South Asia Women’s Fund and Women’s Fund Asia modified how you consider energy and accountability?
Priya Paul: I’ve been concerned in girls’s empowerment by way of a number of organisations, and I’ve discovered a terrific deal from that work.
I first labored with the South Asia Girls’s Fund, which later advanced into Girls’s Fund Asia. I’m on its board, and we additionally incubated an India department. I’ve additionally been concerned with Breakthrough, which works with adolescent girls and boys to alter behaviour round violence and gender.
A lot of this work focuses on grassroots organisations, coverage and grants that assist girls construct organisations at village and neighborhood degree.
One venture I help is the Authorized Fellows Programme, run by South Asia Girls’s Fund India. It helps girls attorneys in district courts by giving them livelihood help to allow them to tackle professional bono circumstances for ladies, typically round property, rights and entry to justice.
BTN: After a long time in hospitality, what nonetheless surprises you about company?
Priya Paul: What nonetheless surprises me is when group members are unfairly criticised regardless of having acted appropriately.
In fact, if a visitor has a real criticism, we should hear and reply. However I additionally really feel strongly about defending our group once they have achieved the best factor. Hospitality requires grace and professionalism, however it additionally requires respect for the folks delivering that service.
BTN: When a visitor leaves one in all your accommodations, what do you hope stays with them?
Priya Paul: I would like them to really feel they stayed someplace that impressed and excited them – someplace Something However Atypical.
Whether or not it’s a color, a element, a design aspect or a second they wish to {photograph} and keep in mind, I hope they depart with a way of getting skilled one thing totally different, fascinating and memorable.
BTN: How vital is sustainability for the model, and what are you doing about it?
Priya Paul: Sustainability is essential for the model, and we’re approaching it in a structured method throughout the corporate.
For us, it begins with the buildings themselves. We’re working in the direction of inexperienced constructing certification throughout all owned properties by the tip of 2026, whereas new accommodations are being designed with sustainability embedded from the start.
We even have clear operational targets. By 2027, we goal to attain greater than 95 per cent landfill diversion and turn out to be a waste-neutral organisation, in addition to transfer to 100 per cent electrical autos throughout our owned accommodations. By 2028, our objectives embody changing into water impartial and reaching 50 per cent inexperienced power adoption.
The longer-term ambition is to attain carbon-neutral operations by 2032. So it’s not a unfastened dedication; it’s a clear roadmap protecting buildings, waste, water, power, transport and carbon.
BTN: Lastly, when folks look again at this period of Indian hospitality, what do you hope they are saying Priya Paul helped change?
Priya Paul: I’m already trying again on greater than 30 years, and I do assume we now have made a distinction.
We created an entire area of interest of accommodations in India that didn’t exist earlier than. That’s the legacy of The Park Accommodations.
In fact, it’s not simply me; it’s the entire group. However I do assume we now have made our presence felt.
Study extra about The Park Hotels and Ran Baas Patiala
Interviewed by Sid Thaker